Empowering the Future: Intel Volunteers Show Students What is Possible in STEM

Afterschool is a place for children to learn through exploration and play. It provides a space to see new things that don’t always make it inside the walls of their classroom, and this includes interactions with professionals who offer insight into the use of math, technology, and science in their everyday careers. 

A founding partner of the Million Girls Moonshot initiative, Intel Foundation has been instrumental in helping STEM Next inspire millions of youth with engaging STEAM learning opportunities outside of the classroom. One of the ways Intel Foundation has supported STEM Next’s aim to reach millions of girls in STEAM is through volunteerism. In celebration of the selfless STEM leaders who have donated their time and talent to encouraging and inspiring kids in out-of-school STEM, we took a moment to reflect on the experiences of Intel’s enthusiastic volunteers.

Meet Yuna

Yuna, a Technical Program Manager at Intel, believes that education is the lever that empowers and enables all people. Yuna had a unique upbringing and lived in a number of countries throughout her childhood. She witnessed different representations of inequity and has used these memories to inspire her volunteerism. 

“We are so far advanced - we’ve put people on the moon - yet we still have vast inequities,” says Yuna. “People who can, should give back. It’s our collective duty and a responsibility I bear with great honor and privilege.” 

Intel has made volunteering easy for Yuna and her colleagues. She has volunteered multiple times, including: serving as a judge for STEM challenges implemented by Moonshot partner, Technnovation, reviewing educator requests for funding innovative STEM projects with NCWIT, and engaging with students of all age ranges for events like science and engineering days. 

“Volunteers almost always get more back than what they put in,” says Yuna. “I encourage others to try one small thing to get started.” 

By volunteering and providing access to kids to explore new things, Yuna believes that we expand the worlds of young people beyond their everyday experiences. She knows that learning from people who look like them is extremely important, especially for girls of color. Engaging with role models from similar backgrounds allows kids to believe in themselves. 

Some of Yuna’s favorite memories include the enthusiasm and creative thinking of students she’s worked with and making real-world connections to engineering. 

“We are in good hands in the future if these girls go into STEM careers,” says Yuna. Watching young girls solve real problems has blown Yuna away and gives her comfort for our world.

Meet Orietta 

Orietta began her journey at Intel 12 years ago, where she currently works for the Corporate Social Impact team. Over the years, Orietta has volunteered her time to a number of initiatives from speaking with middle and high school students about future careers to facilitating hands-on activities at an Intel®Future Skills Summer STEAM Camp. 

“It was especially exciting to see the girls ideate, create and build,” says Orietta. “STEM is all about hands-on learning - the hands-on piece is what you remember. Kids will not remember all the formulas or laws of physics, but they will remember how they got to the end result through tweaking their models. Those are the skills we want to instill in young kids.”  

Orietta believes it is important to volunteer to show young people what is possible for them, especially to see professionals that look like them, or come from similar places. 

“For girls, it’s important for them to see other women in STEM so they don’t assume that ‘only guys do that’ or ‘it’s impossible because I’m a girl.’ It's important for students to have role models to give them more options when thinking about future careers,” said Orietta.

Orietta’s belief is children learn about careers by seeing them. She doesn’t think young people understand what engineers or scientists do, let alone see them within their communities very often. She thinks once kids see professionals in action things start to click instead of being an imaginary and unattainable goal. 

“Technology is advancing so fast. It is critical for future generations to learn more about STEM,” says Orietta. “With the speed of advancements, we are going to need more brilliant minds in this field. From space to medicine to climate change, we need to better align the real world needs with what we are doing with students.”

Orietta encourages other adults to get started and volunteer. Not only is the work fulfilling, but she has learned a ton from listening to young people, which has proven to be valuable in her own career. 

“You learn about the things that are top of mind for young people,” says Orietta. “The things they are worried about, what gets them excited, their challenges. We need to think about what we are building for them and get inspired by new possibilities. It’s important to get their view on the world.”  

Meet Ananda

Ananda started with Intel in 1989 and has recently retired, yet continues to stay engaged with Intel’s community partners. With over 30 years at the company, Ananda has volunteered all over the world - from teaching in his home village in India to supporting science and technology competitions as part of the work of Moonshot partners across the U.S. He also served on the board of the International Science and Engineering Festival (ISEF) and spent many years supporting the festival. 

Ananda’s inspiration for supporting the Million Girls Moonshot is personal. He has two daughters and has been always invested in their love of learning science. Finding himself with extra time in retirement, Ananda felt like it was his turn to help another family’s daughter get excited about science. 

“When I was growing up in India, women were suppressed a lot,” says Ananda. “My daughters were the first generation of women to go to college and join the workforce in our family. Women need to see other women in the workforce so they know that they can do it too.” 

Ananda’s daughters grew up in a household that uplifted the power of role models and now they serve as mentors to groups of girls in their spare time.  

Ananda currently serves as a substitute teacher when needed and continues to encourage other adults to inspire youth. He estimates that he has motivated hundreds of people throughout his career to give back. Ananda believes that he and his colleagues have been extremely fortunate to work for a great company like Intel and that everyone can make a little time for youth. He continues to set an example for other engineers and encourages them to use their time wisely.

These Intel superstars have made an incredible impact on the lives of many youth, including girls and youth of color, across the globe. Their stories are a testament to what is possible when STEM professionals are engaged in our communities. They have tried and tested the power of hands-on learning in out-of-school environments and know those are the moments of excitement that encourage students to pursue STEM careers. It is thanks to committed partners like Intel, that STEM Next’s Million Girls Moonshot is able to engage millions of young people to re-imagine who can engineer, build, and invent.