Empowering Change: Women and Girls in STEM Podcast Transcript Episode 2: The Power of Caregivers: Nurturing Girls' STEM Journey at Home Join us as we delve into the crucial role of caregivers in fostering girls' interest, confidence, and success in STEM. In this episode, we explore the invaluable contributions of caregivers in creating a vibrant learning ecosystem for girls. Discover how caregivers can inspire and support girls in their STEM journey at home, providing the necessary guidance, encouragement, and resources. We'll discuss practical strategies and insights to nurture girls' STEM interests, cultivate their curiosity, and empower them to pursue STEM pathways. Together, let's unlock the power of caregivers in shaping a future where girls thrive in STEM. Host: Nancy Scales-Coddington, NGCP Director of Strategic Partnerships Guests: Bunmi Esho Family Engagement Specialist, STEM Next Linda Kekelis Family Engagement Advisor, STEM Next [OPEN] music playing Bunmi Esho 0:04 Well, I in STEM, I'm an engineer you're telling me I'm an engineer, then that of course encourages them to look at the girls and say, If I'm an engineer, you're an engineer as well. Nancy Scales-Coddington 0:27 Welcome to empowering change women and girls in STEM Podcast Series hosted by the National Girls Collaborative Project. I'm your host Nancy Scales-Coddington, Director of Strategic Partnerships at NGCP. In this episode, the power of caregivers nurturing girls STEM journey at home, we will discuss the crucial role of caregivers in fostering girls interest, confidence and success in STEM. Our guests are Bunmi Esho, a family engagement specialist with the stem next opportunity fund. Welcome Bunmi. Bunmi Esho 0:58 Thank you so much, Nancy. It's a pleasure to be here. Nancy Scales-Coddington 1:04 And Linda Kekelis, family engagement advisor with STEM next opportunity fund. Welcome, Linda. Linda Kekelis 1:11 Thank you, Nancy. I'm so excited to participate in my first podcast with you, Nancy, and with the National Girls Collaborative and thrilled to have a chance to talk about family engagement, which is a personal passion of mine. Nancy Scales-Coddington 1:24 Well, let's dive right in Bunmi, can you share a little bit about your interest in supporting caregivers encouraging home based STEM learning? Bunmi Esho 1:34 Yeah, most definitely. This actually is kind of a personal passion of mine. And basically, because my experience growing up, I am first generation of Nigerian American grew up here and lived in Nigeria, actually from the age of nine to about 15 and a half moved back to the US at that time entering 10th grade. And my parents and myself didn't really have experiences in the K through 12 education system. And so us just trying to navigate that was a challenge. Luckily, we had just a community to support us. My parents had other people like them, who are also Nigerian immigrants, who were able to tell us about things like the PSAT, the LSAT, all these like really crucial, you know, aspects. And then I also had teachers who were also parents at the school that I was at. And so they really embraced me supported me. And I was able to navigate a system where I was going from probably not thriving to actually ending up graduating in chemical engineering. So if it wasn't for that community engagement, I probably would not be where I am today. And so for me, family engagement, community engagement are important aspects for my life. Nancy Scales-Coddington 3:07 It sounds like it made all the difference. Thank you. Linda, how did you become interested in family engagement and STEM? Linda Kekelis 3:16 My inspiration is personal to, it began with the preschool cooperative that my son was enrolled in some 30 years ago, I was the last one to make it into the preschool through a lottery system, and got assigned the last job that nobody wanted- parent education, but I ended up finding I loved it. And it gave me the chance to look for resources and also research on child development, and things that would help parents be better able to support their children in STEM. And I found that there was a lot of research about girls and boys development about gender stereotypes, but parents really weren't accessing that information. So I was able to have an opportunity to make research accessible to parents and also help them be able to take action upon it. After that, I took my work onto the road and did workshops for parents and preschools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, which was great and now over 30 years as a grandparent accessing lots of new research and resources around STEM and early childhood development. So I'm getting text messages every Thursday that I'm able to bring to my grandson who is 22 months old. So last week, we were looking for rocks and leaves on our walk around the neighborhood and came back and looked at them and observed and talked about them. And then I also follow Ready for K and STEM V which again gives me weekly tips for supporting stem and really fun, free and accessible ways. And I know that I'm really privileged to be able to access all this research and resources and really want to look for ways to be able to make it accessible to other families. Nancy Scales-Coddington 5:01 Yeah, that accessibility pieces is a really big component. Right. And I think we're going to talk a little bit about that today. So there is a lot of research on the importance and impact of family engagement, especially with STEM. Linda, can you share some of the recent research about girls in STEM, especially as it relates to caregivers? Linda Kekelis 5:20 I'd love to. And you know, I know that caregivers really want to do right by their children. So a lot of the stereotypes or unconscious bias they have, you know, is really unintentional. A few of the research pieces that I'd like to highlight really are important for families and educators to be aware of, because gender stereotypes start really early. There's some research by Allison master and Andrew Meltzoff and sanitarian, that look at gender stereotypes about early interest, and find that by first grade, girls are really opting out and thinking fields like engineering are not girl appropriate, and think that those are things that boys do. Even though earlier on, they're playing with blocks and are taking things apart and building things like boys. by third grade, they found that children are also believing that boys were more interested in computer science. And unfortunately, with stereotypes like that, you know, it really sends the message to girls that they're not welcome. And maybe that's not a place for them to be able to pursue interest in studies. Some other research that looked at how children perceive brilliance and smartness really has implications for gender stereotypes and girls development. Lynn Bian Sarah, Jane, Leslie and Andre Cynthia looked at perceptions and found that children at age five, were thinking that girls and boys were equally brilliant and smart. But a year later, girls thought that boys were really, really smart and not girls, whereas boys were thinking that they were really, really smart at age six, and seven. And why this matters is that when the researchers looked to see what choices girls were making about activities, when an activity was perceived as being for smart kids, girls shied away from them and thought that that wasn't something that they wanted to try, because they weren't smart enough or good enough to do it. Those are early stereotypes that children have. There's been research that looked at caregivers too, and found that there's unconscious beliefs that parents have about the skills and interests of children, and bridgid. Baron and her research team found that very early on, parents were boys were providing more resources around computer science. And that kind of ties into what we were thinking about what those early interest in girls, they were thinking boys were more interested in computer science, giving them more access to opportunities to play with computers, and then were more engaged with them as computer science activities got more challenging, so they were really there to support their boys interest in computer science. There's also a disconnect between what caregivers think matters for STEM. You know, they think that you have to be really smart or have a degree in computer science or engineering to be able to help your child. But Bridget Barron found that what's really important are not those experts in STEM, but in encourager in STEM. So caregivers who ask questions of their child, ask their child to teach them something in science, bake or cook, work on household projects, or you know, car maintenance are really important for encouraging their child to persist in STEM. Unfortunately, this research often isn't accessible to caregivers. One exception to that was a really cool out of school time program conducted by digital youth divas where they took this research about encouragement from caregivers, sat around the table with caregivers and talked about these roles that parents play and examples of it and the parents collectively, in those conversations around the table identified things that they were doing or would like to do, that were accessible to their families to support their daughters in computer science. So it's just a great example of how research can be made accessible, and how parents can share with one another ways to be able to support their daughters in STEM. Nancy Scales-Coddington 9:21 And we will have links to those resources in the show notes. I love that idea of supporting that community aspect that comes back up again and how crucial and important that piece is. I know that family engagement was important to both of you in your work at Techbridge Girls. Bunmi, can you share a few bright spots and lessons learned from the girls and their families? Bunmi Esho 9:46 Yeah, most definitely. I kind of mentioned you know, I'm first generation American. We had a lot of families that are in Oakland, who are Yemeni, as well as LatinX, we also had families in Seattle who are Somali. So we had a lot of racial diversity, we had a lot of cultural diversity in terms of, especially language. And we had a lot of immigrant families, which, you know, I emphasize that because for many, when it comes to encouraging in STEM, they kind of see the fact that their immigrant, the fact that their culture is something that's different from the mainstream culture, especially in the US, that that means that they're not, they're not really, a part of STEM. So that was, you know, kind of important thing to be able to really acknowledge kind of just the cultural traditions and the insights that they had. And so one of the ways that we really emphasize that was getting to know our different families at different events that we had, especially family nights, one particular one that really resonated was in Seattle with a smaller community, there were families where for them, the tradition of basket weaving was something that was like really important, very powerful. And that was a conversation starter, just to think around this, that STEM is basket weaving. , You know, very artistic, so you think even around STEAM, the art aspect, but another part is, is that it's engineering, it's problem solving, when you think about the fact that there is a basket that you create, that probably can carry about 70 pounds in weight, that is engineering. And so we use that as kind of part of the design, you know, project of how can you create that. And we really emphasize that just like that culture, in that tradition, is stem, it is stem influence. And so that really, especially with the mothers, because that's something the woman that were there, the female caregivers, because that's something for them. It's like, wow, I'm in STEM, I'm an engineer, you're telling me I'm an engineer, then that, of course encourages them to look at their girls and say, If I'm an engineer, you're an engineer, as well. So being able to have those combination conversations and get them excited, it then for us, really then allowed us to start exploring this idea of STEM identities. What does that mean to have a stem identity? And the fact that we all have one? And how have we formed it? How strong is it, what has shaped it, and how we can even kind of like just cultivate that and really make it stronger. So with that kind of knowledge, we're able to even start exploring that and having conversations more and actually even having professional development workshops around what it means to have a stem identity really talking to to educators so that they can encourage the caregivers and have them explore that and start thinking about everyday STEM at home. Nancy Scales-Coddington 13:08 I love how you put this back onto the caregivers that you are doing and creating things that are STEAM based, you are doing engineering, and how that also then reflects down to the kids that they work with. That is really fantastic. Linda, can you share some lessons learned from tech rich families, Linda Kekelis 13:29 Listening to caregivers was important for TechBridge Girl from the very beginning. Even before we started the program, we had a planning grant and really talked with caregivers to understand what they wanted and needed and have gathered over the years, you know, input through surveys and focus groups. But for me, I think where I learned the most important lessons were informally through conversations with caregivers, you know, at events, sometimes at family events, or pickup or drop off, where I had built a relationship. So the caregivers felt comfortable talking with me and sharing their ideas and feelings. We had had a summer program that was called Carson engines where the girls got to build four stroke model engines, they got to take apart lawnmower engines. They learned about car maintenance, and just loved all the engineering and all the science that was involved in those activities. And what was really interesting is that when one father dropped her, his daughter off at the program, he came up to me and said, Oh my gosh, you know, I never had any idea that my daughter would be interested in activities like this. You know, whenever he was working on his car, he always went to his son and said, you know, do you want to do this with me? Never thought about working on the car with his daughter, you know, inviting her to the hardware store, or working with her robots with tools and it was just an unconscious bias on his part about what he thought she'd be interested in. But it was so cool when he had the chance to be able to see her really enthusiastic about activities like this, it really created a mind shift for him. And it really, you know, played a key role in having him rethink his assumptions and then interacting with her in a different kind of way. So I thought, it's really cool for us to be able to reach out to parents to be able to really help them understand, you know, your daughter is interested in engineering or in building or taking things apart. Another really important lesson I learned was from another father, when he was dropping his daughter off at a program that we were hosting over the weekend at Chabot Space and Science Center that was all about science exhibit design. And he told me that he felt really bad that he wasn't able to help his daughter more. And he said, you know, he was an immigrant, spoke limited English, you know, didn't have a college education wasn't an engineer, and just felt like, you know, how could he do anything to support his daughter in engineering, and yet, I knew that he was rearranging his work schedule, or taking time off from work, to drive his daughter to our program. And so for me, it was really important to lift up and let him know that that action in itself, and that encouragement is really important in what matters and reinforce, the things that parents are doing, and to be able to also help parents what their daughter's doing in our program, and what question that they could ask their daughter or a simple thing that they could do to be able to help support their daughter's interests. And it doesn't have to be complicated, it doesn't have to be costly. So really just helping parents one, understand what they're doing matters. And then also providing them with some simple resources to be able to continue the enthusiasm and learning that's going on in our programs. Nancy Scales-Coddington 16:42 So Linda, as you have taken on a capacity building role with STEM Next Opportunity Fund, in statewide networks, what have been some major takeaways about family engagement in broadening participation in STEM? Linda Kekelis 16:57 I think number one has been really important to change the mindsets of what family engagement is, or could be, oftentimes, when I talk with partners through this work, they'll say, Oh, we're doing family engagement, we're doing Family Science nights, or, you know, end of a summer program event for families. And they really see family engagement as being just that that one time culminating event to celebration, those can be really cool. I've done a lot of those. And it is exciting to have lots of families. And you know, I'll clap for what the girls done. But it's really important to see that that's just one little piece of family engagement and help them understand that there's a lot of invisible family engagement going on with caregivers at home and in the community. And really helping them support family engagement in new ways and kind of rethinking you know, how they can help families be able to do family engagement beyond going to an event that might not be so accessible for them and might not work out with their work schedules. But you know, having them realize that they're reading stories, cooking, baking, sewing at home, that is family engagement, and how might they able to support it? I think the other important thing is to help them think about how they can weave family engagement into everything that they do. So it's not just STEM curriculum for girls. That's important. But thinking about, you know, how can they sprinkle in family engagement into that curriculum? So what sort of extensions or questions or additional resources can they share with families? If they're supporting role models and field trips for girls? What can they do to build upon that so families know what's going on? Are there video clips that they could share? So family see what's going on and field trips that their daughters are going on? Just giving them extra ways of being able to support family engagement. And I think what bloomie And I have found is really important in this work is that if we want family engagement to be more than a one time event, we need to make professional development for the statewide networks be more than a one time PD training. So more than that one hour webinar or presentation at a conference of really being able to help them reimagine family engagement. So we've developed a community of practice model that gives the partners in the statewide networks up to six months chance to be able to get access to research, we have developed two resources to be able to support the field. One was developing a guide so that if other people want to host their own community of practice, we have our lessons learned and step by step ideas for hosting that. So we have a field guide that we encourage folks to check out. The other thing that we heard from people was that they love participating in our community of practice, loved all the research were that we were sharing but they said oh my goodness, what do I do with it? And how do I put it into action? And so stem next work with Patti Allen and with Gil Known to developed a planning tool with which this research was put into a framework that focused around engaging families in a way that was equitable, and also had a workbook to be able to develop an action plan, so that it was a way for them to take the information, work with partners and set up a set of goals and a plan for being able to take the next steps for family engagement. And it helps to get new ideas to try. But it also sometimes helps to realize like, this is hard work. And we're not the only ones that are struggling with it are challenged. We hear from our partners that that's also important for them. And we have just seen wonderful impact and success, built upon our resources and training for the Community of Practice, where they're going out sharing the resources doing their own community of practices. And it's just been really great to see the impact and the way in which this has blossomed to support family engagement throughout the state wide networks. Nancy Scales-Coddington 20:59 I bet that's been amazing to watch. And I love that community aspect of this, where people are sharing information back with each other. Bunmi, there are many stem resources and programs out there in person and online. What are some of the existing barriers for families and girls in accessing stem resources? Bunmi Esho 21:20 Yeah, so Linda had talked about one of the kind of the important things to do is listen to caregivers listen to families around what they need. So the the most important question to start off with is what does access look like for them? When you're thinking about having families go to particular events? What does transportation look like for them? That's something important to be able to see and what available transportation is out there. Another question too, is around the timing event of events. A lot of times, it's really easy for us to start kind of thinking like, Okay, we're going to do an evening event, because families have worked all day, and then they're available in the evenings. But that's not necessarily true for every caregiver for every adult in that girl's life. And so thinking around and asking what times actually work, because it might be something where you have to look into start staggering things when it comes to in person, it might be something where you have to think about food. And I say that because a lot of times families are thinking, Okay, this is dinner time, and we need to eat, it's either we're going to have dinner, or we're going to go to this event for our daughter. And so really being able to be cognizant of that providing food providing child care, because when there's especially other kids as well, they want to be able to be there in support of their child. But they also have their other children that they need to support. Another important areas devices, so we're talking about in person, we're also talking about online, what type of devices do families have? Do they have a computer? Is it the only computer at home? Or maybe they don't have access to a computer, but they have access to a phone? And so if that's the case, then what does that look like? And what kind of resources are you providing? Is it something that can be accessible via a phone for them to be able to look at? Is it a form that you're asking them to kind of fill out to be able to access it? And it's something they can access very easily? Do they have access to internet and connectivity? Another two is when you think even along those terms of accessibility? What language is it in? Is it something that it's clear for them to be able to really kind of look at and review another two is you're talking to about like ADA compliant in terms of like that accessibility as well, in terms of the words, is it you know, larger? Or is it smaller? How are we presenting is visual? Because that's an important part, you know, as well, for a lot families where English might not be the primary language and maybe you might not have an in their language of choice, but do you have it visually, so that they can still kind of follow along with it. And that kind of ties into to the culture inclusive, or using terms or using words that are really important, really relatable for the families. Nancy Scales-Coddington 24:28 So what examples have you seen that address these barriers and support families with STEM experiences where they are at? Bunmi Esho 24:36 Definitely so I would say that, of course. I talked about the Somali families, and really kind of just highlighting that cultural inclusive aspect. So they can really see their connection and feel like they're a part of STEM and have that STEM identity. One great case is with the New York Hall of Sciences in Queens, New York. So for anyone who knows Queens or does not know Queens, Queens is a very diverse community. They have areas known for like Little Egypt to areas that are Korea Town to spaces where there are a lot of Latin X communities, a lot of Spanish speakers. And the New York Hall of Science in particular, was doing an event for their Spanish speaking families. And at first they started off they had this conversation with with the families and realize that the kids, the girls are actually English speakers, they speak at school, but at home, the language was Spanish. And so instead of kind of going in and continuing to, communicate in English, they actually changed it up to make sure that the event that they were having where they were including families was in Spanish. They also engaged in multi generational tinkering. So that was something they actually thought of that well as all of the adults and all the different ages to be able to be engaged there. And at first they, they were thinking of doing laser cutters and having like the fancy 3d printers, and then they realize that Hmm, that's not as relatable. Why don't we bring something that everyone has used, and that was a tortilla maker. So that was a simple tool, everyone kind of understood what that was, had used it before. And they use that actually to one, make tortillas, but also use it to kind of create different, designs and almost used it too as like a image printer to have different images on it. That became something that was beyond just STEM, it ended up being this community event where they turned it into a taco fest, everyone got to eat. So as I was talking about that barrier around, you know, food is there food at the event, there was food. And then because there were families with different ages, we made sure that there was childcare. So that was really something that everyone was able to participate in. And then as they were talking about the science and really emphasizing that science, they used simple terms as well, they, as we're speaking in Spanish, instead of saying STEM, because really that word STEM is inaccessible. For many of us, it's very intimidating. They use the word Sensia, which is science in Spanish, and that was a word that all all of them understood and knew. And so it kind of had that lightbulb moment of, oh, that's what we're doing. So that's what STEM is all about. So they were able to really kind of have that connection there. And that built the confidence of the various families to say, wow, I've done STEM, I've done the science, I'm able to do this. So I can take this at home, because we have tortilla makers. And that also extends to that idea to have that everyday STEM that Linda had mentioned as well of just thinking of, Okay, what else do you do at home, that's related to STEM? If you are fixing your car, bringing your daughter along to do that, that is STEM, that is engineering, people get paid good money to be able to do that. And you're doing it together, and you're learning a skill. Nancy Scales-Coddington 28:46 What I love is that culture was brought into this too, because that's also one of the pieces that helps to build STEM identity, right? Bunmi Esho 28:52 Yes, most definitely. I would say that is something we always have to kind of be very mindful of. As we're talking about STEM, we're thinking about our identities, we're thinking to our childhood self, of what that felt like. And there is that fear. Of course, when you're having the conversations, parents, they're remembering their STEM experience, they're remembering school, and a lot of times that fear then is projected, towards their children. So it's really important to kind of think to when they're thinking of their daughters and thinking of that fear of, oh my gosh, science, I remember that experience, to help transform it into something that's positive, so that they can have that power to say, actually, it's not that bad if that's what it is just problem solving. I've done that in my life, and you can do it as well. Nancy Scales-Coddington 29:49 Linda, what are some steps families can take to bring STEM activities into their homes. Linda Kekelis 29:56 I love what Bunmi has already said because those last examples were just really perfect ones for, things like cooking or baking, making those tortillas, you know families are already doing and, what we can do is help them see that, you know, what they're doing is science and engineering and also math, you know, when they're measuring things that they're sewing things at home, that is math and engineering. And one of our role model engineers pointed out that to our girls, and we can also help caregivers see that, we can also help them see that talking about science in engineering and math doesn't have to be complicated, it could be kind of asking the how and the why of how things were, you know, really simple ways in which you're using math to be able to, do things around the house, that really is important for STEM skills. And it's based in research, which they might not know about, making time for reading, getting books at the library that are about, you know, science or engineering stories, and librarians that are local neighborhood, and libraries are great resources. So caregivers, and children can go and say, this is what my child is really interested in. Can you help us find books that we can take home and read together to be able to discover and build upon the child's interest? Watching things on TV together that are science related. I know, Shark Week is all the interest right now. And you know, looking at Discovery, and some of the shows about animals are really great ways for families to gather to be able to learn and talk about things. Things break down around the house. And a lot of our engineers talk about how their spark for becoming an engineer first started when they either tried to fix something that was broken or took something apart to try to figure out how it works. So just being able to do those simple activities are great ways for STEM at home. And I think the last thing is also for caregivers to realize that by asking their child to show or teach them something about science or math that they're discovering in their after school or summer program is a great way to build STEM at home with families and the caregiver doesn't need to know the answer be the expert the child can be. Nancy Scales-Coddington 32:07 Bunmi, I'm going to ask you a similar question, what else can families do to increase and bring those STEM activities into into the home? Bunmi Esho 32:17 I love what Linda has already talked about, of really just thinking about that every day, when it comes to STEM, I would add that even you know, before you you bake that cake, or before you even go into cooking, like grocery shopping, just the act of going to the grocery store. And I think that really brings families together because that's a cultural aspect. But you're thinking of this idea of we have $20 And we're going to feed the family tonight. What are we going to make? That's algebra just going in and kind of doing doing that math. And so it's always that questions like 'when will I ever use this,' you use it every day. So being able to kind of just think about those simple tasks. And I think that that families, caregivers, that really even emphasizes the fact that they are using STEM every day, because they're going grocery shopping, everyone eats right. And so you do that idea to around a think especially cooking, and being able to label what it is to you that you're doing. So knowing that you're going to grocery shopping, and you're you have $20 And you are making that work for that meal, you're using math, whether you're cooking up wonderful stew or whatever you're making, you are using chemistry, some chemists are like really great chefs. So just kind of seeing that like connection to just like every day. And that idea to have just, baking, you're measuring, you're using math, and then this idea to have whether you are fixing dismantling something and putting it back together, you're using your engineering, you are problem solving. And so being able to kind of just take each of those, you know, aspects in being able to, to name it also just reinforces the fact that you're using stem every day. Nancy Scales-Coddington 34:10 Linda, where can we go to find out more information? Linda Kekelis 34:13 Well, I encourage everybody to follow STEM Next. We're constantly highlighting and lifting up other programs, organizations and influencers who are doing really exciting work around family engagement. We produce blogs and really try to produce like really simple accessible pieces that are research informed, but really are action oriented for caregivers as well as for educators. Other people that are doing really great work to that I encourage folks to check out or Dr. Karen Map who does really awesome work around family engagement. Steve Constantino, who has a lot of insights and experience around supporting families and school cultures. And then some of the programs I mentioned before Ready for K really does great work that's very research informed but very practical and accessible. And I think the National Association for Family School and Community Engagement, again has lots of resources and training and support around families. And the girls moonshot, the million girls moonshot has great tools and resources to be able to support family engagement, and especially with the light on supporting daughters and girls in the community around STEM. Nancy Scales-Coddington 35:25 And we will have links to those resources in the show notes. Bunmi, do you want to add any additional resources. Bunmi Esho 35:33 I just wanted to note, Linda already said it if you want to follow Stem Next, definitely going to the website stem next dot o RG. And you can do search for the family engagement project. And you'll be able to just see all the information the resources that we've highlighted today. Another thing is we do have an upcoming blog series to just kind of talk about family engagement, talk about the community of practice that we're doing. And if you want to know more, sign up for the newsletter at STEM next. Nancy Scales-Coddington 36:08 It was great speaking with you Bunmi Esho and Linda Kekelis about this important topic on engaging girls and families in STEM. Bunmi Esho 36:16 Thank you so much for having us. It has been a pleasure being able to just share the information and we hope that if folks have questions that you want to share some more if you have comments and other resources to ping us either through our blog series are on stem next.org. Linda Kekelis 36:37 And we truly want to be a resource for you. So if you've got ideas around filming engagement or questions or you know, really want to think about how you can take the next step, please do reach out to me and to Bunmi. We'd love to be able to help you along your journey. And Thank you Nancy, so much for inviting us to participate in this podcast was awesome. Nancy Scales-Coddington 36:56 Well, it's definitely a lot of fun. You can follow STEM Next and the National Girls Collaborative Project on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram At NGC project and on YouTube at National Girls Collaborative. You can find and NGCPs podcast 'Empowering Change Women and Girls in STEM' wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. If you've enjoyed this podcast consider supporting this work. The link is in the show notes. Join us next time to learn more about how we can support effective strategies for taking action and showcase the hope for a more equitable future for women and girls in STEM. Thank you for joining us ### Support Empowering Change: Women and Girls in STEM Podcast: https://ngcproject.app.neoncrm.com/forms/donation Connect with Linda Kekelis Twitter: @LindaKekelis LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-kekelis-50796635/ Connect with Bunmi Esho LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bunmiesho/ STEM Next https://stemnext.org/ Twitter https://twitter.com/stemnext LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/stem-next-opportunity-fund/ Resources: Vroom @joinvroom has 1000+ tips to turn everyday moments with children, infant to 5 years, into brain-building moments Ready4K @Ready4K is an evidence-based family engagement curriculum delivered via text messages. The ideas are easy to fit into everyday activities in the home and on the go. STEMIE @stemiiee is a national center partnering to build knowledge on STEM learning for children ages birth to 5, especially those with disabilities. The Family Engagement Project shares white papers, case studies, blogs, and promising practices from STEM Next STEM Family Engagement: A Planning Tool by Institute for the Study of Resilience in Youth for STEM Next Changing the Game in STEM with Family Engagement: A White Paper for Practitioners and Field by Kara Sammet and Linda Kekelis for STEM Next Reimaging Family Engagement Spotlights by Patty Allen and Gil Noam for STEM Next Follow NGCP on social: NGCP Twitter: https://twitter.com/ngcproject NGCP Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ngcproject NGCP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ngcproject Learn more about NGCP: https://ngcproject.org/ Producer: Nancy Scales-Coddington, NGCP Director of Strategic Partnerships Graphics & Promotion: Raisa Rosado Director of Digital Communications Website: Maggie Ewan NGCP Manager, Digital Operations Karen Peterson, NGCP Chief Executive Officer and Founder