UNA-NYC Youth Panel on STEM Education
We at the United Nations Association of New York are committed to empowering youth to excellence for global leadership, careers and service of the future. Through sustainable national and international initiatives, we establish programs and seek partnerships for the educational and academic challenges which we face nationally and internationally — as we, the United States of America, are now ranked 25th in the world, in Mathematics and Science, with African American students and girls demonstrating further disparaging achievement gaps of learning.
UNA-NYC recognizes STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math — as the national educational initiative for all students that is critical to the U.S. standing and competitiveness in the world. Emphasizing STEM education, especially to girls, is one of the most important educational efforts the U.S. can make, if it hopes to produce college and career-ready students with a capacity to compete globally in leadership, careers, and service throughout the world.
Our vision this year is to educate and inspire students from the Union County TEAMS Charter School and Leadership Academy — so that not only will they discover their own talents, interests, and creativity — but through a STEM education, the students can self-discover and set goals for a global society which embraces STEM careers, now and in the future.
On February 27, UNA-NYC hosted students in a leadership, diversity, career and service training program, and sponsored an educational trip to the UN, where representatives privately hosted participants in a STEM panel discussion with scientists, engineers, and attorneys. There, students heard STEM professionals talk about their educational journey, their aspirations, and career choices. And the students of TEAMS charter school embraced an international community service initiative: The Survival of Haiti for Women and Girls.
The panel included the following presenters:
Ramu Damodaran
Deputy Director for Partnerships and Public Engagement
UN Department of Public Information, Outreach Division
Senem Simsek
Postdoctoral Fellow
Weill Cornell Medical College
Reedy Feggins Jr.
WW Solution Architect, Agile Coach and Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
IBM Rational Software
Andrew Rosner
Attorney
Zubi Rosner LLP
Our Education Committee, in sustained community-based collaboration with CNJ International Trends and Services, has developed initiatives to deliver relevant programs that recognize the common mission and goals of our organization. These initiatives are aligned with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals: achieving universal primary education, reducing child mortality rates, promoting gender equality and empowering women, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS/malaria and other diseases, eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership for development.
UNA-NYC's Education Committee and the American initiative 'Race to the Top' requires that we develop programs and services that address our educational challenges and deficits, both here and competitively abroad, and that we educate and empower our youth to be well versed in the STEM fields.