Our Mandate

Who are we

Black E.S.T.E.E.M. is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering opportunities for Black girls in STEM industries. We empower pre-teen girls (ages 10-13) across Ontario to pursue their passions for Entrepreneurship, Science, Technology, Engineering, Economics, and Mathematics. Participants are taught and mentored by our expansive network of Black women professionals in ESTEEM fields. This network informs culturally responsive and age-appropriate programming that empowers Black girls to recognize their limitless potential in ESTEEM and beyond. We work to ensure that Black girls see themselves represented in ESTEEM careers and feel confident that they can one day be leaders in these fields. With a ‘for us, by us’ approach that centers Black girls and their unique perspectives, experiences, and interests, we have created an ecosystem designed to support their academic, personal, and professional success.

Why we Exist

The problem

As is the case with far too many industries, Black women are severely underrepresented in STEM. Studies show that STEM is one of the fastest-growing fields, but Black women are only 2.5% of the sector’s professionals. Even more concerning, STEM careers are among the most lucrative and influential in our society; and Black women’s exclusion impacts both their earning potential and decision-making power.

It is important to acknowledge that the lack of Black women in STEM careers is not a matter of disinterest or incompetence. It has been proven that, even from a young age, Black girls are interested in STEM. However, there are few opportunities for them to excel in these subjects.

The problem begins in a Eurocentric education system that rarely acknowledges or honours Black people’s ways of knowing or our historical and ongoing contributions to STEM. Instead, mainstream education about Blackness begins and ends with traumatic occurrences like slavery and the fight for civil rights. This deficit approach to Blackness is also reflected in the way that Black girls are streamed into less academic courses and encouraged into non-STEM careers.

The issue is deepened beyond the classroom by a complete lack of mentorship and sponsorship for Black girls in STEM. This makes entry into those careers profoundly challenging. Those Black women who do succeed in breaking into STEM often experience both racism and sexism, further impeding their ability to thrive in these careers.

The Solution

Black E.S.T.E.E.M. exists to create an alternative pathway into STEM industries for Black girls. We know that Black girls are more than capable of thriving in STEM if they are given the right support. At Black E.S.T.E.E.M., we use culturally responsive education and mentorship to remove the barriers Black girls face in STEM. This includes expanding the acronym to add Economics and Entrepreneurship. In this way, we not only prepare Black girls to work in STEM industries, but to enter these fields as leaders, innovators, job creators, creatives, and social philanthropists.

Black E.S.T.E.EM. is equipping Black girls to one day step confidently into the forefront of fields that have historically left them out. And in doing so, we not only support their individual success but that of their families and communities and the world at large.

How we work

Empowering Black Girls in STEM

Black E.S.T.E.E.M. provides extensive wraparound supports and programming catered to Black girls and their social identities, lived experiences, struggles, and strengths. Our organization stands on the four pillars of mentorship, empowerment, education, and engagement, all rooted in models that affirm and celebrate Black brilliance, culture, and beauty. Our approach is holistic, using ESTEEM education as both a pathway to professional success and a tool for Black girls’ emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing.

Fostering Community & Ecosystem

As the ancient African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Black E.S.T.E.E.M. has created a village that works together to empower a generation. Our community includes Black women in a broad range of STEM careers who engage directly with participants; peer and professional mentors who support participants through their learning and development; and post-secondary institutions and STEM organizations that allow our participants to be fully immersed in STEM studies and experiential learning opportunities.

Centering Black Female Voices

Black girls and Black female voices are at the centre of everything we do at Black E.S.T.E.E.M. We are founded and led by a team of three Black women—Shayle Graham, Alicia Pitt, and Shannon Adams along with ally Annette Grossi—who have all experienced or witnessed first-hand how Black girls are sidelined in education. As educators and social workers, we use our professional knowledge and lived experience to inform and shape Black E.S.T.E.E.M.’s programming. Additionally, Black girls who are part of our ecosystem take leadership through their influence on how program funding is spent. In everything our organization offers, we incorporate the feedback of our Youth Advisory Board, Black Royalty, which is comprised of girls ages 9-18.

Establishing a Canadian ESTEEM Culture

Black E.S.T.E.E.M. is the first of its kind in Canada. While our girls are our greatest focus, we know that their success depends on access to ongoing learning and employment opportunities. As such, we are dedicated to building a culture of ESTEEM for Black girls that spans nationwide. Part of our work includes increasing capacity within STEM organizations and learning institutions to recognize Black girls’ potential, nurture their interest in business and STEM, and address the inequities that continue to inhibit their success.

Our Vision and Goals

At Black E.S.T.E.E.M., we envision a world where Black women are entering ESTEEM industries in droves and excelling in their chosen fields. We recognize that this is a lofty goal impacted by many structural and systemic barriers. However, we know that any great ambition is achieved through a series of small but meaningful steps. For us these short-term steps include:

• Teaching Black girls the skills and abilities that are most in-demand in ESTEEM careers

More specifically, we aim to provide Black girls with ESTEEM education in ways that are relevant and responsive to their experiences. In this way, we hope to empower Black girls to recognize that there is a place and a role for them in these industries.

• Centering Black experience and culture in ESTEEM

Our curriculum and programming teach and talk about ESTEEM through the filter of Black culture. This includes encouraging Black girls to connect their lived experience to classroom materials, educational resources, and career pathways. This allows our girls to see ESTEEM in their real life and imagine ways they can use these fields to impact their own lives and communities.

• Fostering the confidence and competencies to put ESTEEM experience and skills to use

It is not enough to educate Black girls in ESTEEM subjects. For these girls to feel confident pursuing ESTEEM careers, we must also develop and nurture their self-esteem, leadership capacity, digital competency, and overall well-being. Our goal is a generation of Black girls who are certain of their brilliance.

• Creating unique pathways for Black girls to find success in ESTEEM industries

We have carefully crafted an ecosystem that prioritizes and supports Black girls in ESTEEM. But we know that their long-term success depends on continued education, access, and opportunity. That’s why we are working to partner with post-secondary and financial institutions to create unique pathways for Black girls to enter STEM and business programs.

• Influencing policy and decisions around equity in ESTEEM

Unless policies are intentionally created to address the disparate outcomes for Black women in ESTEEM education and industries, Black girls will continue to be pushed to the margins. We are intent on demonstrating to policymakers and decision-makers in education, business, and government the importance of prioritizing equity in ESTEEM, especially as it relates to anti-Black racism and misogynoir.

• Transforming traditional educational spaces to better support Black girls

Without intervention, our education system will continue to push Black girls out of the pathways to ESTEEM careers. To remedy this, we are developing and licensing an equity-focused curriculum for schools and other traditional educational spaces across Canada. This curriculum will guide educators and facilitators in delivering ESTEEM education in ways that support the learning and achievement of Black girls.

Why this work matters

In our minds, the work we do at Black E.S.T.E.E.M. matters for one simple reason: Black girls are worthy. In a racist, sexist, and capitalist system that continually devalues and demoralizes them, Black girls deserve to be seen, supported, and encouraged.

Our work offers hope and inspiration to Black girls who may have otherwise had their dreams crushed and their brilliance dimmed. By creating alternative educational spaces that put Black girls at the forefront, we are empowering a generation of girls to reclaim their dignity, recognize their value, celebrate their brilliance, and explore their potential.

But supporting Black girls’ success has a ripple effect that reaches far beyond the girls we work with. When Black girls have access to education and opportunities in high-earning and influential industries, they are put in a position to improve their own lives and those of their families and communities. Black cultures are often matriarchal, with women at the center and the pulse. To empower Black women is to empower entire communities. Positioning Black girls to secure better career opportunities or found lucrative businesses gives them access to better income, which then assures the financial stability required to build generational wealth and job-creating businesses.

Additionally, by giving Black girls a pathway into ESTEEM careers, we are ensuring that the needs and concerns of Black communities will be considered in these industries. The impact could range from personal care products and health supplements formulated for Black bodies to medical, engineering, and technological advancements that account for Black experiences and anti-Black biases.

This work matters because Black girls matter. And when we allow them to thrive and tap into their genius, we all benefit from their experience, skills, views, and talent.

Looking to the Future

We know that there is still so much work to be done to ensure Black girls are able to succeed in ESTEEM careers for generations to come. While working diligently towards our short-term goals, we have also set our sights on large, long-term ambitions for Black E.S.T.E.E.M.

Our vision for the future includes:

• Launching a mobile STEM lab for Black girls across Canada

While our in-person events are currently only available to Black girls in Ontario, a mobile STEM lab will allow us to make STEM available to girls across Canada, wherever they are. We believe in the importance of hands-on experiential learning, and we want to ensure there are as few barriers as possible for Black girls to access it.

• Create a Black E.S.T.E.E.M. Scholarship Fund

We do not want Black girls’ educational opportunities to be limited by lack of funding or for their lives to be impacted by the crippling debt of student loans. The Black E.S.T.E.E.M. Scholarship Fund will cover tuition for Black girls who are attending post-secondary institutions to pursue studies in ESTEEM subjects.

• Building an Academy for Black girls in ESTEEM

This institution will serve as an experiential and immersive learning space where Black girls can access regular and ongoing education and mentorship in ESTEEM. The Black E.S.T.E.E.M. academy will operate on our ‘for us, by us’ model, with Black girls having authorship and ownership of programming and curricula.

Each of these goals, in one way or another, gives Black girls the resources, support, and confidence to reach their fullest potential in ESTEEM.

Defining Success 

Black E.S.T.E.E.M. is founded on the belief that Black women are brilliant and capable of building successful and transformative careers and businesses in ESTEEM industries. We know that their underrepresentation in these spaces exists because of the many systemic and structural barriers that impede their success. So, our mission is—and will always be—to confront, address, and dismantle as many of those barriers as we can.

We will feel confident that we have succeeded in our mission when we see measurable improvements in the experiences of Black girls and women in ESTEEM education and industries. Our definition of success includes equitable outcomes like:

• Traditional educational spaces implementing intentional policies to remedy anti-Blackness and sexism in their curricula and practices;

• Increased numbers of Black girls entering into and graduating from ESTEEM programs at reputable post-secondary learning institutions;

• Equitable representation of Black women professionals in ESTEEM industries, from entry level roles to executive positions;

• STEM corporations and organizations investing in not only hiring qualified Black women, but supporting their career advancement; and

• More Black women building and leading businesses in ESTEEM industries and receiving equitable funding from investors and government programs.

Ultimately, the success of our mission will be defined by the moment when our work is no longer necessary—when Black girls and women have consistent and meaningful access to the support, tools, and opportunities they need to thrive in ESTEEM industries. Ashe.