National STEM Festival Youth Innovators Gain Access to Career Development Tool

PALO ALTO, Calif. , April 17 /Businesswire/ - A group of 126 Champions in the National STEM Challenge headed to Washington, D.C. to present their innovative ideas to leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) across the U.S. government during the National STEM Festival held from April 11-13, 2024.

This first-ever National STEM Festival celebrates student achievements in STEM and innovative student ideas to address urgent global challenges. The organizations participating include NASA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. EXPLR co-founders Jenny Buccos and Kari Byron originated the National STEM Festival as a successor to the Obama Administration’s White House Science Fair.

Competitors in the SkyHive-sponsored National STEM Challenge included sixth to twelfth graders from across the U.S. who have submitted innovative ideas that were judged by subject matter experts across a variety of fields. Their trailblazing ideas revolved around six themes: Environmental Stewardship; Future Foods; Health & Medicine; Powering the Planet; Space Innovation; and Tech for Good.

SkyHive®, an ethical artificial intelligence company helping the world transition from jobs to skills, participated in the regional and national judging of submissions.

“SkyHive is incredibly impressed with the innovations created by these young adults,” says Founder Sean Hinton. “We believe every single young person has the ability to acquire the STEM skills that will positively impact the world. Redefining STEM education with career exploration and skill development technology helps young people benefit from the nearly 11% increase in U.S. employment in STEM occupations from 2022 to 2032 and earn a median wage of US$97,980, more than double the median of non-STEM positions.”

As part of the National STEM Festival, SkyHive is providing free access to a new STEM Career Explorer tool, which uses SkyHive’s Skill Passport™ technology to help all participants in the National STEM Challenge explore future careers and skills needed to succeed along STEM career pathways. The career-exploration experience provides an unprecedented view into the skills of the emerging future STEM workforce.

In awarding SkyHive one of the “Next Big Technologies Working for Social Good in 2023”, Fast Company notes that SkyHive “uses AI to match people to jobs they might not have thought were a fit but that they actually have the transferable skills for…. and it even shows learning opportunities that could help bridge a skill gap to enter a new career.”

About SkyHive

As a mission-oriented certified B Corporation recognized by the World Economic Forum and Gartner for our contributions to the future of work, SkyHive helps organizations and communities worldwide from Accenture, Best Buy, and Collège La Cité to Unilever, Workday, and Zinnia transition to a skills-based workforce. Learn more about how to unleash human potential at SkyHive.ai.

About EXPLR

EXPLR's mission is to help kids thrive in school and life by providing real-world, rigorous, and relevant educational resources. EXPLR is a streaming video and curriculum service for grade 5-12 students, teachers, and families that helps bridge critical gaps in K-12 education. It was co-founded by leading education and entertainment figures Jenny Buccos (founder of ProjectExplorer), Kari Byron (former Discovery Channel MythBuster), and Andrew Zimmern (TV personality, producer, and U.N. World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador). Since launching in 2021, EXPLR has been used in over 500 schools across 23 U.S. states. Visit EXPLR.com.

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