INNOVATION COLLABORATIVE RECEIVES VISIBILITY GRANT

The non-profit STEAM education organization, the Innovation Collaborative, has been awarded an anonymous $120,000 grant to build its infrastructure and expand its reach and visibility to education stakeholders throughout the country. The Collaborative provides information about how effective intersections of the STEAM subject areas—Sciences, Technology, Engineering, Arts/Humanities and Math—can reinforce creative and innovative thinking in K-12 and out of-school-time.

STEAM is an approach to education that promotes student-led explorations driven by curiosity and the application of competencies and practices across academic disciplines that can effectively and equitably prepare them for success in education and the 21st century workforce.

Now in its eleventh year, the Innovation Collaborative previously had been awarded multiple grants, including from the National Endowment for the Arts, to help them fulfill their mission of conducting and sharing STEAM-based research on teacher professional development and classroom practice across the recognized well-rounded subject areas.  

According to Executive Director Lucinda Presley, the new grant will enable the Collaborative to substantially expand its efforts to promote the value and purpose of STEAM education to a broader national audience. “I truly believe this award will help us reach decision-makers, educators, and parents who are interested in STEAM education but don’t necessarily understand how it can be effectively integrated into the curriculum of their schools’ and students’ daily learning.”

The Collaborative’s Strategic Advisor Jonathan Katz, former Chief Executive Officer for the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, pointed out that the organization has done a substantial amount of important work supporting rigorous STEAM focused research and identifying exemplary practices in the field. “The challenge,” he added, “is getting the word out to teachers and their leadership that we have resources to do this sort of teaching intentionally—that is, to bring the STEAM subject areas together in terms of instruction and evaluation and improve student learning in a holistic way that is both meaningful and valuable to their overall education.”

Presley said the anonymous grant funds will be strategically applied over a three-year period and used to support a part-time staff that will be working to refresh the Collaborative’s website, raise its profile through social media and its newsletter, and establish opportunities for scholars and K-12 educators to propose STEAM-based new research and lessons that can be shared by the organization.

For more information about the Innovation Collaborative visit https://www.innovationcollaborative.org/ and follow us on Facebook @innovationcollaborative.org, on X at #innovationcollaborative & LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/innov-collab/

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