Doctor Champions STEM Access in Underrepresented Communities

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Dr. Keli Christopher in one of STEM Greenhouse learning spaces at Innovation Central High School on the morning of Wednesday November 6, 2024. Photo by Alfield Reeves.

Grand Rapids native and proud Ottawa Hills High School alum Dr. Keli Christopher is the founder and CEO of STEM Greenhouse – a nonprofit organization with the sole mission of ensuring vulnerable students get the education they deserve, with a special focus on STEM. If you’re not familiar, STEM stands for science, technology engineering and mathematics. And the greenhouse? Simple – Dr. Christopher and her dedicated staff are focused on the growth and cultivation of students in technical competencies.

“We serve over 1,000 students a year in different ways,” Dr. Christopher said. “These are students in third–twelfth grade. Sometimes we have college interns; we have after school programming and summer academies. We also have a program where we teach agricultural things – science curriculum during the school day,” she continued. “We want to make sure all kids have access to high-quality science instruction, and this is a way that we try to ensure schools with the least resources are strengthened and bolstered with additional support.”

STEM Scholars with Dr. Keli Christopher. Courtesy photo.

Field trips and hands-on activities are part of the equation at STEM Greenhouse, but they’re certainly not the only things that matter. Building skills comes first and foremost.

“Oftentimes, STEM programming is focused on experiences and exposure, which are part of it, but being exposed to something, it really doesn’t matter if you’re not proficient in math and science,” Dr. Christopher said. “I believe as a community we just act like all kids have access to the same resources and they don’t. We have to make sure we’re doing more than just giving them that experience.”

On top of the work she’s doing every day to make sure students have access to an education that helps them prepare for their future, Dr. Christopher is navigating the challenging terrain of leading a nonprofit that primarily serves kids of color.

“My budget has increased over the years, but there was a time I hardly had any money,” she said. “I remember I was doing some strategic planning, and you compare your nonprofit to other nonprofits. I realized as I was looking at the tax return of another nonprofit, I was operating on a budget that was less than one percent of their budget. There is racism in philanthropy, not necessarily intentionally, but I think people tend to give to people they know. If you don’t have that social capital, you’re just not in the circles that the people who typically get funding are in, and getting into those circles is very difficult as a person of color and as a woman of color too,” she continued. “I’ve really had to fight for pretty much everything I get and fortunately, I don’t mind – this is justice work.”

While the team works with highly skilled professionals in relevant fields for their teaching opportunities, there are plenty of other ways to show your support for STEM Greenhouse. Visit stemgreenhouse.org to see how you can get involved.

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