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INNOVATIVE MINORITY YOUTH DEVELOPMENT MODEL GARNERS MAJOR BACKING
Philadelphia, PA - April 24 - In response to volumes of research demonstrating pervasive math and science illiteracy in the United States, especially among minorities, the LEAD (Leadership Education and Development) Program today announced the launch of the LEAD Summer Engineering Institute (SEI) for academically strong high school students of color. The program will launch at Georgia Institute of Technology in summer 2008.
For Immediate Release
Contact:
LiRon Anderson-Bell
lkab@crisiscontingency.com
215-284-2964
INNOVATIVE MINORITY YOUTH DEVELOPMENT MODEL GARNERS MAJOR BACKING
FROM GOOGLE, DUPONT, GEORGIA TECH
L.E.A.D. Program Modifies Corporate Diversity Strategy to Stimulate Engineering Sector
Philadelphia, PA - April 24 - In response to volumes of research demonstrating pervasive math and
science illiteracy in the United States, especially among minorities, the LEAD (Leadership Education
and Development) Program today announced the launch of the LEAD Summer Engineering Institute
(SEI) for academically strong high school students of color. The program will launch at Georgia
Institute of Technology in summer 2008.
The announcement comes amid urgent calls to boost STEM (science, technology, engineering an
The announcement comes amid urgent calls to boost STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)
performance among American students. A 2005 study by the National Academy of Engineering
Committee on Diversity in the Engineering Workforce (CDEW) predicted disaster if the country does
not change course, stating “our nation’s health, economy, security and leadership are at peril unless the
entire population becomes more technologically literate.”
The CDEW study also confirmed that minority student outcomes are at great risk; despite nationwide
allocation of funding and other resources for K-12 STEM programs, “a very small proportion” finds its
way to underrepresented populations.
LEAD’s entry into engineering follows nearly three decades of facilitating successful collaborations
between minority high school students, corporations and universities at LEAD Summer Business
Institutes (SBIs). Over 7,500 academically strong youth of color have studied at LEAD’s SBIs, located
at 11 of the nation’s top business schools, including Wharton, Tuck, Kellogg and Stanford University.
The program is highly competitive and receives three times the number of qualified applicants it can
accommodate.