BUSITAS: Building Up S.T.E.A.M. in the Arts and STEM

DLI Team 5 was given the opportunity to meet with Robin Berlinsky, M.Ed. who is the executive Director of Engaging Creative Minds (ECM) – a nonprofit organization located near Charleston, SC. ECM is an organization that arranges for STEM professionals and Artists across all media types to develop and teach core educational concepts in local school systems throughout the year and also during summer camps. After our initial interview with Robin, we determined that ECM wants to devise an awareness campaign as well as a recruiting strategy to bring new artists and STEM professionals to their organization. We also discussed the current level of diversity among the Board and employees at ECM and their desire to increase diversity in future hires.

Our Team met by zoom several times to coordinate our efforts and to find out information. Each team member was tasked to gather different data depending on their skill set and expertise. Some team members reached out and interviewed current ECM artists, while other team members investigated STEM professional opportunities for recruitment. We also held interviews and traded emails with state-wide Arts Organizations that could round out a recruitment and awareness strategy. Still, other team members investigated what an effective outreach and educational campaign would look like, and utilized their contacts to discuss best practices for current advertising campaigns on social media. The information from all of our investigations was shared across the team and we put it all together in a final presentation to be shared with ECM.