SMASH Blog
“SMASH” Disparities in STEM Education by Leveling the Playing Field
On March 22, 2021, SMASH CEO, Eli Kennedy, was interviewed by Denver Fredrick, host of the Business of Giving. Eli discusses how SMASH is leveling... Read More
SMASH Academy 2020: Five tenets of moving to the Virtual World
Danielle Rose, Chief Programs Officer, SMASH Zorel Zambrano, Curriculum & Instruction Director, SMASH Teaching is the art of developing students to think critically for themselves... Read More
Why We Believe Juneteenth Is More Than A Day Off
“Why We Believe #Juneteenth Is More Than A Day Off” – Matt Perry, Chief People Officer of Kapor Center. We encouraged our staff to use... Read More
Still Working Hard for Community
The Kapor Center is “Still Working Hard for Community!”. Here are the steps SMASH is taking to address this COVID-19 global crisis. It is important... Read More
Am I Black Enough To Go To An HBCU?
One of our SMASH seniors, Valencia White, wrote a piece (and recorded a mini-podcast) about how her involvement in SMASH affirmed her identity as a... Read More
How To Engineer Diversity And Inclusion: A Conversation With Dell Technologies’ Chief Diversity And Inclusion Officer, Brian Reaves
Want an interesting read? Brian Reaves, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Dell technologies, utilizes his engineering background to diversify tech talent within the company... Read More
SMASH Stanford Junior Wins A $1,000 Scholarship!
A BIG congratulations to one of our SMASH Stanford juniors Ishmael Perry in winning a 102.9 KBLX $1,000 scholarship & an essay contest that was published in... Read More
The Hidden Factor That’s Keeping People Out Of STEM Jobs
Calculus seems to be a frustrating barrier to achieving STEM careers for students. Pearson’s Milena Marinova, who previously worked at Intel, explains this massive barrier... Read More
Scientist From Zimbabwe Is Helping Make African STEM More Visible
“A young girl from Zimbabwe should not feel that being a neuroscientist isn’t for her because of where she is from, her gender or her... Read More
Howard University Receives Largest Gift In Its History For STEM Scholars Program
A huge step closer for Howard University to help diversify STEM careers. The Karsh Family Foundation gifted $10 million to the university’s Karsh STEM Scholars... Read More
The Ultimate STEM Guide for Kids
“It’s never too early to encourage kids and teens to pursue education and activities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)”. Check out this guide... Read More
Morehouse College Receives $2 Million Gift From the Mitchell Kapor Foundation
“To be a SMASH scholar & Morehouse Man is a double honor of the highest degree.” said Cedric Brown, Chief Foundation Officer of the Mitchell... Read More
SMASHing STEM Barriers For High School Students
Want to hear our very own CEO, Eli Kennedy, speak on the successes of SMASH Program. Subscribe to SF Business Journal to get the full... Read More
$10 Million To Increase Diversity In Bay Area STEM Classrooms
Big Kudos to Kapor Center in receiving a $10 million contribution to launch the Rising STEM Scholars Initiative, in which provides low income students and... Read More
Diversifying tech starts with ensuring equitable computer science education
This a Must Read!! Click here. Dr. Allison Scott, the Chief Research Officer at the Kapor Center, and Julie Flapan, the Director of the Computer... Read More
Walter A. Robinson: Forever Welcoming
UC Davis celebrated the life and legacy of Walter Robinson, our SMASH UC Davis Champion, by recognizing his mentorship and advocacy of diversity. Read here... Read More
Changing the Narrative: Equity in STEM
Make sure to read the latest issue of AWIS National Magazine! UC Berkeley Chancellor Christ talks about supporting STEM equity initiatives, like our flagship SMASH... Read More
SMASH Interns Break Through Barriers During a Summer at Autodesk
Our SMASH Rising partner: Autodesk, a major tech company, recognize that there are still many barriers for under-represented students who have great potential and desire... Read More
How The Nation’s Growing Racial Diversity Is Changing Our Schools
More students attend schools with children of different races than ever before. In 2020, there will be more children of color than white children in... Read More
Already an Awesome HBCU, Spelman College Receives Funding for STEM Center; Becomes Awesomer
Spelman College, the all-women historically black college located in Atlanta, Georgia, recently received a $2 million grant from the Department of Defense to support and... Read More
Code.org: Introducing new offerings for elementary teachers through CS Fundamentals Deep Dive workshops
The shortage of Computer Science (CS) teachers in the United State is a real problem in increasing student CS participation. Teachers often lack the experience,... Read More
Computer Science in California Schools: An Analysis of Access, Enrollment and Equity
The CS for CA Coalition, lead by the Kapor Center, released its CS for CA report this summer. The report provides an overview of the... Read More
The Future of Diversity and Inclusion in Tech
We don’t just talk, positive intent must lead to positive action. The future of the tech industry lies in the hands of everyday tech employees,... Read More
The Conversation about Workplace Diversity We Should Be Having
An open dialogue of having a diverse workplace among its employees should be a priority. According to The Foundation of Economic Education, a workplace in which... Read More
Development and Implementation of a Hands-on Surgical Pipeline Program for Low-Income High School Students
For the last 3 summers, Stanford Medicine has partnered with SMASH Stanford to deliver a hands-on surgical pipeline program focused on getting more underrepresented and... Read More
Walter Robinson: Leader, Role Model, Change Agent at UC Davis and beyond.
Walter Robinson, who was the head of Undergraduate Admissions and the office of Enrollment Management at UC Davis, and an instrumental leader in building a... Read More
SMASH: A National Program Tackling Local Problems
For the past 15 years, our SMASH Academy has been on the cutting edge of research-based STEM programming for underrepresented high school students. While we started out... Read More
Women of Color in Tech Exist & Belong — We Sent 50+ SMASH Alumnae to Grace Hopper to Prove It.
At a Philadelphia computer corporation lab in 1953, someone told Grace Hopper, “No.” Hopper, a Navy veteran who wrote the manual for the first U.S. electromechanical... Read More
SMASH Communications Manager Ashleigh Richelle Shares her Distance Traveled Story
Ashleigh Richelle is the daughter of a strong immigrant mother, the oldest of three siblings, a SMASH Academy alum, a first-generation college graduate and Latinx... Read More
SMASH’s Martín Gonzáles: My Family Walked Through Tainted Clouds To Pick Your Food
It was in the middle of a sociology class that I came to the realization: environmental racism was not just happening “out there,” but was... Read More
New Kapor Center Program Funds Research on Solutions to Reduce Bias & Barriers in Tech
The lack of racial and gender diversity across the technology pipeline is a persistent challenge across the tech ecosystem, with women and underrepresented people of color underrepresented... Read More
Is the Trump Administration’s Computer Science Announcement Good for America?
Earlier this week, First Daughter Ivanka Trump announced that the President will direct the Department of Education to invest $200 million of grant funding annually to expand access to... Read More
Exposing California’s Computer Science Opportunity Gap
Today, across the nation, tens of thousands of students will take the Advanced Placement Computer Science (AP CS) exam with dreams of pursuing computing careers.... Read More