STEM NOLA

STEM NOLA's mission is to expose, inspire, and engage future innovators, creators, and entrepreneurs to opportunities in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Since 2014, STEM NOLA has delivered high-quality culturally, environmentally, and developmentally appropriate STEM programs to more than 250,000 children, 75,000 families, 3,000 college students and 4,500 community and professional volunteers.

STEM NOLA creates an ecosystem of support for students in pre-kindergarten through college to explore and build STEM skills with increasing complexity and intensity. STEM NOLA achieves this goal through the operation of two distinct programming areas.

First, STEM NOLA offers high-quality out-of-school-time programs that engage students in hands-on, project-based STEM learning, from grades K-12.

Second, we provide curriculum, professional development, training and materials for teachers and instructional leaders to support them in integrating hands-on STEM-based learning into their classrooms in school that is culturally competent and developmentally appropriate

STEM NOLA was founded by Dr. Calvin Mackie, a New Orleans public school graduate. He struggled in math and science and overcame low SAT scores by completing remedial coursework to enter college before completing four STEM degrees and graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He created STEM NOLA to widen the path for other young people to do what he did and more. Since its inception, Dr. Mackie and STEM NOLA have received numerous awards in recognition of their ongoing work. In 2024, Dr. Mackie received the  Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) from President Joe Biden and the AARP Purpose Prize on behalf of STEM NOLA. In spring of 2025, he accepted the 2025 Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year award from Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business.