200 Donors to serve 200 Black Girls

Meet Nia, a seventh grader who once believed “STEM was only for boys.” After joining Black Girls Do STEM, she learned about health science careers and after a tour at BJC Hospital and meeting a Black nurse anesthetist is not just interested but committed to this a real career path. Nia’s story is one of hundreds — with other girls now interested in learning more about clinical research, surgery and radiology-there can be hundreds more but we must close the access and opportunity gap.

This year, 120 brilliant girls in grades 6–12 participated in our pathway programs — designing prototypes, engineering fashions, growing food, exploring civil engineering, taking field tips and leading sustainability projects. They didn’t just study STEM; they became scientists, creators, and problem-solvers.

But the inequities across our region remind us of the risk:

• Black students make up only 8% of the region’s tech workforce, despite over 35,000 unfilled local tech jobs. Tech-Work-in-St.-Louis-2022-IT-Labor-Market-Report.pdf

• Just 11% of Black high school students are enrolled in AP courses, compared to 21% of white students. City of St. Louis Government

• And school segregation has increased, with 71% of students needing to change districts for schools to reflect regional demographics. Still. Still Separate, Still Unequal – A Project of Forward Through Ferguson – More than 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education, the education system in St. Louis is still separate and still unequal.

These gaps are not just statistics — they’re barriers to innovation, progress, and equity.

That’s why this Giving Tuesday (December 2nd), we’re launching the 200 × 200 Campaign — a bold effort to raise $200,000 to fully fund 200 girls in our 2026 program year.

We’re calling on 200 donors to pledge $1,000 — or just $84 per month for 12 months — starting this Giving Tuesday, can’t give directly, you can share with your network, post online using the #givingtuesday hashtag and share why you give, and amply our shared stories of impact. 

GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of radical generosity. GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Since then, it has grown into a year-round global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.