National Girls Collaborative Project

National Girls Collaborative Project
Name	National Girls Collaborative Project
Formation	2005
Founder	Patricia A. Simmons
Type	Nonprofit
Headquarters	United States
Focus	STEM, workforce development, gender equity

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National Girls Collaborative Project

The National Girls Collaborative Project is an American nonprofit coalition that seeks to increase the participation of girls in STEM by leveraging networks of educators, nonprofits, universities, foundations, and corporate partners. It organizes forums, offers toolkits, and supports regional collaboratives to align the efforts of stakeholders such as the National Science Foundation, American Association of University Women, Society of Women Engineers, Association for Women in Science, and regional science centers. The project connects program directors, outreach specialists, higher education leaders, K–12 administrators, and philanthropic funders to scale proven practices across the United States, collaborating with institutions like the Smithsonian Institution, Lawrence Hall of Science, Boston Museum of Science, and the Tech Museum of Innovation.

Overview and Mission

The project's mission emphasizes increasing access and persistence for girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields by fostering collaboration among informal and formal STEM programs. It promotes evidence-based practices drawn from partners including the National Academy of Sciences, American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and universities such as Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Michigan. Core activities engage program managers from organizations like Girl Scouts of the USA, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, 4-H, and museums affiliated with the American Alliance of Museums, as well as corporate partners including Google, Intel Corporation, Microsoft, and Goldman Sachs.

Founded in 2005 with seed support from the National Science Foundation and philanthropic foundations like the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the initiative emerged amid national conversations involving the White House, the U.S. Department of Education, and reports from the National Research Council about underrepresentation of women in STEM. Early leadership involved collaborations with higher education centers at Columbia University, Drexel University, University of Pennsylvania, and research organizations like the RAND Corporation and SRI International. Over successive phases it expanded regional collaboratives modeled on frameworks promoted by the Institute of Education Sciences and adopted evaluation tools influenced by work from the American Institutes for Research and WestEd.

Programming includes regional convenings, practitioner toolkits, grant competitions, and a searchable database of best practices and programs. Signature initiatives include collaborative summits drawing participants from institutions like the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Exploratorium, Discovery Place, and university outreach centers such as Georgia Tech's Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing and University of Washington's Center for Engineering Learning & Teaching. Professional development offerings reference curriculum models used by Project Lead The Way, research from AAUW Tech Savvy, and youth interventions piloted at labs like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory. The project also curates resources linked to awards and programs administered by the National Medal of Science, Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, and the Broadcom MASTERS competition.

Evaluation activities are guided by methodologies from the National Research Council and assessment frameworks used by organizations like the Gates Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York. Independent evaluations have drawn on consultants and research partners including the Urban Institute, Mathematica Policy Research, and university evaluators at University of Chicago and Penn State University. Reported outcomes include increased program reach across states, growth in cross-organizational referrals among museum and university partners, and adoption of evidence-based practices by local STEM initiatives such as those run by Port of Science-affiliated museums and community organizations. The collaborative model has been cited in policy discussions at venues like the American Association for the Advancement of Science and annual meetings of the National Science Teachers Association.

Funding sources have included competitive grants from the National Science Foundation, multi-year support from corporate foundations such as Intel Foundation and Google.org, and contributions from private philanthropies including the Lemelson Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Governance has involved a board composed of leaders from partner organizations including representatives from American Association of University Women, Society of Women Engineers, and academic institutions like MIT and Harvard University. Administrative hosts and fiscal sponsors have included university-based centers and nonprofit fiscal intermediaries common in the philanthropic sector, with programmatic oversight aligned to standards set by bodies such as the Council on Foundations.

Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States Category:Women in science and technology