Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Ellen Brinker.
Mary Ellen, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
The Brinker Education Initiative (BEI) for Hispanics started in 2015 as a project of the Harry S. & Mary Ellen Brinker, Jr. Foundation, and is dedicated to proliferating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in the Hispanic immigrant community through scholarships and events, as well as grassroots advocacy and broadcast media. In three years, we have built a dedicated grassroots coalition of many university STEM departments and tech companies, that includes Motorola, Game Stop, and Waste Management, to host Hispanic STEM Empowerment Days with schools serving large Hispanic student enrollments.
Knowing it is paramount for Hispanic parents to understand the enormous shift in American education toward science and technology as it pertains to guiding their children’s future, the Brinker Education Initiative recently launched a Parental Outreach program in Miami and Fort Lauderdale’s Hispanic immigrant church schools. Our first event at Centro Mater Child Care attracted over 60 appreciative Hispanic parents who responded quite favorably to our informative briefing. In 2016, BEI began awarding STEM Scholarships to top-ranked college-bound Hispanic students at Miami High. As of this date, BEI has awarded 13 scholarships. We are very grateful to the Miami Marlins Foundation and Augusta Soft Solutions for giving us a substantial donation to begin our scholarship program.
We also hosted two live-streamed panel discussions on why Hispanics, the fastest-growing demographic in our schools and destined to be the new American majority in 25-30 years, must prepare to help maintain and drive our region’s and our nation’s technological innovative edge in the fiercely competitive global economy. The first panel discussion was covered by Univision-TV.
According to US News & World Report, Forbes and a Georgetown University study, the best jobs in terms of offering the most lifetime income and the most sustainable lifetime employment are clearly STEM-based. Yet most our new immigrants are not aware of the profound changes and the qualifications needed to be in today’s job market. Moreover, our universities are doing a poor job in guiding students to majors that lead to long-term gainful employment.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In recruiting donors and sponsors, it is always a major challenge to impress upon them the need to help our fast growing Hispanic student population in the area of STEM education. People do not want to get out of their comfort zones where any college degree is a ticket to success. Wall Street executives consistently complain during this century that 40 percent of college degrees are worthless in the job market.
The days of earning a liberal arts degree and expecting long-term gainful employment are over.
And parents can not simply tell their children to “follow your dreams” without cultivating specific realistic dreams.
Moreover, many civic leaders do not realize that a new vibrant Hispanic/Latino majority will represent our population and that this new majority must lead in our scientific, technological, and engineering sectors, just as the previous majority did throughout our history.
Business journals consistently reveal that most of the good jobs for new graduates are STEM-based, yet over 60 percent of our new graduates do not qualify for the jobs and careers that are available. Over 2 million jobs were available during the Great Recession, yet Americans were not qualified for them.
Consequently, over 50 percent of college grads end up in jobs that do not require a college degree, often working two jobs completely unrelated to their debt-ridden college degrees.
Our foundation is dedicated to preventing Hispanic students from falling into the same trap of paying exorbitantly for college degrees that do not lead to long-term employment.
We give our new Americans far better alternatives to their future with STEM empowerment.
All right – so let’s talk business. Tell us about the Brinker Education Initiative for Hispanics – what should we know?
We are most proud of our Hispanic STEM Empowerment Days, essentially a science fair for Hispanic students and parents to participate in learning about the value of an education in STEM, and our 13 Hispanic STEM Scholarship recipients in the past two years. Next year we will have awarded at least 20 total STEM scholarships.
Our speakers urge students to excel in science and to envision themselves leading in those industries. It’s never too early for a child to study science. Students who study science attract the most attention and opportunities.
We point out that Hispanic men and women are already emerging as leaders among our tech giants. The former Chief Information Officer, who made Facebook run, is Tim Campos, a Hispanic, and the CEO of Amazon is Jeff Bezos, a Latino.
The first Hispanic US Astronaut, Ellen Ochoa, an immigrant from Mexico, is now the Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Johnson Space Control in Houston; her Director of Flight Instruction is also a Hispanic woman. The CEO of Sprint is Marcelo Claure, a Bolivian-American.
In the exhibit halls, Hispanic students tell us how inspired they are to meet Hispanic exhibitors from the major corporations, government, and universities. They are proud to see their own people involved in the community of science.
Our Hispanic exhibitors include the FIRST Tech Foundation, led by South Florida Regional Director, Sandra Contreras, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Ten80 Engineering, that showcase student-built robotics. Motorola Solutions sponsors students in designing solar cars.
Hispanic faculty and students from Miami-Dade College, NOVA Southeastern University, and St. Thomas University, as well as Florida International University, Keiser University, and Florida Atlantic University are among several schools that attend our Hispanic STEM Empowerment Days, bringing interactive displays in health care, underseas research and computer technology.
For exhibits on Forensic Science, we have the Miami Police Department with Chief Rodolfo Llanes. Hispanic engineers from the Miami-Dade Department of Water and Sewer introduce students to local environmental science.
Recently, the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, Broward Technical College, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, as well as the TK12 Coding Academy, joined our STEM exhibitors coalition.
Hispanics are the largest number of new recruits in our Armed Forces for decades to come, according to the Generals. Our partner, the US Army, also provides a free online program for students to increase their ACT/SAT college entrance exam scores and offers scholarships for nearly 100 military STEM careers.
Consistently, our students tell us how proud the BEI makes them as we foster their dreams in science and technology.
We always tell them, “You have every right to dream heroic dreams. Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready and willing to pay the price to make them come true.”
For the first time in our nation’s history, the face of the nation is changing with a new Hispanic population that will transform every major institution from top to bottom.
In our widespread outreach to universities, businesses, and the media, BEI underscores the need for young Hispanics to prepare to lead our nation’s new, ever-changing STEM-driven workforce.
Major venture capitalists from Silicon Valley are already laying the groundwork for the transformation of Miami into Silicon Beach. With vigorous, sustained community and parental support, Hispanic students will stand on the threshold of greatness in preparing to lead this technological transformation.
The South Florida Spanish media is particularly helpful with television coverage from Univision and Azteca-TV, radio interviews with Miami’s Actualidad Radio – WURN 1020 AM, WWFE-670 AM La Poderosa, and the Wall Street Business Network – “The BIZ”, WZAB – 880 AM.
BEI and our Hispanic STEM Empowerment Days were featured three times in the bilingual Miami-based Conceptos Reales Magazine (Real Concepts Magazine), which is also distributed in Argentina, Peru and Chile. SALUD dia Magazine and the Sun Sentinel also provided helpful coverage. The largest Latino bilingual newspaper in Chicago, the Lawndale News, also featured us.
As a consequence of our ceaseless outreach and educational efforts, the Hispanic Brinker Education Initiative has received letters of recommendation from Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado’s Education Office; Dr. Jose Matto, CEO of the Hispanic Commerce Coalition; and Florida National University President Maria Regueiro. Other endorsements come from the Casimiro Global Foundation; Elaine Vasquez, founder of “Hispanic Women of Distinction”, and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC., as well as Dr. Belinda Gonzalez-Leon of the Miami Commission on Women.
Contact Info:
- Address: Brinker Education Initiative
3503 Oaks Way
#309
Pompano Beach, FL 33069 - Website: brinkereducationinitiative.org
- Phone: 954-870-0287
- Email: matthew@brinkereducationinitiative.org
- Instagram: brinkereducationinitiative
- Facebook: Hispanic Brinker Education Initiative
Image Credit:
Matt Tsien
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