CAROLINE AND ORA SMITH FOUNDATION
Increasing the number of Native American girls and women in STEM
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Welcome to the inaugural e-newsletter for the
Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation
. Based in Chicago, the Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation (the “Foundation”) is a 501(C)(3) organization that promotes, sponsors, supports, and trains Native American girls and women around the country in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields in programs that are evidence-based, culturally appropriate and supported by the community and tailored to what works best in each specific community.
We hope you enjoy these newsletters which will provide updates on our activities, projects, collaborations and growth.
Sincerely,
Mary L. Smith
Chair and CEO
Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation
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History of the Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation
The Foundation was started by Mary Smith, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation and the former chief executive of the Indian Health Service, which is a $6 billion agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services responsible for providing federal health services to over 2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives across the country. Mary also serves as the national secretary of the American Bar Association and is a past president of the National Native American Bar Association. She was also previously responsible for Native American policy in the White House. Her undergraduate degree is in mathematics and computer science, and she worked as a systems programmer prior to attending law school at the University of Chicago.
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The organization is named for our founder’s mother and grandmother, respectively. Caroline Smith was a gifted student who graduated high school at the age of 16, but grew up in an environment where boys went to college, as did her three brothers, but girls did not. Ora Mae Smith nee Pallone was Native American and born in 1905 in Westville, Oklahoma. She grew up in a family with sixteen children, only ten of whom lived above the age of three. Ora also grew up in a time when she was expected to just go to school through eighth grade. But it never stopped her: she had strength, perseverance, and determination.
Our work focuses on, but not limited to, grade school, middle school, junior high school, college, and graduate programs.
We track progress and provide measurable outcomes that can be replicated in other sites.
According to the National Science Foundation, women remain underrepresented in the science and engineering workforce, although to a lesser degree than in the past, with the greatest disparities occurring in
engineering, computer science, and the physical sciences
. And, American Indians/Alaska Natives make up a smaller share of the science and engineering workforce than their proportion in the general population. Because of these statistics, the Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation was created with the goal to increase the number of Native American women in the STEM fields.
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The Chicago Network Women in the Forefront Luncheon
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On June 28, 2019, the Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation sponsored a table at The Chicago Network Women in the Forefront Luncheon. We had three girls (ages 8, 10 and 15) at our table as well as Heather Miller, Executive Director, American Indian Center of Chicago; Debra Yepa-Pappan (Jemez Pueblo/Korean), Community Engagement Coordinator, Native American Exhibition Hall, Field Museum; and Megan Bang, Senior Vice President, Spencer Foundation.
The girls loved the lunch, and they were able to meet two of the women CEOs who were the speakers: Gail K. Boudreaux, President and Chief Executive Officer, Anthem, Inc., and Christine A. Leahy, Chief Executive Officer, CDW.
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The Foundation partnered with the American Indian Center (the “Center”) in Chicago and its Positive Paths Summer Program to hold a STEM summer camp in July 2019. The 2019 STEM Summer Camp is the first programming that the Foundation has sponsored and organized. The goal is to use this summer camp as a model of STEM camps throughout the country. The Foundation plans to sponsor and support Native American girls throughout the country and programs that will provide STEM training to American Indian and Alaska Native girls.
There were approximately 25 children, both boys and girls, ranging in ages from four to seventeen, in the STEM summer camp in Chicago in 2019
For the portion of the summer camp, Felicia Peters, a Native American teacher who works at the Chicago Public Schools, taught a culturally-appropriate STEM curriculum. During this portion of the summer camp, the kids made lava lamps, and learned about the mixing of oil and water. They also collected water samples from sites around the city, including during a trip to Montrose beach, and tested the water for various minerals and chemicals.
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Another part of the STEM summer camp utilized an Energy Engineers curriculum from the
Sea Research Foundation
taught by Kyla Silas (Hopi), an experienced Native American instructor from Arizona. Ms. Silas taught the girls about many types of energy, including renewable energy and solar energy. During one session, the kids had the opportunity to make solar prints which change color after exposure to the sun.
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During the STEM summer camp, the kids were able to make a trip to the Field Museum. In addition to seeing dinosaurs in the Main Hall, the children were able to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the redevelopment of the Native North American Hall where the kids met with Native American staff in the Conservation and Collections team who were assessing and caring for Native American artifacts. The kids also were able to view a Native American mural. Thanks so much to Debra Yepa-Pappan (Jemez Pueblo/Korean), Community Engagement Coordinator, Native American Exhibition Hall, Field Museum for making this trip to the Field Museum possible.
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Board of Director Profile – Jacqueline Pata
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The Caroline and Ora Smith is please to announce that Jacqueline Pata has joined the Board. Ms. Pata is the President/CEO at Tlingit and Haida Regional Housing Authority in Juneau, Alaska. She previously served as the Executive Director of the National Congress of American Indians. She is a member of the Raven/Sockeye Clan of the Tlingit Tribe (pronounced – Kling-get) and is the 6th Vice President for the Central Council of the Tlingit-Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.
She serves on a variety of national executive boards, including as Vice President for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Board Member for the George Gustave Heye Center of the National Museum of the American Indian. She is also the Vice Chair of Sealaska Corporation, an Alaska Native regional corporation. In her commitment to American Indian youth development, Pata sits on the Native American Advisory Council for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Prior to joining NCAI in June 2001, Pata served as Deputy Assistant Secretary.
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Please Support the Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation
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In order to meet our goal of increasing the number of Native American women and girls in the STEM fields, we need your support!
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