Beyond Sport & 49ers Tackle Stem Education Crisis
Beyond Sport and the San Francisco 49ers Foundation held the second instalment of the ‘Beyond Innovation’ summit this week at the Levi’s Stadium, with global leaders from across the sports, tech, non-profit, education, business, entertainment and development in attendance in a bid to tackle the growing STEM education crisis.
The event focused on creating cross-sector partnerships that use the global appeal of sport – especially on young people – to advance STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.
With 2.8 million STEM jobs expected to go unfilled this year alone, the Beyond Innovation delegates collaborated on creative solutions and actions to help prevent the predicted shortfall of 85 million skilled jobs in the global economy by 2020.
Special guest, Dr. Mae Jemison – former NASA astronaut and the first woman of colour to go into space – used her opening keynote to remind delegates that science literacy is vital and that “hands on, hearts on, minds on [is] the best way to teach STEM.”
Following her remarks, Dr. Jemison also had a surprise reunion with Dan Anisman (below), a man whose life she saved 35 years ago during their time together with the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone.
“Beyond Innovation is not just a conference, it’s a place for commitment to leadership and social change,” said Nick Keller, founder and president, Beyond Sport. “The growth and action we’ve seen since last year is rewarding, and we were pleased to partner with the 49ers Foundation again to innovate ways to engage kids in STEM. We are seeing a growing call for the use of sport in education. Kids are naturally curious about the world around them and using sport’s popularity and the life skills it teaches, we can battle apathy for subjects that are perceived to be less appealing.”
49ers Foundation executive director Justin Prettyman added: “The second instalment of Beyond Innovation was an overwhelming success, and our partners at Beyond Sport helped the 49ers Foundation reignite the fire inside of countless key decision-makers working towards elevating youth interest in STEM through the power of sport. We look forward to our continued efforts on the Sport and STEM Alliance.”
The evening before, 80 C-Suite industry leaders attended an ESPN Leadership Dinner, where Dr. Jemison and MLS Star and community activist, Kei Kamara of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, sat down with Beyond Sport founder, Nick Keller, to discuss leadership and their personal projects to inspire young people and better society.
The event closed with representatives from higher education partner, NYU, relaying that, in the effort to strengthen the link between STEM education and sport, NYU will be building a database in partnership with Chevron for the growing Sport and STEM Alliance which was established following the 2017 Beyond Innovation summit. Delegates ended the evening by committing to Take Action going beyond the event.
Beyond Innovation included representatives from ESPN, Nike, Google, Girls Who Code, Samsung, Special Olympics, US Sailing, Reebok International, Women Win, College Football Playoff Foundation, Citizen Schools, YouTube Impact Lab, Right to Dream, Association of Women in Science, MLSE Launch Pad, Peres Center for Peace, Techbridge Girls and many more.
Beyond Innovation was supported by STEM leadership partner, Verizon, international media sponsor, ESPN, STEM Champions, Challenge 22, EverFi, BOKS and AUTODESK, higher education partner, NYU, and official digital media partner, SportTechie.
