This campaign goal is to raise $10,000.00 to fund the following pursuits:
1. This money will enable us to add more mentors, since we believe in paying people--especially underrepresented and marginalized mentors--for their invaluable contributions to diversifying our STEM fields. Since our beginning in the fall of 2019, we have had hundreds of requests for mentorship with only 25 mentors available. A sincere need exists for our students to see mentors who look like them and share similar experiences in STEM fields. By being able to financially support more mentors will enable us to broaden our reach, add mentors from the most requested STEM fields and serve more students across the United States.
2. This money will enable us to set up multiple scholarships for our mentees. We plan to have several scholarships and fellowships available for the different career stages students find themselves in (including but not limited to: moving costs, money to purchase supplies and textbooks, fellowships for tuition and living expenses and travel awards for conference opportunities.) Contributing to the educational and living costs of underrepresented mentees is an absolutely essential and critical aspect of our work.
3. This money will assist with nonprofit startup costs and pay our board members. To file in the state of Massachusetts, we are expected to pay fees for paperwork processing. This money would help alleviate the financial burden for the graduate students who solely run this website as well as provide small stipends for our unpaid directors. This organization is run by underrepresented graduate students and recent graduates who are themselves trying to secure their place in academia. Stipends for our board members help tremendously for the tireless labor of maintaining this organization in our free time.