PRETTY BRAINY INC

"MISSION INNOVATION: GIRLS INNOVATE REAL LIFE SITUATIONS" DELIVERS SERVICE LEARNING FOR GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN IN (A) HUMANITARIAN ENGINEERING; AND (B) CODE + ENGINEERING DESIGN THINKING. THE RESULT: SENIOR DEVELOPERS, WHOSE AVERAGE AGE WAS 17, ARE BUILDING A PROFESSIONAL, MOBILE APPLICATION TO HELP CITIZENS AND BUSINESSES IN FORT COLLINS, CO, REDUCE THEIR CO2 EMISSIONS. PRETTY BRAINY CREATED MISSION INNOVATION TO SUPPORT THE CITYS CLIMATE ACTION PLAN AND GOAL OF NET ZERO EMISSIONS. TO CREATE THE TECHNOLOGY, OUR ALL-GIRL TEAM ESTIMATES THAT THEY ORIGINATED ABOUT 80 PERCENT OF CODE. GIRLS GAINED MENTORING FROM STEM PROFESSIONALS AND EXPERIENCE IN TAKING RISKS AND LEARNING THAT MAKING MISTAKES LEADS TO GREATER LEARNING, ACCOMPLISHMENT, AND SUCCESS. OTHER STRONG OUTCOMES OF THE PROGRAM INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: A. GIRLS LEARNED TO REPLACE PERFECTIONISM WITH PROTOTYPING AND EXPERIMENTATION; B. GIRLS DEEPENED THEIR EXPERIENCE IN FORMING CRITICAL QUESTIONS, INCLUDING REALIZING THAT TO EXPERIMENT MEANS SOMETIMES NOT KNOWING WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK; C. GIRLS USED STEAM -- SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ART + DESIGN, AND MATH -- TO CONTRIBUTE TO AND ENRICH THEIR COMMUNITY.

"SHE HAS THE FLOOR," A WOMEN IN STEM SPEAKER SERIES, IS A COLLABORATION OF PRETTY BRAINY, JILA, AND JILA EXCELLENCE IN DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVITY (JEDI). JILA, FOUNDED IN 1962 AS THE JOINT INSTITUTE FOR LABORATORY ASTROPHYSICS, IS ONE OF THE NATIONS LEADING RESEARCH INSTITUTES IN THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND IS LOCATED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER. THE SERIES COMPRISED SIX 20-MINUTE STEM CHATS FOR GIRLS AGES 11 PLUS. DELIVERING THEIR TALKS VIRTUALLY, SCIENTISTS AND LEADERS FROM JILA, JEDI, AND COLDQUANTA DEVISED TALKS AND ACTIVITIES TO INSPIRE GIRLS TO STAY SCIENCE-STRONG AND KNOW THEY HAVE THE CAPABILITIES TO CHANGE THE WORLD. FOR THE SERIES, GIRLS JOINED OTHER GIRLS, COLLEGE WOMEN, AND PROFESSIONALS TO HEAR HOW SCIENCE IS ABOUT CURIOSITY, FORMING AND TESTING IDEAS, MAKING SENSE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE UNIVERSE, AND DOING ASTOUNDING WORK WITH LABORATORY ASTROPHYSICS, COLD ATOMS, SCIENCE COMMUNICATIONS, AND LEADING OTHERS. GIRLS GAINED INSIGHT TO HOW WOMEN ARE CRUSHING SCIENCE AND LEADING LIVES AS SCIENTISTS AND LEADERS. THE PROGRAM WAS DESIGNED TO WELCOME GIRLS INTO A WORLD IN WHICH WOMEN ARE DRASTICALLY FEW, WITH DOCTORAL DEGREES IN PHYSICS BEING AWARDED TO ROUGHLY 30 TO 50 WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES EACH YEAR. SPEAKERS INCLUDED DRS. JUDITH OLSON AND ANN-MARIE MADIGAN AND BETH KROGER, COO, JILA. "SHE HAS THE FLOOR" WAS THE FIRST OF TWO PROGRAMS PRETTY BRAINY PROVIDED VIRTUALLY, EVER, WORKING WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE COVID19 PANDEMIC. SKILLED VOLUNTEERS' TIME AND TALENT FOR THIS PROGRAM IS VALUED AT NEARLY 20,000.