14 DAY TRIAL // In a new campaign for encouraging young women to pursue new experiences and careers in domains like science, engineering, technology and mathematics, NASA collaborates with award-winning recording artist Mary J. Blige and her FFAWN foundation.
This week, on NASA TV and the agency's website appeared a public service announcement that features Mary J. Blige and NASA's veteran space shuttle astronaut Leland Melvin.
This public service campaign is a collaboration between NASA's Summer of Innovation (SoI) project and Blige's Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now (FFAWN), that encourages students to chose a STEM(science, technology, engineering and mathematics)-related career.
The SoI project started earlier this summer as part of the President's Educate to Innovate Campaign to keep middle school students engaged in constructive activities during the school break.
Leland Melvin said that “working with FFAWN is a rare opportunity to help spread the STEM message into communities not always readily accessible to us.
“Mary's presence can help NASA make the STEM message more appealing to these communities and increase the pipeline of underrepresented students going into these disciplines,” he added.
The SoI project and FFAWN are working with the NASA Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy project at York College of the City University of New York (CUNY), to provide on-the-job training for all FFAWN high school participants.
The idea is for high school girls in the program to present the NASA SoI content to middle school students at the New York City Housing Authority Van Dyke Community Center and the Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy, this summer.
FFAWN members will also have the opportunity to support the NASA Academy fall academic session at CUNY, as part of the student aid program for one through nine grades, that will be organized later this year.
The Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now, Inc. (FFAWN) was created in 2007 by Mary J. Blige and marketing pioneer Steve Stoute, and the idea behind this foundation was to encourage women to advance in life using their full individual potential.
Mary wanted her personal story and success to inspire women and help them women overcome the difficulties they face in their lives, by giving them confidence to pursue and realize their goals and dreams.
For the video, access the following link: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=17421565