Jhumki Basu Foundation

Mission and Purpose

JBF's mission is to develop excellent STEM teachers in American public schools.

We strive to improve student performance in STEM subjects through inspirational teachers, thereby building a future STEM-savvy workforce in America


Major projects and Activities

Under the STEM Ed Innovators banner, JBF conducts several mentored online programs for STEM teachers to learn new skills to better engage students from difficult backgrounds in STEM subjects. All programs are based on teachers developing empathy with their students to understand and apply their funds of knowledge in their learning. In the programs, there is a strong focus on applying JBF methods to solve a problem of practice in the classroom and subsequent peer evaluation.

The programs are:

6-month Fellowship
6-week Design Lab
2-week Equity Leaders’ program
2-week Mentor Development program

Since its inception in 2009, JBF has trained more than 450 teachers and touched over 150,000 public school students across the United States. We recruit course participants through word of mouth, social media or partnerships with school districts and school networks. The Equity Leaders’ program is designed for school leaders to take ownership of our programs and implement them in their communities.

Surveys and case studies indicate that participation in JBF program lead to significant increase in STEM teaching confidence and satisfaction, more student interest in STEM subjects, and improved grades. JBF alumni enjoy membership in peer networks to share ideas, experiences and curricula in an essentially lonely and burnout-prone profession.

People Served

The majority of people served by JBF are elementary, middle and high school STEM teachers, with two to fifteen years teaching experience. They are mostly graduates aged 25 to 40. Ethnicity-wise our alumni are 40% African-American, 35% White, 15% Hispanic, 10% Asian. Incomes and benefits are set by state school boards and range from $70K to $150K per year.

JBF has been delivering Democratic STEM Teaching programs to educators since 2010. We have over time built a rich library of training material, case studies and testimonials. JBF's face-to-face delivery method of a 9-month fellowship has, over time, expanded to a series of virtual programs to better leverage resources, and reach a national and audience of teachers. Since 2010 JBF has touched over 500 teachers and 200,000 students through its own program delivery. Evaluations and surveys have indicated on average 40-45% improvement in teacher confidence in the classroom and student engagement in their classrooms. Now with established brand recognition, the recently introduced Equity Leaders Institute allows school leaders to deliver JBF programs themselves, thereby significantly increasing our reach and efficiency.

We are a program for teachers by teachers. Our leadership team is comprised of teacher leaders who leverage researched back strategies in our programs.

JBF has been delivering Democratic STEM Teaching programs to educators since 2010. We have over time built a rich library of training material, case studies and testimonials. JBF's face-to-face delivery method of a 9-month fellowship has, over time, expanded to a series of virtual programs to better leverage resources, and reach a national and audience of teachers. Since 2010 JBF has touched over 500 teachers and 200,000 students through its own program delivery. Evaluations and surveys have indicated on average 40-45% improvement in teacher confidence in the classroom and student engagement in their classrooms. Now with established brand recognition, the recently introduced Equity Leaders Institute allows school leaders to deliver JBF programs themselves, thereby significantly increasing our reach and efficiency.