Ignited (formerly Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education)
Development with a Difference
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Schools are struggling to keep pace with the fast‐moving realities of our economy, and the STEM workforce is suffering as a result. Many important industries remain relatively invisible to students, and the pool of skilled workers for many jobs is small. The demographics of the typical STEM company also rarely match the demographics of our nation’s workforce. Part of the challenge is that teachers lack consistent support in connecting to companies and learning more deeply about STEM topics and careers. The situation is even more critical for groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM, who receive fewer resources and lack access to diverse professional role models. Ignited’s programs address STEM education and workforce needs through teacher development. Our goal is to spark students’ greater interest in industries and move us closer to the prosperity, equity, and success they need.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Teacher Summer Experience Program
Our flagship 35-year program, the Teacher Summer Experience Program provides paid summer projects for K-12 teachers at leading STEM companies in the Bay Area. Our Nonprofit Experience Program and Accelerating Science and Technology Research and Academics (ASTRA) Program apply the same concept, but in the setting of nonprofits, universities, and research laboratories. Immersed in an environment of innovation, teachers gain invaluable insights into the cultures, practices, and learning environments of these workplaces. Teachers then work with Ignited staff and coaches to develop robust, inquiry-based education plans to bring their new knowledge and skills back to the classroom. We have transitioned these programs to a virtual setting so we can continue to offer them remotely during COVID-19.
Company Experience Weeks
Teachers participate in a week-long paid immersion experience at a company that highlights the careers, competencies, and skills that an industry needs to build and sustain a strong and highly skilled workforce. Industry professionals interact with teachers (virtually or in person) through a combination of interviews, tours, Q&A panels, and videos, helping them understand the variety of technical and non-technical professions in the industry and the skills needed for success. Ignited curriculum coaches lead afternoon sessions with teachers to create lesson plans to bring back to their classrooms.
Our Virtual Internship Program involves teachers creating and leading a virtual Company Experience Week for students. It is a unique, teacher-led experience that delivers a deeper understanding of a company and inspires students to explore a wide range of rewarding careers.
Diversity Leadership Development Program
The Diversity Leadership Development Program (DLDP) is a one-year rotational program that raises the visibility of a company’s next-generation, diverse top talent and develops their leadership skills by activating larger-scale employee volunteerism and community engagement. The top talent leaders can run any of our programs (including the Teacher Summer Experience Program, Nonprofit Experience Program, ASTRA Program, Company Experience Weeks, Virtual Internship Program, and Career Role Models Program) as well as their own employee resource group’s programs. The DLDP also supplements leadership development programs the company is already running.
StepUP
In 2019, Ignited, the Krause Center for Innovation, and Science from Scientists merged three of our long-standing programs into one powerful workforce development solution. The STEM Teacher and Employee Partnerships for Underserved Populations (StepUP) program closes critical gaps in STEM resources, highlights amazing career opportunities, and brings diverse role models to middle and high school students in underrepresented communities at Title 1 schools. The program spans multiple industries, is modular depending on the needs of each company, and creates excitement for students by teaching cutting-edge science, technology, and engineering topics. It focuses on creating industry-critical content, providing teacher professional development, and engaging diverse STEM role models in classrooms.
Where we work
Awards
Promising Renewal/Professional Development Strategy for Teachers 2007
Business-Higher Education Forum, Washington DC
Programs That Work 2008
Strategic Ed Solutions
Community Partnership Award 2010
Stanford University
DILA (Digital Innovation in Learning Award) Honorable Mention 2014
EdSurge and Digital Promise
Partnership of the Year (awarded in partnership with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company) 2014
Powered by EF
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsPercent of teachers who report increased enthusiasm for teaching
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Percent of teachers who report increased effectiveness and/or confidence in teaching STEM
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Percent of teachers who report a positive impact on student learning
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Each year, Ignited seeks to:
*Motivate and revitalize teachers, provide them with new content and curriculum development skills, and strengthen their commitment to their students' educational outcomes.
*Reach Bay Area students with more current and relevant industry content and updated teaching practices so they are better prepared for advanced STEM courses and careers.
*Ensure 100% of participating teachers develop actionable lesson plans, which are made available at no cost to any interested teachers
*Support underserved students and connect diverse professional role models with the classroom to promote diversity in the STEM workforce
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our Teacher Summer Experience Program is designed to revitalize teachers and give them new industry content by placing them in companies to work on a “real world” application of their subject for eight weeks. As teachers contribute to a team, they also experience the realities of modern-day work culture, and they bring their experience with both industry content and workplace culture back to their students. Part of their stipend is tied to the completion of an actionable lesson plan, which teachers are highly encouraged to implement in their classrooms.
We emphasize supporting underserved students by recruiting teachers from high needs schools, as defined by free-or-reduced lunch proportions or test scores in the lowest quartile. To best serve these students, we are also committed to entering strategic partnerships to combine resources and strategies. In 2019, Ignited joined with two other nonprofit organizations, the Krause Center for Innovation (KCI) and Science from Scientists (SfS), to form StepUP (STEM Teacher and Employee Partnerships for Underserved Populations). Through industry-aligned curriculum, year-round professional development, and teacher-STEM professional relationships, this year-round approach aims to close STEM resource, career opportunity, and role model gaps for underrepresented students in high needs schools.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our 35 years of experience in running this program has given us a positive reputation among both schools and companies in the Bay Area. We have developed many strong relationships with companies that are dedicated to supporting our work.
We continually collect teacher feedback to improve our programs each year, and our results demonstrate the effectiveness of our programs. Through external and internal surveys, we have demonstrated that Ignited has a positive impact on teacher retention, teacher leadership, National Board Certification rates, and teacher performance in the classroom. Retention rates for Ignited teachers are much higher than their peers in the state and nation, saving their districts thousands of dollars in teacher turnover costs.
Teachers specifically report being “transformed” by their Ignited experiences, increasing their knowledge and confidence in STEM subjects as well as their commitment to teaching. They also report that their students are generally more engaged. The student-driven lessons they bring back to the classroom replicate workplace learning and are proven to close the achievement gap for underserved and underrepresented students.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Over the past 35 years, Ignited has provided 3,798 Summer Experiences for teachers from 768 schools (665 public and 103 private) and 135 districts, primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through these teachers, Ignited-related ideas have reached over 3.3 million students, approximately 53% of whom are educationally disadvantaged and traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields.
The Summer Experience Program continues to earn very high satisfaction ratings from the teachers it serves, and both internal and external evaluations reflect a highly effective program. Our most recent external evaluators described the program as, "a highly efficacious program that is consistently well-implemented and strongly valued by teachers and principals."
We have also expanded our portfolio to include programs such as the Company Experience Weeks, the Diversity Leadership Development Program, and StepUP. We plan to continue building partnerships like StepUP to expand our reach and increase our impact on students who are underserved and underrepresented in STEM fields.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.),
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
Our staff, Our board, Our funders,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive,
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Ignited (formerly Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education)
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Keegan Evans
Product Development Operations Manager at Intuit
Anissa Kalinowski
Biotech Professional
Dan Lynch
Senior Director of Treasury at Cisco Systems
Anne Hausler
Director of Client Services at HR
Patrick Beatty
Sr. Director of Strategic Product Analytics at Naspers Ventures
Keegan Evans
Product Development Operations Manager at Intuit
Sean Folan
Senior Director of Treasury at Cisco Systems
Selina Garrison
Director of Professional Services at Intuit
Christine Moon
President and CEO at Virtana
Faith Dukes
Manager of K-12 Programs at Berkeley Labs
Ronnie Versher
Acting Director of Community Benefits at San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
No data
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data