MESA’s commitment to bolster computer science education just got the presidential seal of approval.
The White House Office of Science and Technology selected MESA USA to be part of President Obama’s Computer Science for All Initiative.
During the last State of the Union, the President encouraged organizations to commit time and resources to increasing computer science literacy for underserved students. As an ongoing MESA initiative, MESA USA shared its plans to invest in developing our future generation of technical workers.
MESA will increase access to computer science education to 10,000 underrepresented students and their 500 teachers, and 500 expert mentors in K-14 schools represented by our ten member states.
By the end of the 2019-2020 school year, the member MESA states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Utah and Washington will serve 2,000 teachers and 2,000 mentors who are advancing computer science education for 40,000 underserved youth.
MESA will achieve these goals through collaborations with longstanding industry, government, and academic partners throughout the nation. Those partners include:
Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, University of California, University of Washington, University of Arizona, University of Maryland, Portland State University, Utah State University, Chicago State University, Temple University, The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab and Pacific Northwest Labs
After the announcement, MESA USA President, James Dorsey said, “It is an honor to partner with the White House and other national leaders to increase access to a computer science education for students of color. Together, the members of MESA USA will continue to advocate for STEM education, equity and access in MESA states in order to impact diverse populations to contribute to a competitive global workforce.”
MESA USA, serves over 49,000 students annually. The MESA USA States are Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah and Washington.