Act now to shape the 2023-2028 Federal STEM Strategic Plan

March 10, 2023

A new series of listening sessions from the White House will lay the groundwork for the next Federal STEM Strategic Plan and we need your input!

Together, the members of STEMx advance high quality STEM education as a workforce and equity imperative. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is taking feedback on the upcoming Federal STEM Strategic Plan. Using the form below, share some of your ideas and the STEMx Policy Advisory Team will share this feedback with OSTP.

OSTP will host a series of virtual listening sessions to inform the development of the next Federal STEM Strategic Plan. Six sessions will be held between March 15 – 24. From OSTP, the aim of these sessions is to gather “information and perspectives on the challenges faced by – and within – the STEM ecosystem in the United States and solutions that might be implemented by the U.S. Government” from a variety of stakeholders.


Members of the STEMx Policy Advisory Team will attend the listening sessions on behalf of STEMx. They will represent the identified STEMx policy priorities, along with STEMx member feedback on the topics identified by OSTP. These topics are the themes for the listening sessions, and will likely show up in the final STEM Strategic Plan:


  • STEM Education: Support learners and educators in and across all science and technology disciplines 
  • STEM Workforce Development: Prepare and recruit our Nation’s future STEM workforce
  • STEM Workforce: Foster inclusive STEM learning and working spaces to retain STEM learners and workers
  • STEM Engagement: Foster meaningful community and public engagement in science and technology
  • STEM Research and Innovation Capacity: Build and drive capacity and cutting-edge STEM (and STEM education) research and development
  • The National STEM Ecosystem


This is the moment to help OSTP create a Federal STEM Strategic Plan that reflects the reality we live in, work in, and experience each day. This is the moment to show the power of the STEMx network – to use our collective voice to shape the direction of the plan, to help define the language used, and highlight proven strategies that can make a difference for all STEM learners.


We are collecting STEMx member feedback here. Over the next week, add feedback, thoughts, statistics related to that topic. The Policy Advisory Group members will share this feedback on behalf of STEMx during the Listening Sessions.


The listening sessions are open to the public. Visit the OSTP website for a complete list of sessions, times and registration links.

Celebrating the 2023 STEM Innovation Forum

By Rob Evans • November 1, 2023
by Heather Sherman, Director of STEMx The 2023 STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce was a success! Through our collaboration with STEMconnector and Million Women Mentors, we convened 160 leaders from industry, government, non-profit organizations, and education institutions from all over the United States to discuss strategies and best practices to support the STEM workforce. We were honored to host a variety of dynamic speakers including: Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado Brynt Parmeter, Chief Talent Management Officer, U.S. Department of Defense Dr. Athina Kanioura, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, PepsiCo and Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, Founder and CEO of Ruling Our eXperiences (RoX). We extend our gratitude to our panelists, Learning Session speakers, and participants who joined us in Denver. Broadening participation We set out share information on trends in STEM education and workforce development, with an emphasis on broadening participation in STEM careers. Resources from sessions highlighting strategies for broadening participation are linked below: DoD STEM: Developing a STEM Workforce to Support the National Security Mission Priming the Pump for High Demand STEM Careers STEM Workforce Readiness for Teen Girls: “If She Can See It, She Can Be It” Driving change Another goal of the forum was to feature high impact strategies, programs and solutions that are driving change, and STEMx members from LASTEM , the PAST Foundation and MBRT showed how they are engaging youth and building career awareness through their workforce programs. Emerging technologies We looked towards the future to better understand how emerging technologies will change the world and the ways we must prepare STEM talent for jobs in logistics, artificial intelligence, research safety , bioenergy , and renewable technologies. Chevron‘s sponsored panel, “Cultivating the Talent to Drive the Innovation and Technologies for Ever-Cleaner Energy” was a rich discussion featuring experts from Chevron, Project Lead the Way and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Dr. Jamie Vernon, Executive Director, and CEO, Sigma Xi Society was a fantastic moderator for this discussion. Next steps We have linked event resources including videos, slide decks and collateral on the event landing page . The event photo gallery is located there as well. If you attended, please complete our 30 second event survey . Five lucky winners will be selected at random to receive a Forum water bottle! More importantly, your feedback matters to us. If you did not attend, mark your calendar for next fall - we’re looking to make next year even bigger! If you are interested in hosting in your state, or have thoughts about compelling content that we should include, please reach out to Heather Sherman .

STEM Innovation Forum: Agenda and New Sponsors

By Rob Evans • October 3, 2023
Join us for The STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce