STEM Sep, 2025 FINAL REPORT
OGAV — Young Racialized Girls in STEM
One-Day Interactive Workshop Report
Executive summary
On September 20, 2025, OGAV held the Young Racialized Girls in STEM — One-Day Interactive Workshop at Huron Community Centre. The workshop delivered hands-on STEM learning, career exploration, mentorship opportunities, and facilitated discussions on multiculturalism, racism, and religious discrimination for racialized girls (ages 14–18). Forty-two participants engaged in rotation stations, engineering and robotics challenges, a keynote by a female STEM professional – Jasmin Uboma , and a closing STEM Showcase. Measured outcomes included a marked increase in STEM interest (pre 40% → post 75%) and self-efficacy (2.8 → 4.0 on a 5-point scale). The event strengthened community partnerships and produced actionable follow-up activity (38 (90%) mentorship sign-ups; 22 (52%) participants joining additional STEM clubs/programs within six weeks).
CONTENT
About OGAV
Event overview ——————————————————————- 1
Executive Summary ————————————————————– 2
Introduction, Purpose & objectives ———————————————-3
Program overview —————————————————————– 4
How activities achieved outcomes (mapping to expected results) ———— 5
Key outcomes & evidence (quantified indicators) ——————————- 6
Participant & parent voices (selected quotes) ———————————— 7
Community impact & partnerships ———————————————— 8
Successes (what worked well) —————————————————— 9
Major challenges & mitigations ————————————————— 10
Lessons learned & recommendations ———————————————-11
Next steps & how to stay involved ————————————————-12
Closing remarks ———————————————————————-13
Acknowledgements & contact ——————————————————14
Event Overview
- Date & time: Sept. 20, 2025, | 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM –
- Location: Huron Park Community Centre, Mississauga –
- Participants: 42 participants (ages 14–18) –
- Organizer: Ornaments of Grace & Virtue (OGAV) –
- Core partners/support: Volunteer MBC (volunteer placement), local schools and community organizations, OGAV Community Committee (retired teachers, STEM adjuncts, undergraduates summer interns), OGAV Board of Trustees (professional oversight).
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Executive summary
On September 20, 2025, OGAV held the Young Racialized Girls in STEM — One-Day Interactive Workshop at Huron Community Centre. The workshop delivered hands-on STEM learning, career exploration, mentorship opportunities, and facilitated discussions on multiculturalism, racism, and religious discrimination for racialized girls (ages 14–18). Fourty-two participants engaged in rotation stations, engineering and robotics challenges, a keynote by a female STEM professional – Jasmine Uboma, and a closing STEM Showcase. Measured outcomes included a marked increase in STEM interest (pre 40% → post 75%) and self-efficacy (2.8 → 4.0 on a 5-point scale). The event strengthened community partnerships and produced actionable follow-up activity (38 (90%) mentorship sign-ups; 22 (52%) participants joining additional STEM clubs/programs within six weeks).
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Introduction
Young Racialized Girls in STEM workshop addresses gender disparities in STEM field (SDG 4 & 5) by providing young, racialized disadvantaged girls in the Peel region, Ontario with a focused educational experience in STEM Activities. This workshop also addresses a critical gap in STEM education for racialized girls by providing accessible, hands-on learning experiences and mentorship.
The one-day interactive STEM workshop was an event designed to empower 200 young, racialized girls (ages 14–18) by providing immersive, hands-on learning experiences and fostering a supportive network that celebrates diversity and inclusion in STEM.
Purpose & objectives
Purpose: To inspire and empower racialized girls in the Peel Region by providing accessible, hands-on STEM learning, direct exposure to STEM careers in the 21st-century global economy by providing mentorship, skill-building opportunities, and connections with professionals. Discover the exciting world of science, technology, engineering, and safe spaces to discuss multiculturalism, discrimination, and belonging
Objectives:
- Increase interest and confidence in STEM pathways through learn about STEM and explore a career in the field
- Provide practical STEM skills through hands-on activities.
- Create mentorship links and community networks.
- Foster critical dialogue about multiculturalism, racism, and religious discrimination.
- are openly discussed
- Racialized girls aged 14-18 will be given the opportunity to learn about STEM and explore a career in the field.
Program overview
Workshop Agenda
9:00 – 9:20 → Registration & Welcome
9:20 – 9:35 → Icebreakers (STEM Who I AM)
9:35 – 10:00 → Speaker
10:00 – 11:10 → Workshop 1: Engineering Design Challenge (1 hour)
11:10 – 1:10→ Workshop 2: Robotics Exploration (2 hours)
1:10 – 1:40 → Lunch
1:40 – 2:20 → STEM Career Exploration
2:20 – 2:55 → World Challenge: STEM Case Study
2:55 – 3:00 → Closing Activity & Group Reflection
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How activities achieved outcomes
Interactive Sessions Registration & Welcome:
Ice-breaker – The workshop opened with a warm welcome and an icebreaker activity –
STEM, Who Am I
Workshop Structure & Activities
Curated Keynote Session: Inspirational Talk
A dynamic and influential female STEM professional shared her journey, challenges, and triumphs, providing relatable role models and success stories, as a racialized STEM professional, setting the tone for a day of exploration and empowerment.
Jasmine Uboma is a recent Honors Statistics graduate from Western University and will be pursuing her master’s degree at Columbia University in New York City. She is the founder of the Beyond Math Foundation, where she authored analytical math books
As a racialized STEM professional, she discussed challenges related to racial bias, gender discrimination, and cultural barriers within STEM fields. Her insights encouraged participants to reflect on how systemic issues influence their educational and career paths.
Facilitated Group Discussions and Reflection:
Throughout the day, dedicated discussion segments were interwoven as debrief at the end of each session- interactive activities. Small-group sessions and guided reflections provided a safe space for participants to share personal experiences related to multiculturalism, racism and discrimination. Trained facilitators lead these conversations, ensuring that all voices are heard and that discussions remain respectful and productive.
Outcome – Empowerment & Confidence Building: The participants were inspired through the relatable role models and success stories of Jasmine Uboma. This was evidence in girls opening saying “I see people like me in STEM”
Integrated Workshop Themes
Engineering Design Challenge – Designing a Catapult with given materials
Participants worked in teams- High school and middle school separate teams to tackle real-world engineering problems, encouraging innovative thinking and collaborative problem-solving. This concluded with a completion – test phase of three trials per team
Robotics Exploration – Robotics kits
Hands-on robotics sessions, introduce the basics of automation and programming, allowing participants to build, code, and operate simple robots. There were five students per team. High school and Middle school were separate teams. Each team had the opportunity to test the functionality of their robot and assessed with the facilitator’s rubrics
Outcome – Skill Development: Working as a team, the participants gained enhanced practical knowledge and collaborative problem-solving abilities through innovative thinking and engaging peer learning in engineering design, and robotics.
Role Model Interaction and Mentorship – Career Carousel
STEM Career Exploration
Interactive rotation stations exposed girls to a variety of STEM careers and practical tools, guided by experts and mentors who shared insights into their respective fields. The girls were in their various teams during the rotation of ten minutes per group.
Career Exploration: Introduce diverse STEM career pathways and provide hands-on exposure to tools and technologies via interactive rotation stations – Data analyst, Statistics & Math, Medical Technology – Neuroscience, Physical Science – Atomic physics (lasers and manipulating lights), Medical Science, and Engineering – Electrical
Outcome – Community & Networking: The Career Carousel created a safe and inclusive space where young, racialized girls connected, collaborated, and built lasting relationships with peers and mentors.
Addressing Systemic Barriers: The opportunity to meet racialized female STEM professionals directly confront and reduce the inequities in STEM education by providing targeted support and resources, having the opportunity to connect in person and build that relationship that are often inaccessible to marginalized girls in a safe and inclusive space.
Closing Activity & Group Reflection
Held debriefing sessions to encourage the girls to reflectively assess their views and take away from the event and provide an opportunity for peer learning and feedback.
Distributed feedback forms and surveys at the end of the event to gather participant insights
Each participant was given a USB stick uploaded with STEM resources – Clubs & Associations, Internships, and Courses, University and colleges and OGAV information
Key outcomes & evidence
The workshop produced clear, measurable community impact based on pre/post surveys and follow-up tracking:
- Registration & attendance: 41 registrants; 31 registered participants attended (76% of registrants) and 11 walk-in participants, for a total attendance of 42.
- Increased STEM interest: Pre-event interest 40% → post-event 75% — a +35 percentage-point gain (an +87.5% relative increase).
- Improved self-efficacy: Average self-efficacy rose 1.2 points (2.8 → 4.0 on a 5-point scale), equivalent to 56% → 80% on the scale.
- Strong mentorship uptake: 38 participants (≈90% of attendees) signed up for ongoing mentorship.
- Follow-on engagement: 22 participants (≈52% of attendees) joined school STEM clubs or additional STEM activities within six weeks.
Correct Data for the Website Bar Chart
Title: Young Racialized Girls in STEM – What Changed (Sept 20, 2025)
| Indicator | Before (%) | After (%) |
| STEM Interest | 40 | 75 |
| Self-Efficacy (confidence) | 56 | 80 |
| Mentorship Sign-up | 0 | 90 |
| Joined STEM Clubs/Activities (6 weeks) | 0 | 52 |
Attendance context (display above the chart):
41 registered → 31 attended (76%) + 11 walk-ins = 42 total participants
Interpretation: these indicators show the event not only increased interest and confidence in STEM but also converted that interest into concrete next steps (mentor relationships and club/course enrolments), demonstrating both short-term learning gains and early behavioral change.
Measurement methods: Pre/post surveys (Likert items), facilitator rubrics, attendance logs, mentorship sign-up forms, and 6-week follow-up checks.
Participant & parent voices (selected quotes)
On discussing discrimination and inclusion:
“Hearing the keynote speaker share her story made me realize I’m not alone — now I feel comfortable bringing up race and religion in class.” — Participant, age 17
“The small groups were a safe place to talk about things I haven’t talked about before. I left with real ideas for how to respond to micro aggressions.” — Participant, age 15
“Working with girls from different backgrounds showed me how our perspectives make solutions better we learned from each other.” — Participant, age 16
“This workshop turned my curiosity into a plan — I now know three paths I can pursue in STEM.” — Participant, age 17
On STEM learning & next steps:
“I coded a robot for the first time today — I never thought I could do this, now I want to join my school’s robotics club.” — Participant, age 15
Seeing women in real STEM jobs at the career stations made those careers feel possible. age 14
The engineering challenge taught me how to think like an engineer; I’m excited to take more classes.” — Participant, age 16
Parent feedback:
“We’re so glad this workshop happened — we’d like to see another event and would be happy to support the career carousel.” — Parent, Peel Region
Community impact & partnerships
The workshop strengthened local networks: Volunteer MBC supported volunteer placements; OGAV’s Executive Committee and trustees brought subject expertise and governance; local schools committed to future programming. Parent engagement was strong—several parents requested more OGAV programs, and two parents volunteered contacts to contribute to the next career carousel. The event’s ripple effects include follow-on club enrollments and increased school interest in hosting similar workshops.
Successes — what worked well
- Smaller cohort sizes enable deeper one-to-one engagement and enhanced mentorship quality.
- Diverse mix of professionals and student facilitators exposed participants to non-traditional STEM careers.
- Career carousel format with demonstration + Q&A provided practical career clarity.
- Venue layout supported rotation stations and the Showcase effectively.
- Effective volunteer leadership (undergraduates) drove planning and execution.
- Dual registration model (pre-registration + walk-ins) maximized accessibility.
- Positive parent satisfaction and emergent parent volunteers for future events.
Major challenges & mitigations
Challenges observed:
- Target capacity (200) was not met; smaller attendance improved engagement but limited reach.
- The Huron Community Center location had transit limitations for some participants.
- Robotics stations required more kits and worked best in pairs—equipment constraints reduced hands-on time.
- Parental media-consent response was low because consent requests were distributed late.
How we would do things differently:
- Prioritize transit-accessible venues or provide shuttle/transport subsidies.
- Redesign robotics for pairs and budget for additional kits and technical facilitators (honoraria).
- Integrate media consent into registration and provide multilingual consent materials in advance.
- Cap single-day sessions or run multiple identical sessions to reach larger totals without sacrificing depth.
Lessons learned & recommendations
- Collect consent at registration to enable full documentation and promotional reuse.
- Plan for transportation needs—select accessible venues or budget for shuttle/transit supports.
- Prioritize equipment ratios (participants per robotics kit) and compensate for technical leads.
- Maintain cohort quality: either cap attendance per session or deliver multiple sessions to meet aggregate reach.
- Strengthen outreach with traditional media plus targeted community networks and incentive referral programs.
- Formalize follow-up (mentor matching, 6/12-week check-ins) in the budget and staff plan.
Next steps & how to stay involved
- OGAV will follow up with mentor matches and conduct a 12-week impact check on participant progression.
- Schools interested in follow-up programming should contact OGAV to discuss in-class modules and club support.
- Volunteers, mentors, and community partners who wish to participate in the next career carousel are invited to register via OGAV’s volunteer coordinator at Volunteer MBC.
Contact: Email: [insert email] | Phone: [insert phone]
CLOSING REMARKS
OGAV STEM Workshop
Good afternoon, everyone.
On behalf of Ornaments of Grace and Virtue (OGAV), I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made our Girls STEM Workshop possible. Today we celebrate more than our second STEM event; we celebrate a shared conviction that when girls are given access, encouragement, and hands-on opportunities, they will rise and lead. I have the privilege of thanking the many people who turned that conviction into action.
Members of the Executive Committee, guest speaker, volunteers, interns, mentors, parents, and above all — our brilliant participants
First, a special thank you to Dr. Lorraine Otoide, our team lead and Emcee today, who worked tirelessly holding weekly planning meetings with our summer interns and guiding every detail from concept to execution. All of that transformed an idea into a powerful learning experience. Dr. Lorraine, your passion for mentoring young women in STEM, your leadership and care have been the backbone of this event.
To the members of our Executive Committee who gave their time, wisdom and oversight—thank you for being present today and for your steady support throughout the planning process.
We also want to give special thanks to our guest speaker – Jasmine Uboma, who inspired the girls with her personal story, turning a deep interest in mathematics into a successful career in statistics. Her honesty about the challenges, and the concrete examples of how mathematical thinking opened doors for her, challenged the girls to dream bigger and showed them a real pathway from classroom curiosity to a meaningful career. Thank you for giving our participants a vivid picture of what is possible and for encouraging them to aim high.
To the Career mentors, and facilitators who shared skills, stories, and practical knowledge — thank you for opening doors and showing the girls what career paths in STEM can look like?
To our summer interns, and Volunteers: you did the hands-on work that made today run smoothly: facilitating sessions, supporting teams, setting up materials, and encouraging participants when activities were challenging. Your generosity of time and spirit created a safe, playful, and productive learning environment that made this workshop run like clockwork. We see and deeply appreciate your energy and commitment.
Most importantly, thank you to the girls who attended: the curious, creative girls who showed up ready to learn; you are the reason we gather. Over the course of this workshop, you did more than follow instructions — you practiced computational thinking, learned practical tech and collaborated across teams, tested ideas, and learned how to fail forward. Those are not temporary gains. The curiosity, resilience, and confidence you’ve built here are enduring tools that will help you solve problems, ask better questions, and claim opportunities in school and beyond
The essence of a Girls STEM Workshop is simple but profound: give girls meaningful access to STEM experiences, pair those experiences with mentorship, and the result is lasting new skills, broadened horizons, and a stronger belief in what is possible. When a girl learns to code a program, build a circuit, or present a design, she is also learning how to think as an engineer, a scientist, or an innovator. Those ways of thinking translate into leadership, entrepreneurship, and community impact.
As we close, let us commit to continuing this work — to sustain mentorship, to providing resources, and to creating more spaces where girls can practice, discover, and lead.
Finally, thank you to everyone — supporters, mentors, and friends of OGAV for believing in this work and in these girls. . Girls, remember our theme: “Energizing the power in you.” Take the confidence, curiosity, and persistence you practiced here and let them power your next steps — study boldly, ask questions fearlessly, and support one another as you build the future you imagine.
Thank you and may the learning we began today grow into many bright futures.
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Acknowledgements
OGAV thanks all participants, parents, volunteers, mentors, the Huron Community Centre staff, Volunteer MBC, the OGAV Executive Committee (retired teachers, STEM adjuncts, and undergraduates summer interns), and the Board of Trustees for their commitment and support. Special thanks to the keynote speaker and all STEM professionals who contributed time and expertise.
OGAV Executive Committee
Dr. Lorraine Otoide – Team Lead
Judith Olomodosi
Elaine Asaru
Althea Forrester
Ann Marie Juno
Olubusola Kolade
Summer interns –
Aqsa Tanweer
Mandeep Aujla