Madison-based STEM education company Maydm continues to expand its impact as it bolsters its programs for youth of color in Wisconsin.
Maydm, an education company that provides girls and youth of color in grades 6-12 with skills and experience to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), has seen explosive growth since its founding a decade ago in 2015. It continuously tweaks its curriculum to meet students’ needs as it experiments with how best to reach those enrolled in its programs.
“We don’t see ourselves in those fields, like you said, but at the same time, it’s one of those places where students and even sometimes other people of color don’t notice it in the world,” said Ben Pate, program manager at Maydm.
Building more representation in STEM continues to be Maydm’s mission. Pate points to failures in design of things like sensors on sinks often struggling to read darker skin — which, if there were more representation in STEM, could have been addressed sooner.
To reach a more representative field Maydm tries to meet students’ interests with its career lab. Newer in its efforts is to use intake forms to help gauge what students hope to learn and allows it to tailor experiences towards their interest.
Maydm has a suite of tools, electronics and various gadgets for students to play with. If a student is more interested in virtual reality, computer engineering, 3D printing, or a variety of other areas in STEM, Maydm comes readily equipped.
“It’s more of a space to give students a full chance to explore whatever thing they want to explore,” Pate said. “If you can manipulate it, you can build it. You have that option.”
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
It also comes coupled with a stipend to build the project that helps students understand how to budget for a project. The totality of the experience helps students find a path for a potential area in STEM and, with Maydm’s growing outreach, aids students in finding an internship.
Maydm’s internship program has also significantly grown alongside its educational components. In 2021, when Maydem started with its internship push, it had 12 across five companies. Now, it’s sitting at 35 and will finally have a fully devoted staff during its summer program for the first time.
“This isn’t an internship where they’re copying papers or just sitting in meetings,” said Asia Pfiefer, workforce development manager at Maydm. “We really do our best to provide meaningful job experiences, but they’re also learning actual hard skills within engineering and tech industries.”
Internships have spanned in multiple industries. To date, interns have worked with places like St. Vincent DePaul to help with its charitable pharmacy, UW Health, Wisconsin Games, and many others.
As it continues to spread, Maydm is building an additional avenue to expand its offering to students. Around 600 students have come through Maydm in its decade of operation. With the breadth of experiences and interests, Maydm has turned to its former students as it builds its own alumni network.
Maydm invites students back to teach sessions. Two students for the summer, Marie Outlay and Mawuenam “Mo” Dossa, have made their rounds and are now back for their second year teaching.
Outlay found Maydm through her mother, Christina Outlay, who is the executive director of Maydm.
“I’ve been both working in Maydm and also being a student at the same time. It’s been really fun to learn the ins and outs as a student as well as an instructor,” Outlay said. “Now, as a permanent instructor, I would say it’s beneficial that I was a student because now I kind of know how the students’ mind works.”
When Outlay was a student, she didn’t ask many questions if she got stuck on a project. As a second-year instructor, she embodies her own personal experience at Maydm to help her be more attentive to students.
“I make sure that I go around and I’m overly helpful. Like ‘Are you okay? Are you caught up? Do you need help?’ Because I knew that I wasn’t one of those people who didn’t ask for help and I just tried to figure it out on my own,” Outlay said.
Dossa found his way to Maydm from a flyer he saw while he attended Glacier Creek Middle School in Cross Plains around six or seven years ago. He thought it looked cool and was in his interest, so he wanted to attend if he was able to find a ride down to Madison.
He started with the robotics program and was hooked.
“I was like ‘Oh, this is really fun.’ I was an eighth grader at the time, so it was ‘Oh, this is technology. Technology is awesome. Love computers, so might as well do this little camp,’” Dossa said.
Dossa did multiple programs in robotics and coding before he did the internship program. He loved how it helped him gain valuable experience, mentorship and “it was awesome to work at a real company and be like ‘Yeah, I have a real job.’”
After his rounds through Maydm, Dossa is excited to be back to teach. He feels teaching allows him to give back to Maydm and help students find their own path in STEM.
“If I’m able to teach them something, that’s even better,” Dossa said. “If they teach you something, that’s even better because then we’re having a conversation, an intellectual conversation, an emotional conversation.”
Maydm’s summer programs are currently open for enrollment. Programs can be found on its website.
