When Me’lani Joseph was 11 years old, she and her mother lived in Tanzania near a village where many homes lacked running water and electricity. Though her home had those luxuries, she never forgot the experience of seeing others go without them.
“That really stuck with me as an 11-year-old,” she said. “I was going to be an international planner and developer, and I thought engineering would be my ticket.”
She hoped to someday improve irrigation and transportation systems in the developing world. As it turns out, engineering did become a key component of Joseph’s career—just not in the way she initially imagined.
Instead, Joseph, director of engineering at the Leonard Gelfand STEM Center, has the opportunity to bring two passions together: engineering and youth development.
“It was after I had my first kid that I realized I wanted to focus on young people,” she said. “Something in me just clicked that I wanted to focus on youth development.”
In her role with the center, she plans and develops programming to give young people access to new experiences in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
One opportunity for local students to gain exposure to STEM fields is TECHie Camps, a program hosted by Tech Corps, which aims to engage elementary and middle school kids in technology. ϳԹ for the third consecutive summer this year, with eight camps offered in programming and robotics.
The camps give students an introduction to technology and encourages them to take a break from consuming technology and, instead, produce it.
“It’s really fascinating to see the students come with their own ideas and then create something unique,” she said, remembering one story in particular in which one student who created a program with the sole purpose of annoying his sister.
Over the past three years, the program has grown at ϳԹ to allow for more opportunities for new students to get involved, and for some students to continue coming back each year. Joseph considers the opportunity for some to get involved in the program year after year crucial for their development.
“You just don’t know how [early experiences are] going to impact kids, but I do believe that starting early and having sustained engagement is important,” she said.
Because of her early experiences in life, Joseph realized that importance—so now she works daily to make sure young people in Cleveland have that opportunity.
Throughout the year, Joseph works to foster interest in STEM fields, with the Engineers Week Engineering Challenges Carnival and Girls Take Flight, a collaborative program with the Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio and NASA where the girls have a chance to learn more about STEM fields.
Learn more about Joseph in this week’s 5 questions.
