Digi-Bridge

We had such a blast last week at Lakeview Neighborhood Associaton's Fall Festival last Friday! The folks at Lakeview put on a wonderful event with excellent community engagement. We were honored to be a part of it!

The Trane Technologies Foundation provided Digi-Bridge $290,000.00 for the continuation and expansion of in-school STEAMLAB programming, to advance Trane Technologies’ corporate citizenship strategy, Sustainable Futures, which promotes access to STEM and sustainability education and careers for students underrepresented in the STEM industry. “At Trane Technologies, our view of a sustainable future is one that provides equitable access to resources and opportunities, and this program helps our community move the dial,” said Deidra Parrish Williams, Director of Trane Technologies Foundation and Corporate Citizenship.   Sustainable Futures is part of the Opportunity for All pillar of Trane Technologies’ 2030 Sustainability Commitments, reflecting the company’s commitment to creating a workforce reflective of its communities, gender parity in senior leadership, and uplifting communities through STEM learning.

STEAMLab is our primary school offering for students K-8 in the CMS school district. Through our STEAMLab, we work with educators at Title 1 schools to develop age-appropriate programming in science, technology, engineering, art and math. Then we work with educators to offer afterschool and out of school opportunities for kids to engage. Here's why that matters: 🤖 Students are spending less time in school on science, math and art due to constraints put on educators. There's a lot to do and only so much time during the regular school day. 🤖 Our programming is free for students and provides a place for them to learn and explore while their parents might still be at work. 🤖 We pay the educators facilitating these STEAMLabs, ensuring that they know their time and efforts are appreciated and important. 🤖 Jobs relying on technology and STEAM-related topics will only continue to increase over the years. Getting kids interested and excited about these topics early primes them to meet the demands of our future world. 🤖 Most importantly, kids have FUN!! We love our STEAMLab work! Interested in learning more? Head to our website or send us a message 💙

A couple of weeks ago we took the opportunity to step away from the day-to-day operations to reflect on our goals, successes, and challenges with our Board of Directors and staff for our annual board and staff retreat! For our board retreat, we reflected on the long-term vision of success for Digi-Bridge students. For our staff, we reflected on our organizational values and how we can support each other in pursuit of our goals. Thank you to Armstrong McGuire & Associates for facilitating our board retreat and thank you to Yellow Duck Marketing for providing a space for our staff to spend the day!

We had an absolute blast with Trane Technologies this week! This incredible group of volunteers assembled 400 STEAMKits and had a blast doing it. We think the best part about a corporate STEAMKit build is that it allows you and your team to give back while also bonding and participating in team building. We're so grateful for our corporate partners. These kits will be distributed to K-8 graders across Charlotte thanks to them!

There is nothing quite like the look of wonder on a child's face when they see elements of an experiment or task come together. That look is easily our favorite part of the job, and it's a huge part of why we do what we do!

As the new school year kicks off, let's not forget that building a sustainable future is a team effort. In this episode of the Healthy Spaces podcast, Deidra Parrish Williams of Trane Technologies, Alyssa Sharpe of Digi-Bridge and Tyler, Texas science teacher Courtney Clague discuss how companies and educational partnerships are inspiring students to team up and tackle real-world #sustainability challenges in their classrooms and communities. Tune in at the link in the comments.⬇️

We're hiring! We're looking to add a Vice President of Advancement to our team here in Charlotte. The ideal person for this role is passionate about education and has a proven track record in growing contributed revenue from corporations and individuals. We need someone who's collaborative, excels at building relationships and is a strategic thinker. Head here to read the full job description and apply: https://lnkd.in/eD6rvdze

💙 💙 💙

Do you know a 6th-8th grader who's passionate about science, engineering and sustainability? Our free Environmental Sustainability Cohort kicks off in just a few weeks on October 3! This program is a great way for students to learn about fossil fuels, urban sustainability, clean energy solutions and more. Check out the flier for more information, and reach out with any questions!