Covestro LLC has been awarded the 2016 STEM Mentoring Award for "Excellence in Corporate Culture" by by US2020, an organization that focuses on matching Fortune 500 companies and in-class education partners. The national award recognizes Covestro's companywide i3STEM program, which ignites young minds to become the innovators of tomorrow through hands-on science experiences and employee volunteerism. As an award recipient, Covestro will be participating in a White House STEM Mentoring Symposium on Thursday, August 11.
The mission of US2020, is to change the trajectory of STEM education in America by dramatically scaling the number of STEM professionals mentoring and teaching students, especially those who have been traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields.
Covestro, which operated as Bayer MaterialScience until September 2015, has a 60-year history of strengthening STEM education and fostering a diverse STEM workforce pipeline in the U.S. The company is now pioneering a new approach to STEM mentoring and volunteering with skills-based volunteerism (SBV). The US2020 award acknowledges Covestro's "exceptional work" in STEM mentoring.
Approximately 260 employee-volunteers at six U.S. Covestro sites work with more than 100 K-12 schools by participating in classroom visits, career fairs, science nights, mentoring, Girls in STEM programs and other special events. They also have hosted or engaged in dozens of career fairs and conferences at universities. Through these activities, Covestro employees have impacted more than 40,000 students.