ELITE Program for Black Youth

The ELITE Program for Black Youth provides experiential learning opportunities in STEM for Black Youth aged 15-22. Along with internship experience, participants receive entrepreneurship and leadership training in conjunction with wellness coaching. The program endeavors to help Black Youth develop marketable technical skills, transition into post-secondary studies, and build a professional network. Through their participation in the program interns develop transferrable skills through STEM projects, cultivate a cohort of like-minded peers, and gain practical experience as interns. We see the program as a practical solution for barriers to career advancement that many youth face. Our vision is to cultivate a community of highly skilled, employable, well-rounded young Black STEM professionals with limitless upward mobility within the STEM and business ecosystems. We partner with university research professors, professional engineers, scientists, business owners and technologists across industry and the academy to provide our interns with work-integrated training. Our interns contribute to projects with real-world impact and interact with relevant, cutting-edge equipment. Our program name: Experiential Learning in Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, or ELITE Program for short, emphasizes our dual passion for cultivating STEM professionals and our focus on instilling innovation and entrepreneurship skills in our cohorts.