AspireED Story

AspireED was founded by Alyssa Huang, whose early passion for STEM led her to begin peer math tutoring in 2022.  Through tutoring, Alyssa discovered her love for teaching and observed a recurring pattern: many girls lack confidence in STEM despite strong academic ability, while some students lack STEM resources in their classrooms.  

Motivated by her observations, Alyssa wrote a research paper on gender, socioeconomic status, and STEM education. She learned that STEM careers are powerful drivers of economic mobility. However, females make up only 28% of the STEM workforce, while students from lower income backgrounds earn STEM degrees at roughly 1/3 the rate (7.8%) of their higher-income peers (22.5%). 

Through her research, Alyssa learned that the most effective ways to narrow these STEM gaps include early STEM exposure, free and accessible programming, mentorship, and addressing stereotypes. 

In 2024, Alyssa founded AspireED with the goal of expanding access to STEM education.

Alyssa began by teaching weekend math classes to first generation 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students and later partnered with local schools to provide scholarships for summer STEM enrichment programs.  Since then, Alyssa has recruited student volunteers and expanded AspireED to include after-school science classes, a mentorship program, free community STEM events, STEM kit donations, STEM equipment classroom donations, and free online STEM resources. 

Through AspireED, Alyssa hopes to foster curiosity, confidence, and opportunity for the next generation of STEM learners.