Yamilée Toussaint is the Founder & CEO of STEM From Dance, which empowers girls with the skills, experiences, and confidence to pursue careers in STEM through the transformative power of dance. Combining her background in engineering, education, and a lifelong passion for dance, she started the program in 2012 to inspire girls of color to pursue STEM careers. Yamilée holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and a M.S. in Teaching from Pace University. She has earned her numerous accolades, including Teach For America’s Social Innovation Award and AnitaB.org’s Educational Innovation Award.
Science Engagement Project
STEM From Dance
United States (New York)
STEM From Dance (SFD) is a nonprofit organization that envisions a world where underrepresented minority girls are creative, confident, and equipped to be leaders and innovators in the STEM fields. It is not a lack of talent or intelligence that prevents young women from pursuing STEM fields, but underdeveloped confidence and lack of opportunity to interact with STEM concepts in an approachable environment. To this end, SFD breaks down the intimidation barrier and empowers young women of color from low-income backgrounds to develop the confidence, skills, and awareness necessary to engage in and obtain STEM degrees.