For the 2nd year, WWEST and eng•cite have partnered to fund new outreach programs by organizations throughout communities in British Columbia and the Yukon. These programs must promote women and girls pursuing and working in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Despite the growing numbers of female undergraduates who are studying in engineering programs, females are still greatly underrepresented in STEM professions. Research and best practices have shown that diversity in STEM is beneficial to the development of creative and collaborative research and solutions through science.

The 2002-2009 NSERC Chair for Women in Science and Engineering, the Jade Project, established the funding program to advance gender diversity in science and engineering. Throughout its history, this program has benefited the BC and Yukon region by supporting key community based organizations, creating a culture of cooperation between outreach groups that had previously been geographically constrained from one another, and creating seed funding to develop or establish programs so that more women and girls can be reached.

WWEST has partnered with eng•cite, the operating name of the Goldcorp Professorship for Women in Engineering at UBC, in hopes to further benefit the BC and Yukon region by increasing the funding available to community organizations and achieving a broader impact on gender diversity in STEM fields.

Applicants to the Funding Partners Program can receive one time funding grants up to a maximum of $5,000 and are expected to have matching funds from other sources, as well as a plan for program sustainability after the first year of funding.

This year, the WWEST and eng•cite Funding Partners Program received 14 applications and was able to fund 10 of the new programs for 2016 with approximately $30,000 in direct funding.

Organizations and Projects that received funding for 2017 programs include:

• Advanced Molecular Biology Lab, University of British Columbia – Vancouver, BC
  Project funded: Women in STEM "Cited" Podcast Episodes
  
  
• Applied Sciences Outreach, Simon Fraser University – Burnaby, BC
  Project funded: FAS Tech Girls Camp
  
  
• Geering Up! University of British Columbia – Vancouver, BC
  Project funded: WWEST White Paper Videos
  
  
• Integrative STEM Team Advancing Networks of Diversity (iSTAND), University of British Columbia – Kelowna, BC
  Project funded: Integrating Robotics and Coding into Neuroscience Outreach
  
  
• Let’s Talk Science, University of Victoria – Victoria, BC
  Project funded: Women in Science Research Symposium
  
  
• Science Venture, University of Victoria – Victoria, BC
  Project funded: Venture Girls Program Expansion
  
  
• Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST) – Vancouver, BC
  Project funded: Quantum Leaps Conferences in Rural Communities
  
  
• UBC Curriculum & Pedagogy, University of British Columbia – Vancouver, BC
  Project funded: GirlsHack@UBC Event
  
  
• University of Waterloo – Waterloo, ON
  Project funded: Women of Innovation Symposium in Vancouver, BC
  
  
• We Count Math Society – Whitehorse, YT
  Project funded: Math Mania

The next call for funding proposals will be in August 2017 for projects taking place in 2018.
To find out more, check out the funding program website.