Kenan Trust Grantee’s Founder Recognized as CNN Hero

Yamilée Toussaint, founder of STEM from Dance, has been recognized as a CNN Hero. Toussaint founded the nonprofit in 2012 after she noticed that girls, particularly girls of color, did not feel they belonged in science, math, or engineering fields. Toussaint experienced this herself as one of only two Black women in her engineering program at MIT. Though Toussaint grew up with the example of her parents pursuing STEM careers, her experience at MIT highlighted for her the need to diversify the STEM career field.

After graduation, Toussaint taught math at a high school in Brooklyn, NY, where she noticed that many girls had negative views about math. As she began to explore ways to make math more exciting and accessible to the students, Toussaint drew on another passion from her childhood and college career—dance. Toussaint imagined that dance could be an entrée into STEM topics for girls while also boosting their self esteem and instilling values like perseverance and determination.

Today, STEM from Dance integrates dance with STEM education and primarily serves girls of color from ages 8–24. Programming includes clubs and pop-up events to introduce girls to the curriculum and the STEM from Dance experience, as well as summer camps that provide a more intensive experience, complete with a final performance featuring both dance and STEM concepts through costume and set design, music mixing, and more. Participation in the program is free, and STEM from Dance is currently operating in nine states.

The Kenan Charitable Trust has now awarded STEM from Dance four grants, including a grant in September 2024 to support programming in the four states the Trust serves—Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and New York. With the most recent grant award, STEM from Dance aims to reach more than 2,000 girls of color across the four states.

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