Expanding equitable access to high-quality out-of-school time educational opportunities for K-12 youth in Los Angeles

In January of 2020, The Office of Mayor Garcetti and the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles launched a program to bring together the diverse array of youth-serving organizations and out-of-school time (OST) providers that work with K-12 youth in Los Angeles. With the input of a task force, advisory council, and focus groups comprised of key stakeholders, the Mayor’s Office is incubating an out-of-school time enrichment intermediary that would support and strengthen the expanding learning ecosystem in LA to provide equitable access to high-quality OST educational opportunities for all children and youth in the LA area, with an initial focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. 

With the closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this group launched the Summer of STEM initiative to provide equitable access to STEM summer learning enrichment opportunities, particularly for students most in need of learning support. Several of L.A.’s premier STEM organizations including AltaSea, the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Columbia Memorial Space Center, Discovery Cube, Natural History Museum of L.A. County, TXT: Teens Exploring Technology, USC’s Sea Grant Program, Viterbi School of Engineering’s K-12 STEM Center and Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies will offer exciting programming with hands-on, project-based activities, engaging videos, experiments and opportunities for dialogue with local scientists and other STEM experts.