Michael Hurley on eliminating barriers and sparking interest in STEM careers.
When Michael Hurley joined the Lumity team early last year, he brought an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for opening doors for young people. Mike has spent the majority of his 30-year career working as an innovator who develops ways to get people engaged and excited about learning.
From an early age, Mike realized that he really enjoyed working directly with youth. He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and was an active volunteer in a wide range of organizations. He coached Little League and basketball. He got involved in both Head Start and Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
He also tutored, which helped spark the concept for his first start-up venture which offered in-person tutoring for students and professional development for teachers. He later launched a company that supplied quiz bowl questions to schools across more than 20 states. After selling that company, Mike joined forces with a small group of entrepreneurs to design maker spaces where kids could learn about technology and hands-on construction. Their team began designing maker spaces for schools and developed a curriculum for using these spaces to help students take full advantage of the offerings.
As Chief Schools and Strategy Officer, Mike leads Lumity’s Student-Based Enterprise program, which exposes high school students to STEM careers. “We’re constantly asking ourselves questions about how to light that spark and get them interested,” explained Mike. What are the barriers they face? How can we get more of them to pursue STEM careers? How do we provide access? How can we show them people who actually look like them who are succeeding in these careers?”
“Whatever those barriers are, we work to eliminate them. We organize site visits, meetings, and Q&As with our corporate partners so the students get a firsthand look at the possibilities. We design summer programming. If students need academic support, we step in with one-on-one tutoring services.”
This past school year was the culmination of the first four-year SBE program in five high schools. The highlight of the student’s senior year experience was matching teams with local small businesses. The student teams got hands-on experience working in direct collaboration with their clients to solve real-world challenges. They tackled a variety of challenges like helping these businesses create better websites and strengthen their social media presence. Students from Amundsen High School, for example, helped a local specialty grocer by developing recommendations for improving the store’s POS system.
As one SBE student described the experience, “You pass by these big high-rises, and you don’t really know what’s going on in there until you get inside and you’re able to see these careers that we didn’t know existed. It was really cool to see that.” It’s that kind of exposure that Mike and his colleagues work so hard to bring to life. “We’re working every day to create these connections and fuel that passion for STEM careers.”
Contact Mike to learn more about how you and/or your company can contribute to this effort.
