ATLANTA - GeorgiaChron -- On Thursday, November 19, 2020, The Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, a joint effort from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and United Way of Greater Atlanta announced that the fund distributed $6.511 million to 214 organizations supporting education-focused interventions, food insecurity, housing and mental health services. During this round of grants, BIPOC-led (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) organizations were prioritized and received over 50% of the funding; Science, Engineering and Mathematics Link Inc. (SEM Link) was one of the organizations that received funding.

SEM Link was awarded a $12,000 education-focused intervention grant for STEM programming, which has been the hardest content area to pivot during this virtual COVID-19 period. Since August, the organization has hosted 17 virtual STEM events, which have exposed youth to over 20 different STEM career paths on their social media platforms. SEM Link's virtual STEM events include Instagram Takeovers, STEM in the City Workshops and Teen Science Cafés. The funding from this grant, provides the resources for virtual STEM events in which youth meet STEM professionals to learn about STEM careers through interactive demonstrations and talks. "The pandemic forced us to reimagine our programming. It is important to the staff and boards that we implement our programs safely and utilize technology to expose youth to STEM and STEM Careers. I am grateful to the Greater Atlanta Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund for supporting our work to 'unveil potential through exposure' virtually," states Ms. Tokiwa T. Smith, SEM Link Founder and Executive Director.  SEM Link's past livestream events can be viewed on the organization's YouTube Channel, https://bit.ly/SEMLinkonYouTube

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About SEM Link

Science, Engineering and Mathematics Link Inc. (SEM Link), is a tax-exempt national nonprofit organization that was founded in 2005 by Tokiwa T. Smith in Atlanta, Georgia on the premise that exposure to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) community is critical to K-12 students pursuing STEM careers.  Hence, the organization being named SEM Link, because the essence of our work is connecting youth to the STEM community for youth to provide them with positive adult role models in STEM. Our programs and events increase students' awareness of STEM Careers and encourage their participation in STEM Research through hands-on activities and digital learning.  Since the organization's inception SEM Link through our programs and events, over 500 STEM professionals have exposed over 10,000 youth to over 50 different STEM career paths as well as supported hundreds of young STEM researchers. Follow SEM Link on Facebook and @semlink on Instagram (http://instagram.com/semlink). For more information about SEM Link visit our website at www.semsuccess.org or email us at info@semsuccess.org.

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