From November 6th to 8th, 2014, MSNBC took part in the annual Net Impact Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Each year, the conference brings together thousands of student and young professional Net Impact members, who are passionate about tackling social and environmental challenges, to participate in interactive sessions and directly interact with leaders from organizations across America. On Friday, attendees who visited the MSNBC booth at the Net Impact Expo had the opportunity to learn how MSNBC has been Growing Hope all year:
MSNBC also asked attendees to tell us their hopes around issues they care about and share their photos on social media; we received a terrific response.
On Saturday, MSNBC hosted an interactive session entitled “Growing Opportunities for Women and Girls in STEM.” Even though women fill close to half of all jobs in the United States and comprise 58% of college graduates, they hold fewer than 25% of technical or computing positions and only 13% of engineering jobs. Ronan Farrow, host of Ronan Farrow Daily on MSNBC, moderated the session and guided a packed room of energetic Net Impact members as they brainstormed innovative solutions to bolster the pipeline of females seeking and thriving in STEM careers.
The session kicked off the MSNBC and Net Impact online Growing Hope Challenge, open to all Net Impact undergraduate and graduate student members. Participants can propose solutions to the following three challenges:
- How might we make science, technology, engineering, and math opportunities more accessible for girls and young women?
- How might we leverage technology to help fight malnourishment and hunger in the U.S.?
- How might we increase access to and expansion of renewable energy for Americans?
If you’re a Net Impact student member, learn how you can get involved in the challenge here. It’s quick and easy to sign up for a free Net Impact membership here: https://netimpact.org/user/register.