Boundless Brilliance Chapter Updates
Much of Boundless Brilliance’s core programs are carried out by our chapters. For that reason, we are excited to share updates from our chapters.
If you are interested in bringing a Boundless Brilliance chapter to your university, please contact us at info@boundlessbrilliance.org
occidental college chapter
This semester, the Occidental College Boundless Brilliance chapter welcomed 43 new members across the development, presentations, and outreach teams. We sent members to San Pascual Elementary School to present to students about STEM and being in college in October, and the teachers said our presenters did a wonderful job! We presented at least weekly at local schools starting in October. We had an all-team meeting at the end of October, and the meeting had a great turnout. We are also planning to host a speaker for our next all-team meeting. We started a "member of the month" tradition in our monthly newsletter, where we highlighted a member or two each month that had gone above and beyond within their team! For October, we nominated Sydney Crespo and Evelyn Lorch from the presentations team, and for November, we highlighted Anahy Lizarraga and Selest Solorio from the development team. We also ran a "thankful grams" fundraiser, where students could send a note with some candy/face masks/water bottles to a friend for the holiday season, which went extremely well. Overall, this was a very successful semester for us, and we look forward to seeing what we can do next semester!
Azusa Pacific University Chapter
This semester, APU had 12 new members join the APU Boundless Brilliance family! Our presenters engaged with the community by attending Don Benito’s Stargazing Night, where they hosted a science booth and conducted fun, quick science experiments. We also had a successful fundraiser in collaboration with Sushi Factory in Azusa. Our whole club has started planning and organizing our annual STEAM Day for this upcoming spring, where we expect to get a variety of clubs and faculty involved to get kids excited about science.
Westmont College Chapter
This is the first year Boundless Brilliance has been active at Westmont College! Our brand-new leadership team has been working hard to build a successful chapter foundation this semester. At our first club meeting, our 30 or so members got to know one another through games and bonding activities. Throughout the year, each individual team has also met and worked together under the guidance of their respective team coordinators. All presentation team members have finished putting together and practicing their presentations, enabling us to give our first presentation in early November! The outreach team is currently in contact with around five local schools and is in the process of scheduling more presentation dates. Additionally, the development team is planning our second fundraiser of the year, which is set to take place the week after Thanksgiving.
We are excited to be a part of Boundless Brilliance for the first time ever and look forward to continuing next year!
Volunteer Highlight: Rachana Gurudu
Rachana Gurudu (she/her) is a high school senior at BASIS Scottsdale in Arizona. She first got involved with Boundless Brilliance as a national volunteer in January 2021, creating lesson plans, giving presentations, and connecting with local schools, and has expanded to working with the disability awareness initiative and the ASU chapter. Rachana hopes to study public health in undergrad and eventually pursue a degree in medicine!
If interested in volunteering with Boundless Brilliance, contact us at info@boundlessbrilliance.org. You can find a list of current volunteer opportunities at VolunteerMatch.
New advisory council member: swapna savant
Swapna Savant is an engineering leader at Headspace health, and currently leads the engineering teams responsible for expanding the platform capabilities for Fortune 500 companies and enterprise partners. She has 15+ years of industry experience in building large scale systems and high-performing teams. She holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from University of North Carolina. She started her career with multi-national companies and later decided to move to start-ups to feed her creative mind and have a significant impact on the success of businesses. She is highly passionate about working towards creative ways to engage people with STEM programs and improving diversity and inclusion in tech. She is also involved in building strong leaders and empowering leaders to adapt to their role. With that in mind she founded a community, adaptUp, which helps people adapt to their roles.
Advisory Council members will have an opportunity to contribute their expertise and skills to assist Boundless Brilliance with expansion and sustainability. To learn more about our Advisory Council, contact us at info@boundlessbrilliance.org
Bridging the digital divide: The affordable connectivity program
In 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us were heartbroken when we saw evidence of the Digital Divide, shown in the photos captured of young students sitting outside of a Taco Bell so they could use the free Wifi to do their homework.
With our focus on accessibility and inclusion, we’ve always been keenly aware of the problem of the Digital Divide, where many learners continue to have difficulty accessing internet service and/or other technologies. While we pivoted and began to provide our STEM workshops virtually, we also raised funds and support to provide students with donated STEM boxes and workbooks that they could make use of at home.
However, the problem of access to the internet continues for many families. That is why we would like to share information about the Affordable Connectivity Program - a federal government subsidy of up to $30/month that helps eligible households pay for internet services. Participants can choose a carrier of their choice and Verizon will make the ACP subsidy available to eligible customers. Some eligible households can even receive monthly home internet for free once they apply the full $30 monthly credit.
Boundless brilliance youtube channel
The Boundless Brilliance YouTube channel is a unique resource with engaging and educational content that is readily accessible to all young learners, globally.
We provide a plethora of videos, including those that showcase STEM experiments and activities that young learners can follow along with at home, as well as those that focus on social-emotional learning. We also provide professional and personal development resources for college-age students and early career professionals.
We provide a materials list for each STEM experiment that includes supplies one can readily find at home.
Boundless Brilliance has also launched a NEW channel for college and high school students: Boundless Brilliance for Students in STEM
The channel features inspiring interviews and empowering information for students in STEM.
Please be sure to Like our videos, Share, and Subscribe to our channels so you don’t miss any of our new engaging content!
supporting boundless brilliance
There are many ways that you can support Boundless Brilliance this holiday season.
Donate online or Text the code “GIVE2BB” to 44-321
https://www.boundlessbrilliance.org/donate
Join our Sustainer Circle
For as little as $5 a month, you can join our Sustainer Circle and support Boundless Brilliance in empowering the next generation of STEM leadership so it is as diverse as the world we live in. Members of our Sustainer Circle gain discounts to our events and Boundless Brilliance exclusive merchandise!
Donate That Old Car
Do you have an old vehicle just sitting there, one in need of too many repairs? Or are you ready to upgrade to a new or more environmentally conscious vehicle?
Now you can have your old vehicle picked up for free with just a few clicks! You can make space and empower students at the same time!
Amazon Smile
Amazon drivers probably visit your house weekly, so why not make your money go further by allowing a percentage help support Boundless Brilliance?
Boundless Brilliance is listed on AmazonSmile! Next time you shop on Amazon, select Boundless Brilliance as your charity of choice at the checkout! Your price will stay the same, but Amazon will make a donation worth 0.5% of the purchase amount to support our work increase equity, diversity, and inclusion in STEM.
Minted
We have partnered with Minted this Holiday season, and we are excited to announce that they are offering a 20% discount on their unique stationary and custom gifts to supporters of Boundless Brilliance.
Shop here: https://www.minted.com
Use code: FUNDRAISEBOUNDLESS at checkout.
Minted will also donate 15% of the proceeds from all purchases made in support of Boundless Brilliance to our organization.
Shop our Etsy Shop
Be sure to check out the Boundless Brilliance Etsy shop for wonderful gifts for the future STEM leaders in your life or grab something for yourself. Our Etsy shop features everything from shirts and mugs to computer cases and crewnecks! All proceeds from the store goes to supporting our programs.
Shop HERE.
Volunteer
We have many virtual volunteer opportunities, and have a need for volunteers with diverse skill sets and expertise. You can even pitch a project that you would like to work on!
Learn more about opportunities to support here.
