Coalition of Hispanic, African and Native Americans for the Next Generation of Engineers and Scientists (CHANGES) Organizational Workshop

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CHANGES is a Coalition of Hispanic, African and Native Americans for the Next Generation of Engineers and Scientists. This unique coalition has the potential to dramatically change the way its constituent organizations function with respect to national level activities that support broadening participation. With fifteen current member organizations, CHANGES has brought together many of the professional societies that target diverse populations to convene a workshop, hosted by the University of Texas at Arlington, during spring 2015. The workshop will facilitate the creation of a strategic plan for broadening participation at the national level, involving the membership of each of the organizations. A core set of strategic initiatives aimed at leveraging the collective membership to positively impact the STEM workforce, research, and educational communities on a national scale. The proposed activity will advance our knowledge with respect to how this coalition can advance broadening participation efforts. While this type of coalition has been attempted in the past, it failed to gain traction and subsequently disbanded before even really getting started. The workshop and related efforts will: 1) solidify the partnership of CHANGES member organizations to maximize the collective influence for broadening participation in STEM; 2) improve the understanding of partner organizations' programs in order to better coordinate and complement these programs (by taking advantage of other strengths and goals of the individual organizations and enhancing the collective agenda of CHANGES), and 3) identify a core set of strategic activities aimed at leveraging the collective membership of CHANGES to broaden participation and inclusivity in the STEM workforce, research, policy, and educational communities - on a national level. Ultimately, the project will produce a broader understanding of how professional organizations that focus on under-represented populations can effectively collaborate to make a significant impact on the diversity of the STEM national workforce.