MESA’s Equity-first Mission Continues Successes

Oregon MESA (Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement) is the longest-running outreach program of Maseeh College. Since 1985, MESA  has worked to forge an ecosystem of teachers, parents, schools, businesses, and community members who work together to foster an inclusive pathway to success for students.  As an equity-first organization, MESA’s mission is "to provide students underrepresented in STEM fields with the skills, knowledge, and opportunities to develop their talents, explore technology-based careers, enter college, and compete successfully in the workforce." This includes students of color (American Indian/Alaska Native, African-American/Black, Hispanic/Latinx, or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander); students from low-income backgrounds; and female, non-binary, transgender, and gender-diverse students. MESA’s inspiring and successful programs are purposefully only offered to schools with large populations of underrepresented students so that they may achieve their postsecondary aspirations in STEM fields.

As countless middle and high school students continue to explore their potential in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through MESA’s middle and high school programming, the organization is now excited to extend this support to MESA alumni currently attending Portland State University and pursuing a STEM degree through the Oregon MESA Alumni Endowed Scholarship. This newly established scholarship, made possible by the generous support of Angela Jackson, Portland leader in business and entrepreneurship, will provide MESA alumni at PSU with financial assistance to achieve their academic and career goals.

The establishment of the scholarship furthers MESA’s mission and ensures that students historically underrepresented in STEM fields have the opportunity to continue to excel academically and fuel the innovation economy with diverse, talented leaders, like MESA alumna Laura Skinner. Laura is currently a Mechanical Engineering student at Portland State University. As a middle and high school student, Laura was introduced to engineering through the MESA programs at her schools. With the support of the MESA ecosystem, Laura was inspired to pursue an engineering degree: "MESA gave me the encouragement to be a leader and planted a seed in me that I could do this and be successful. I chose to attend PSU to pursue mechanical engineering because I knew I would have a support system already there. I had toured the engineering building many times before during MESA day and I knew who all the MESA staff were. This allowed me to feel supported in my decision to pursue engineering and I knew that when things got tough, I would have people I knew and trusted nearby to cheer me on.”

Laura also secured an internship with Daimler Truck North America this past summer, and credits part of her success at the internship to her experience in the MESA program: “During my internship at Daimler I was asked to develop a diagnostic tool using Arduino. My team had selected me as their intern because of the expansive experience I had working with Arduino on my resume, and that is entirely thanks to my early exposure to it in High School with MESA.”

Success stories like this are not an uncommon result of MESA’s multi-pronged efforts. These efforts encourage family engagement, extending the learning experience into students’ homes and offering regional centers with access to further resources.  Local businesses and industry leaders provide mentorship and education in this process of helping underrepresented students excel in math, engineering, and science though hands-on invention education.

MESA outreaches also include opportunities for networking and a little healthy competition, like the annual MESA Day, held every spring on the Portland State University campus. This past May, over 400 middle and high school students joined the event. From the riveting competitions to the student invention showcase centered around the theme of Designing for Environmental Justice, along with the campus tours and the college and career fair in the afternoon, MESA Day 2023 was a celebration of ingenuity and a reminder of the bright STEM future these students are building.

MESA cultivates opportunities and education for underserved STEM students and prepares the future technology industry workers of the world on PSU’s home turf. Learn more, get involved, volunteer, or donate at oregonmesa.org and sign up for updates.