Ten thousand girls from Los Angeles County schools came together this week for a special screening of the 20th Century Fox film Hidden Figures. LA Promise Fund hosted the screening at the University of Southern California’s Galen Center as part of their Girls Build LA program. The event was held in partnership with the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics and the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans.
Hidden Figures tells the incredible story of three brilliant black female mathematicians who worked for NASA in the early 1960s and played a pivotal role in launching astronaut John Glenn into space, helping him become the first American to orbit the earth.
The girls in attendance were treated to a pre-screening Q&A featuring the Hidden Figures stars Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Pharrell Williams and Aldis Hodge. The program also featured the activity lead for NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover, Diana Trujillo and NASA astronaut and first female commander of the International Space Station Peggy Whitson via a video from space. The event MC was Biomedical Scientist and White House Senior Policy Advisor Knatokie Ford.
The purpose for the event was to inspire the girls to blaze new trails, reach new heights and to pioneer paths in STEM. LA Promise Fund is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing Los Angeles students for success in college, career, and life. The Fund works with a network of high-performing, community-based schools and a portfolio of programs that reach students throughout the County. The Girls Build LA program challenges young women from public middle and high schools in LA County to use STEM principles and 21st Century learning skills to affect social change.
As Board Chair Megan Chernin explains, “the Girls Build LA Challenge is more critical than ever in our mission to help close the gender and diversity gap in STEM.”
Learn more at lapromisefund.org/girls-build-la
Post by Octavia Goredema @OctaviaGoredema
Thank you so very much!