Lewis Hamilton’s charity Mission 44 and the education charity Teach First have partnered to launch STEM from Black – a new campaign fronted by Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE which aims to recruit and upskill 150 Black STEM teachers.
Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, is a keynote speaker, presenter (Countdown), and co-founder of the award-winning social enterprise, Stemettes.
Commenting on the partnership, Dr Anne-Marie said: “STEM teachers are one of the most important things when it comes to future STEM talent. A huge part of this is about knowledge, having those basics and having those foundations. However, what’s most important is having teachers who can inspire, connect and motivate pupils to take on STEM knowledge.”
Only 2.4% of the teaching workforce identify as Black, (GOV.UK, 2022) compared to 84.2% of teachers being White British. The STEM from Black campaign shines a light on the experiences of Black STEM leaders, celebrates their contributions to society, and encourages Black communities to join the STEM community by applying for the Teach First Training Programme.
The campaign also features Dwain Brandy, a successful managing director turned deputy headteacher, Nadine Bernard, head teacher and founder of Aspiring Heads, Professor Nira Chamberlain OBE, mathematics professor and Aqueel Morgan, Teach First science trainee.
Nadine said: “As a young person I felt that I was failed by the education system and as an adult, I stepped into teaching in quite a naive way and have faced a number of challenges.”
The full campaign video can be watched here.