Hispanic women and girls connect over STEM at weekend workshop

Hispanic girls and their mothers learned about science, technology, engineering and math at a workshop by the Mujeres Omega Foundation on April 27 2024. (Galen McDougall/CTV News Edmonton)

A new non-profit is hoping to help more Hispanic girls get into science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

The Building Bridges Program is a six-week initiative by the Mujeres Omega Foundation (MOF), where Hispanic girls and their mothers can spend time learning about careers in STEM.

Each week, mother-daughter duos gather to problem-solve through different activities and interactive workshops.

"They're loving the program," said MOF founder Mairim Neves, who is also an engineer.

"It's amazing, this is week five for them, and the first week they were a little bit unsure what this is about, but now they love it."

Eleven-year-old Jazmin Rincon wants to be an engineer like her father, and she's been enjoying learning about all the different options over the past five weeks.

"It's really fun, and we get new experiences every time," she said, adding it's nice to be able to participate in Spanish.

While the program is designed to get more girls intersted in STEM, Neves said it's also an opportunity to build stronger relationships between the daughters and their moms.

"One beautiful thing that the program is creating is actually that bridge between the girls and their moms, they're communicating with each other while they're working," she added. "It's nice to see."

By 2030, Engineers Canada wants to see 30 per cent of newly licenced engineers be women.

MOF offers mulitple programs for Hispanic families. You can learn more by visiting the organization's website.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Galen McDougall