Black Girls Do STEM Celebrates Community, Innovation and $5,000 Raised

The projects brought the science. The girls brought the confidence. And the community showed up to celebrate both.

Black Girls Do STEM’s End of Year Showcase brought students and supporters together on Sunday, October 18, at Elevator Co-Warehousing in St. Louis for an afternoon centered on learning, creativity, and connection.

Called “An Afternoon in STEM,” the event gave participants an opportunity to share the projects and skills they had developed throughout the year. Designed levees, satellites, food ecosystems, and cosmetic marketplace product sales offered a look at the range of their work.

According to Black Girls Do STEM’s post-event update, the showcase raised $5,000. Alongside that fundraising milestone, the organization celebrated something equally central to its mission: a community investing in Black girls’ confidence, curiosity, skills, and futures.

Young Innovators Put Their Work in the Spotlight

The Black Girls Do STEM showcase made room for students to share what they had been learning and creating.

Their work spanned designed levees, satellites, and food ecosystems—projects that brought different areas of STEM into the same space. The cosmetic marketplace added another dimension, with participants selling products and bringing their work directly to the community.

Together, those projects illustrated the breadth of the students’ interests. They also gave supporters a concrete way to connect with the program: through the ideas, products, and skills the girls were ready to share.

This was an afternoon to recognize their effort and give their work an audience.

Confidence, Curiosity, Culture and Community

In its recap, Black Girls Do STEM highlighted four words that captured the showcase: confidence, curiosity, culture, and community.

Those themes connected the student projects to the larger purpose of the gathering. The event celebrated what participants had accomplished while inviting supporters to invest in what comes next.

For Black Girls Do STEM, the celebration was about more than a finished project. Its message to attendees emphasized the girls themselves—their growing confidence, their questions, their abilities, and their futures.

The organization’s description of the afternoon as “more than a showcase” reflected that broader focus. Student achievement was at the center, surrounded by the people who came to recognize and encourage it.

A $5,000 Investment in Their Futures

Black Girls Do STEM reported $5,000 raised through the showcase, marking a fundraising achievement worth celebrating.

In thanking supporters, the organization framed their contributions as an investment in a girl’s confidence, curiosity, skills, and future. That message gave the fundraising total a personal meaning: support for the young people whose work filled the afternoon.

The organization also credited its community for helping make the event a success. Its post-event message expressed gratitude for both the investment and the joy supporters brought to the experience.

Continuing the Conversation With Cynthia Chapple

DELUX’s interview with Cynthia Chapple, Founder and Executive Director of Black Girls Do STEM, provided additional context for the celebration.

In the first interview clip, Chapple discussed the upcoming showcase. In the second, she shared her background and what led her to start Black Girls Do STEM.

Those conversations offered an introduction to the person behind the organization and the purpose behind its work. The showcase then put the spotlight on the participants, giving the community an opportunity to engage with their projects and celebrate their accomplishments.

Keeping Black Girls’ Ideas at the Center

The takeaway from the Black Girls Do STEM showcase was the range of work its young participants brought forward—and the community’s willingness to invest in them.

From levee designs and satellites to food ecosystems and cosmetic products, students had space to share their interests and demonstrate their skills. The afternoon paired that recognition with $5,000 raised and a message of gratitude rooted in community and joy.

To learn more about Black Girls Do STEM, visit bgdstem.com⁠ and follow @bgdstem on Instagram⁠. Watch DELUX’s interview clips with Cynthia Chapple for more about her background and the organization’s story.