STEMconnector’s Innovation Labs are short, intensive convenings that bring together education, industry, philanthropy, and government leaders to co-design solutions for building a stronger, more equitable STEM talent ecosystem. Innovation Labs are designed as action-oriented workshops rather than traditional conferences, structured to help communities and networks tackle specific STEM education and workforce challenges—such as aligning K–12 learning with careers or strengthening regional talent pipelines. Each lab focuses on a theme, including K–12 career-connected learning, bioindustrial manufacturing, or regional collaboration) and uses that focus to anchor shared problem‑solving among participants. ​The labs are meant to be catalysts rather than one‑off events; they generate briefs and highlight reels that capture key insights, promising models, and recommendations for broader audiences. Participants leave with new relationships, clearer roles within their regional or sector ecosystems, and practical ideas for aligning resources and initiatives in ways that can be sustained and replicated beyond a single community. 

The STEM Innovation Forum is a multi-day national gathering that convenes leaders from industry, education, government, nonprofits, and networks to align around a shared vision for a diverse, sustainable workforce in the United States. The event is framed as a space to “find common ground,” encouraging participants to connect big-picture strategy with practical approaches that can be replicated in communities and organizations across the country.​ The Forum is designed to unite stakeholders across the STEM education and workforce ecosystem to explore emerging trends, surface promising practices, and advance concrete strategies for strengthening STEM pathways. Themes typically span issues like regional collaboration, work-based learning, and the skills needed for global STEM leadership, tying them to real challenges facing employers, schools, and communities. The event convenes over two hundred cross‑sector professionals, providing opportunities to build new partnerships, compare approaches, and where their efforts fit in the broader national STEM ecosystem. Sponsors and partners are recognized as co‑leaders in this work, reinforcing their role in shaping policy, investing in talent pipelines, and improving education access for under-invested communities.

STEMconnector’s webinars are recurring virtual events that bring together stakeholders to share concrete strategies for building a more equitable, effective and future‑ready STEM talent pipeline. They serve as a more broadly accessible extension of  our convenings, offering focused, one‑hour sessions that translate big ideas into actionable practices for schools, districts, nonprofits, and employers.​ Our webinar series is designed to spotlight “what’s working” in STEM education and workforce development, elevating real initiatives, partnerships, and tools that others can adapt. Topics range from advancing K–12 STEM equity and supporting summer STEM learning, to measuring corporate STEM impact, empowering youth engagement, and strengthening employer–HBCU partnerships to grow a robust STEM workforce. Recordings and related resources are available through our website and YouTube channel, allowing key stakeholders to revisit content and share it within their own networks. The webinar archive is a library of case studies, data insights, and practitioner stories that collectively map out emerging trends and promising approaches across the STEM ecosystem.

Our AI Vodcast Series, titled “Exploring the Role of AI in Education and the Workplace,” is a ten‑part video podcast that examines how artificial intelligence is reshaping teaching, learning, and the future of work, with a particular focus on STEM pathways and talent development. Produced in collaboration with the Utah STEM Action Center, the series brings together educators, industry experts, and workforce leaders to explore both the opportunities and challenges AI creates for students, teachers, and employers.​ The series is designed to demystify AI for non‑technical audiences while grounding the conversation in real education and workforce contexts, helping stakeholders understand what AI is (and is not), why it matters now, and how to respond strategically. Episodes are aimed at K–12 and postsecondary educators, school and system leaders, workforce and career development professionals, policymakers, students, and families who are navigating AI’s growing role in learning tools and workplace systems.​ Each episode follows a two‑part format: an in‑depth discussion with experts on a specific dimension of AI—such as ethics, infrastructure, creativity, or workforce implications—followed by “boots‑on‑the‑ground” conversations with educators actively using AI with students. This structure blends big‑picture framing with practical classroom and workplace examples, giving viewers both conceptual clarity and concrete ideas they can adapt to their own settings. ​

STEMconnector serves in a strategic consulting role in Battelle’s Ohio Manufacturing Pathways Pilot, helping connect the pilot’s regional, school-based work to a broader national effort to build strong, equitable STEM and advanced manufacturing talent pipelines. While Battelle and the Ohio STEM Learning Network lead the design, funding, and direct program implementation of the pilot across selected Ohio districts, STEMconnector leverages our national network, convening platforms, value proposition expertise and storytelling capacity to create targeted marketing to industry partners and students, as well as elevate the work and share its lessons with partners across the country.​ The Manufacturing Pathways Pilot, funded by The Walton Family Foundation, is striving to solve Ohio’s significant manufacturing talent gap, where employers need more than 30,000 technicians each year at the same time that large investments from companies like Intel, Honda, Ford, and others are reshaping the state’s economy. Battelle, with funding from the Walton Family Foundation and through the Ohio STEM Learning Network, is investing in grants to 10 grantees that will create or expand career‑aligned programs enabling students in 21 districts to earn college credit and industry‑recognized credentials before graduation.

STEMconnector’s Women in Insurance Initiative is a cross-industry effort to recruit and advance women within the insurance sector by combining research, community-building, and action-focused programming. It highlights insurance as a purpose‑driven, innovative field where women and rising talent with STEM backgrounds can build meaningful careers. The insurance industry is experiencing a significant STEM workforce shortage driven by demographic shifts, rapid technological advances, and rising retirements, with nearly 400,000 professionals projected to exit the sector by the mid 2030’s in the U.S. This gap is particularly acute in positions requiring skills in areas such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and software engineering, which are increasingly vital for modern insurance operations. Addressing this talent demand requires the development and implementation of a coordinated strategy involving the insurance industry with key stakeholders: K-12 schools, after-school programs, technical and higher education institutions, government agencies, and industry partners. With robust national reach and established relationships with businesses and stakeholders in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, STEMconnector is uniquely equipped to design and implement an insurance sector-focused STEM Talent Pipeline Impact Strategy tailored to develop partnerships and programs necessary to address the looming employment crisis through its Women in Insurance initiative.