About Us

HISTORY

The Student Association for STEM Advocacy was founded in 2020 by Steve Hyer and Frank Ferrari as a way to further expand STEM Advocacy efforts nationwide. After 8 years of leading the FIRST Robotics National Advocacy Conference, Steve and Frank saw the need to coordinate and grow student advocacy efforts in Washington D.C. and in State and Local government. Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, SASA has hosted the 2020 and 2021 versions of the National Advocacy Conference virtually training over 1,000 advocates in just those two years alone while laying the groundwork for future virtual advocacy opportunities. After NAC 2020 we needed more help in organizing and expanding our growth as an organization leading to Jonah Sementkowski joining our ranks to help in our advocacy efforts. In 2022 the National Advocacy Conference returned to Washington D.C. and continued to build on its pre-pandemic success leading to sell outs in 2023 and 2024.

MISSION

Develop student advocates to expand access to STEM opportunities.

VISION

Students enter the workforce engaged in the democratic government of the United States because they were involved in some kind of Advocacy effort to expand and promote STEM Education in high school or college.

CORE VALUES

Organization & Proactive Communication Required

• Communication is paramount to all we do, and we simply cannot handle any lack of it.
• Regular internal communication is necessary to prevent unnecessary problems/challenges.
• Because we are all volunteers, organization is the only way we can effectively and efficiently succeed in accomplishing all of our goals.
• We want to know earlier rather than later what we need to focus on, and we must be able to speak up when we see any potential issues.

Work Hard, Play Hard

• We don’t do this for the money (none of us get paid), so we have to be able to build in fun.
• While we work savagely hard to accomplish our goals, we need to have fun with equal intensity.
• Balance is key; as hard as we work to be prepared and professional, we must play equally as hard.
• While having fun is absolutely necessary, just make sure you are ready to go when the work needs to be done.

Empowering the Individual

• By volunteering with SASA, we want each individual to grow and learn new skills and ultimately better themselves as individuals and as team members.
• We empower our Board, staff members, and interns to own their projects and gain confidence in accomplishing their individual/team goals and objectives.
• Our members and conference attendees improve their advocacy skills and confidence so they can be effective advocates with minimal assistance.
• Every board member, staff member, volunteer, intern, participant, and attendee will have convictions and be able to defend them.

Drive Positive Change

• A passion to work toward a better tomorrow is required and maintains engagement.
• SASA is about what we support affirmatively and not what we are against.
• Continuous efforts to enact change are the crux of what SASA is all about.
• We can only work with those who are positive and supportive; we have no time for negativity.

High Quality & Professional

• Everything we produce and provide is of high quality and high value.
• Everything, from our messaging and branding to our communications to the way we run events, has an aura of professionalism.
• We are ready for anything, and we always have a backup plan.
• If you look bad, we look bad, and that’s not going to fly.