The Chief Science Officer program recently launched in Guadalajara, Mexico, and was one of the most successful launches for the program. Chief Science Officer (CSO) is a program of the SciTech Institute, a nonprofit whose mission is to expand access to STEM. The CSO program is aimed at developing leadership skills in youth (ages 12-18) who have a passion for STEM. Avnet Cares became a global partner with CSO in the summer of 2022 and has been helping grow the program across the U.S. and globally.
One of the initial goals of the partnership with Avnet and CSO was to start a program in Guadalajara, Mexico, where Avnet has a large base of employees. CSO found a local partner, which is a Canadian school for youth, who was excited to bring the program to their students.
The launch of the program includes a “Leadership Training Institute”, or LTI, for the students - where the students learn what it means to be a Chief Science Officer.
During the LTI, the CSOs gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a leader. Through a series of activities and brainstorming, the students develop their own leadership values and practice their communication skills.
The Avnet team in Guadalajara attended the LTI and helped get students excited about CSO and STEM in their local community. Yamilet Murillo, Manager of Supplier Operations, Ismael Aranda, Technical Manager, and Juan Rodriguez, Manager of Pricing & Procurement, all attended the LTI session. They each shared with the group of kids a little about what they do and fielded questions from the group. Yamilet, who is an active member of Avnet’s women in leadership group, shared about the importance of women in the STEM workforce. Juan talked about Avnet’s critical role in the technology supply chain. Ismael brought some development boards, which the kids were quick to analyze and ask questions about.
Part of the LTI day is for kids to discuss their action plan ideas. Action plans are something that each CSO commits to work on throughout the year and can range from STEM research projects to STEM education for the community. Two of the kids in this group are interested in dissecting RC cars as their action plan and were very interested in the boards that Ismael brought as they might relate to their project.
In all, 27 youth completed the LTI training – which is a record number for CSO when launching an international program. The involvement from Avnet was greatly appreciated and is sure to make the CSO Guadalajara program a huge success.