STEM Pathways
In 2025, FirstHand™ deepened its mission to make STEM opportunities accessible—and transformative—for young people.
Students gained real-world experience through hands-on projects, micro-internships, and our industry-informed career sprints that open doors to high-growth fields.
Whether in the FirstHand Lab in Philadelphia or our influence on STEM programs in other cities, we’re preparing the next generation for tomorrow’s careers and strengthening long-term economic mobility for students and their communities.
Across all of it, a consistent theme has emerged: when students can see themselves in STEM, their confidence grows, their aspirations expand, and opportunity becomes tangible.
STEM Pathways
Themes that Defined 2025
Hands-On Experiences
Immersive, project-based activities give students real-world STEM skills, deepen curiosity, and build confidence, ensuring learning translates into practical readiness for academic success and meaningful career pathways.
Careers of Tomorrow
By exposing learners to emerging technologies and future-focused fields, we’re preparing students for tomorrow’s rapidly evolving STEM careers and helping to build a diverse, innovation-ready workforce.
Economic Mobility
Through accessible STEM learning and career guidance, we empower Philadelphia youth to pursue high-growth opportunities, strengthening long-term economic mobility for individuals, families, and communities.
2025 Impact
By the Numbers
315
FirstHand students served
5,224
Hours of student engagement
315
FirstHand students served
5,224
Hours of student engagement
$25K
Stipends awarded to students
11
Internships completed
“Our vision goes beyond exposure to science—we empower students to see themselves in STEM and recognize it as a real, achievable career path.”
Tiffany Wilson, President & CEO
STEM Pathways
Stories that Defined 2025
2025 FirstHand Snapshots
Collaboration Builds the Pathway
2025 brought a series of milestones that expanded FirstHand’s reach, strengthened cross-sector collaboration, and positioned our model to influence the ecosystem well beyond Philadelphia.
Grant Backs Cybersecurity Workforce Development
The Science Center received a two-year $200K NIST RAMPS Program grant to support FirstHand's high school cybersecurity programming as part of NIST's effort to address an ongoing national shortage of cybersecurity professionals.
Highlighting Cross-sector Collaboration
The FirstHand team and AnLar attended National Academies Convocation on the Status of Informal Science and Engineering Education in Washington, D.C., and presented a poster on AnLar's case study. The case study highlights how FirstHand's informal STEM education program in Philadelphia leverages cross-sector collaboration to ensure students are excited for STEM and prepared for a potential future in science.
Solving Problems Through STEM
WHYY stopped by FirstHand to cover our student showcase for an April You Oughta Know segment, where students debuted their latest tech innovations.
A Blueprint for STEM Workforce Pathways
In 2024, the Science Center was engaged by a new innovation district being developed in Charlotte, NC to share our expertise in developing industry-informed STEM education and support regional workforce development. In June 2025, The Pearl officially opened as a visionary public-private partnership led by Atrium Health, Wexford Science & Technology, LLC, and Ventas, and this November, 20 middle school innovators kicked off a new phase of their STEM programming.
Up next
Ecosystem