Annual Report 2022

Annual Report

The Digital Transformation

2020 and 2021

WELCOME:

Founder’s Message

DEAR FRIENDS,

Nothing could have prepared us for the tectonic shifts of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic forever changed the way we live, work and learn. While we were still adjusting to those new realities, the murder of George Floyd and subsequent summer of Black Lives Matter protests brought heightened awareness of the social injustices that continue to harm Americans of color.

I am incredibly proud of how the Base 11 team and our partners rose to the challenges – and opportunities – presented over the past two years. In this special double annual report, we review our dramatic pivot to digital services, including virtual events and a new online platform: Base 11 Digital, which provides Access, Awareness and Belief to accelerate students and young adults to success in STEM workforce and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Early in 2020, Base 11 achieved our original goal of accelerating 11,000 students on their pathways to STEM degrees, jobs and entrepreneurship. We reached that epic milestone one year ahead of schedule, thanks, in large part, to the indefatigable work of Executive Director Ingrid Ellerbe, who retired at the end of the year with our deep appreciation.

With Base 11’s digital transformation, we have set a new goal to scale that impact by 10-fold. Through the Next Frontier Initiative, Base 11 and our partners will empower 100,000+ students, early STEM career adults, and STEM entrepreneurs on their pathway to success in Next Frontier industries by 2030. We’re glad you’re here to join us.

Sincerely,
Landon Taylor
Founder

WELCOME:

New Leadership

With the completion of founder Landon Taylor’s term as chairman of the board, and the retirement of Executive Director Ingrid Ellerbe, Base 11 promoted new leaders in 2021.

“As a woman in STEM, I understand how critical it is to see people who look like you in every field and at every level of leadership, so I appreciate that the significance of this moment reaches beyond me personally. The growth and professional development I’ve experienced over the last two years with Base 11 exemplifies to me what we are all about. I’m eager to extend that growth and development to even more students and young people through Base 11’s work.”

Teniel Jones

Appointed President of Base 11 in 2021

“I’ve been deeply committed to the mission of Base 11 since day one, and am proud of the difference it’s made in the lives of thousands upon thousands of young people already. It will be an honor to continue working together, and guiding the organization through its continued digital transformation and growth.”

Doug Bender

Appointed Chairman of Base 11 in 2021

Impact

In 2020, Base 11 achieved its initial goal of accelerating 11,000 students on their pathways to STEM degrees – one year ahead of schedule!

Reaching Our Goal

Building More Partnerships

2021 100% 100%

55

2020 100% 100%

11,187

2020 85.5% 85.5%

47

2019 94% 94%

10,629

2019 78% 78%

43

2018 58% 58%

6,206

2018 58% 58%

32

2017 40% 40%

3,490

2017 47% 47%

26

2016 3% 3%

323

2016 27% 27%

15

2015 .03% .03%

STUDENTS

4

2015 5.5% 5.5%

PARTNERS

3

We then launched an audacious new goal:

Reach 100,000 students by 2030

Impact

In 2020, Base 11 achieved its initial goal of accelerating 11,000 students on their pathways to STEM degrees – one year ahead of schedule!

We then launched an audacious new goal:

Reach 100,000 students by 2030

2020 Highlights:

Pivoting to Digital

“I learned how to communicate with others and share ideas. I gained a larger perspective, grew patience, and now have an increased capacity for perseverance, which gives me the power to go through the problems without giving up.”

JUSTIN HONG
Santa Monica College
Base 11 Fellow
Transferred to UC Berkeley

Students were just halfway through their 2019-20 Base 11 Academic Year Internships when the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools across the country to shut down. For UCI and Caltech, this meant quickly shifting their internship programs online while maintaining high-quality, high-impact experiences.

The Base 11 Summer Fellowship program, known for its experiential, hands-on approach, also had to shift gears in 2020. Our partners at Caltech and UCI found innovative ways to bring their intensive, weeks-long courses into an entirely virtual environment for students.

2020 Highlights:

Next Frontier Conference & Expo 2020

Base 11’s inaugural Next Frontier Conference & Expo in November, 2020, brought together corporations, foundations, academic institutions and students who share a common interest in the Next Frontier Initiative mission: To empower 100,000+ students, early STEM career adults, and STEM entrepreneurs on their pathway to success in Next Frontier industries by 2030. The event was held entirely online in a virtual conference platform for ultimate engagement from the comfort and safety of home.

Sessions included a Social Justice Spotlight on Parity for Black America, the release of a new STEM Career Playbook series, and a special message from an astronaut from the International Space Station.

ATTENDEES

SPEAKERS

SESSIONS

2020 Highlights:

STEM Career Playbook

The Next Frontier Conference & Expo 2020 included the premier of Base 11’s STEM Career Playbooks, a series of videos featuring astronaut and author Leland Melvin interviewing industry leaders about what inspired them on their career path, and how they overcame challenges along the way.

Log in to Base 11 Digital to view STEM Career Playbooks featuring:

Gwynne Shotwell, President & COO of SpaceX
Fred Lowery, Senior Vice President of Thermo Fisher, President Life Sciences and Laboratory Products Groups
Olabisi Boyle, Vice President of Product Planning and Mobility Strategy at Hyundai Motor North America

2020 Highlights:

Partnerships Advance Students

Base 11 and Sigma Pi Phi Work Toward the Next Frontier

At the 2020 Next Frontier Conference & Expo, Base 11 and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, the world’s oldest African American fraternity, announced they will work together in the Next Frontier Initiative to empower 50,000 African American students, early career adults and entrepreneurs to be successful in the nation’s fastest growing and most highly compensated STEM industries.

Morgan State & Purdue Aim for the Stars

After Morgan State University won Base 11’s $1.6 million aerospace Workforce and Leadership Development grant in 2019, the HBCU began developing a rocketry program and expanding its aerospace offering. In 2020, Morgan State entered a partnership agreement with Purdue University’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics enabling Morgan State students to study at both campuses to earn dual bachelor’s degrees – one in aeronautics and astronautics from Purdue, and the other in either civil engineering or engineering physics from Morgan.

2020 Highlights:

Innovation Centers

Base 11 Innovation Centers were hubs of activity at the beginning of 2020 – and took on newfound roles as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded.

Sixth graders from Los Angeles’ 99th Street Elementary School took a field trip to the Base 11 Innovation Center in Compton, where they experienced project based learning with an activity from NASA’s Engineering Design Challenge, “Gaining Traction on Mars.”

Thirty male high school students from Long Beach made several visits to the Base 11 Innovation Center in Compton, where they gained hands-on experience building and testing their own Mars rovers in a NASA-inspired STEM project.

When the COVID-19 pandemic created shortages of personal protective equipment for essential workers, staff at Base 11 Innovation Centers at the University of California, Irvine and South Mountain Community College produced thousands of face shields.

students used Base 11 Innovation Centers in 2020

face shields made at the UCI Innovation Center

2021 Highlights:

Innovation Centers

Spring Innovation Session

In April, Base 11 hosted a virtual Spring Innovation Session featuring HR leaders from Next Frontier Initiative Partners Sensata and Regeneron. The companies offered career advice and insights, and answered questions from students and young adults in the audience. Other highlights of the session included the launch of Base 11 Digital, new innovation challenges, and Space Challenge Phase 2 awards.

Attendees

Next Frontier Conference & Expo 2021

In November, the second annual Next Frontier Conference & Expo brought together students from high schools, Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), and Next Frontier Industry leaders for a virtual conference.

Attendees

Speakers/ Panelists

Sessions

2021 Highlights:

Base 11 Digital

In the spring of 2021, Base 11’s digital transformation culminated with the launch of Base 11 Digital.

The all-in-one online and mobile platform provides the access, awareness, and belief that students and early-career adults need to succeed in the Next Frontier industries of the 21st century, including:

Data Analytics
AR / VR
Cybersecurity
Advanced Manufacturing
Fintech
Autonomous Systems
Aerospace
EdTech
Life Sciences
Venture Capital/Private Equity

2021 Highlights:

Partnerships Advance Students

Base 11 and Executive Leadership Council Partner for Black Parity in America

At the Next Frontier Conference & Expo 2021, the Executive Leadership Council (ELC) and Base 11 announced plans to work together on the Parity Project, a national initiative to improve African American representation in strategic areas such as STEM jobs and corporate directorships. Their shared goal is to achieve a minimum of 13.4% African American representation — on par with the proportion of the Americans who identify as Black — in all STEM jobs, STEM degrees, public company boards of directors, and venture capital-funded entrepreneurs in the U.S. by 2030.

“There are few experiences in my life where I was able to learn so much in such a short period of time. My Base 11 internship was one of those experiences. With dedicated staff, sponsors and mentors the process was fun and educational. As I apply for careers upon graduation and employment for the summer there is one thing employers are most excited to hear about: My experience with Base 11.

As a mentor, it is a whole new sense of fulfillment. I am able to pass on the knowledge that I accrued from the previous year and guide the interns through a process that I know quite well. I enjoy working with the students and giving back to the program that gave me so much.”

Michael Allotey

Base 11 Fellow, UCI engineering graduate, and mentor

2021 Highlights:

Innovation Challenges

In partnership with HeroX and Next Frontier Innovation Sponsors, Base 11 launched three exciting innovation challenges in 2021. Innovation challenges give students and young adults hands-on experience solving real-world problems for companies in Next Frontier industries.

Put it to the Test: Design the Future of Point of Care Testing

ThermoFisher invited Base 11 members to help underserved communities get better access to healthcare. Share your ideas for improved Point of Care testing!

4 winning teams and 4 nonprofits won $10,000 total prizes.

See the Winners

Blockchain Breakthroughs for a Better World

Coinbase invited submissions for novel ideas to harness blockchain technology. Ultimately, 56 teams submitted entries, competing for prizes including $10,000 in cryptocurrency, NFTs, and a chance to work at the company!

Learn More

Parity Project Innovation Challenge

Sigma Pi Phi and Base 11 invited Boul – Base 11 Fellow Candidates to submit a Proposal for Parity and pitch video. Prizes include sponsored trips to meet with leaders, and $10,000 in prizes.

Winners will be selected in 2022.

Learn More

Innovators

Teams

2021 Highlights:

Base 11 Space Challenge

At the Next Frontier Spring Innovation Session in April 2021, the winners of the Base 11 Space Challenge Phase 2 were named. Astronaut Leland Melvin and Senior Vice President of Dassault Systèmes, Al Bunshaft were on hand to announce the winning teams:

1st place – Space Concordia, Concordia University

2nd place – MASA, University of Michigan

3rd place – UBC Rocket, University of British Columbia

With no teams able to successfully complete a fullduration hot fire of their liquid-fuel rocket engine in the summer of 2021, as required for a launch by the end of the year, the Space Challenge concluded without declaring a winner.

Partners

3DS_2014_Logotype_BlueSteel_RGB_fromweb-1080x339

Financials

The Future

After achieving our goal — one year ahead of schedule — to accelerate 11,000 students on their pathways to STEM degrees, jobs, and entrepreneurship, Base 11 decided to scale its impact 10-fold.

Through the Next Frontier Initiative, Base 11 and its partners will empower 100,000+ students, early STEM career adults, and STEM entrepreneurs on their pathway to success in Next Frontier industries by 2030.

Plus, in partnership with the Parity Project, Base 11 will ensure that 50,000 African American students and early-career professionals are on a pathway to become highly trained and well-connected STEM leadern industry, science, medicine, and law by 2030.