TGR Foundation - A Tiger Woods Charity to host Sport & STEM Alliance November Forum

November 1, 2019

On November 14, the Sport & STEM Alliance will gather for its year-end forum one day before Beyond Innovation. Formed in 2017 by Beyond Sport, the 49ers Foundation and Chevron, the Alliance is dedicated to accelerating efforts to ignite passion in science, technology, education and mathematics education through sport. We are thrilled to have Alliance member, TGR Foundation – A Tiger Woods Charity, host the convening at its flagship TGR Learning Lab in Anaheim, California. 

Guided by a deep respect and belief in the transformational power of education and with a desire to equip kids with a solid education and the mindset to persevere, legendary golfer Tiger Woods founded TGR Foundation in 1996 with his late father Earl. He wanted a diverse range of kids to be excited about learning and to see it as a pathway to pursue their passions.

Recognizing that a generation of underserved students were challenged by limited access to educational resources, Woods built a foundation to serve those students – and their teachers – that over the years has grown from junior golf programs and grant giving to a more permanent, safe space for kids to explore their dreams. With his long-time love of science and math, Woods focused efforts on science, technology, engineering and math before STEM was broadly embraced by the global learning community.

“We know that opportunity is not universal for underrepresented youth,” said Rick Singer, President and CEO of TGR Foundation. “The system isn’t fair to them, but through our programs, we seek to inspire and empower them to see their potential as unlimited and pursue their passions fearlessly.”

With student interest in STEM continuing to decline at an unsettling rate, but jobs in these fields continuing to grow at an exponential rate, the importance of inspiring and retaining student interest is vital. According to a new report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2028, there will be more than 10.5 million jobs in STEM fields, but by 10th grade most students have lost interest in the subjects.

Through year-round STEM and college-access programs for underrepresented youth, TGR Foundation inspires students to accelerate STEM knowledge, pursue STEM careers and develop leadership and soft skills critical to success in the 21st century workplace. Its programs include STEM and college-access curricula at the flagship TGR Learning Lab and its five nationwide satellites; the Earl Woods Scholar Program, which provides resources to help high-achieving, low-income students get into and through college; TGR EDU: Create, a professional learning program for educators; the no-cost, interactive digital platform TGR EDU: Explore; and most recently, TGR EDU: Global, the foundation’s newest growth initiative dedicated to bringing quality educational resources to educators and students worldwide.


With each program, TGR Foundation is committed to positively impacting students and educators around the world with the ultimate goal of promoting lifelong success that spans from the classroom to community and career. To date, the Foundation has impacted 1 million students and educators with its various programs. In 2018, its educator professional-learning program, TGR EDU: Create, provided 9,121 hours of in-person learning to 1,300 educators. Additionally, the Foundation partnered with 100+ schools, districts, corporate and foundation partners, government agencies and non-profits to bring its programs to underrepresented youth to ensure a talented and diverse future workforce.

At the 35,000 square foot TGR Learning Lab, the site of the Sport & STEM Alliance gathering, a school day is far from average, with students fully immersed in cutting-edge, experience-based learning rooted in interaction and engagement. Serving students from low-income households and underfunded schools, they discover what kind of future is possible for them through innovative, hands-on STEM classes and college and career mentoring.


During the November Forum, Alliance members - encompassing a diverse international group of brands, teams, leagues, educators and NGOs – will have the opportunity to become students once again as they take part in TGR Foundation’s STEM exploration activity, the Space Lunar Landing Challenge. Through a guided and team-based session, they will apply the physics concepts of shock-absorption, drag force and stability. Using enhanced problem solving, critical thinking and innovation skills, teams will build a space lander and then share with the larger group their design with a successful demonstration. They will also strategize on the key issues that will become the focus of the Alliance's work in 2020.

“In a time where careers in STEM are growing rapidly, it is important that we educate all young people on the skills necessary for them to achieve future success,” said Dr. Katherine Bihr, Vice President of Programs and Education at TGR Foundation. “We are proud to be partnering with the Sport & STEM Alliance and its coalition of global organizations to drive forward its goal of better understanding the intersection of sports and STEM."
 
And, the conversation will continue the next day at Beyond Innovation hosted by Alliance member, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. Executives from across the sport, technology, government and education sectors will collaborate on cross-sector partnerships and innovative solutions leveraging sport and STEM to help solve the world's most pressing social issues in support of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs). Dr. Bihr will be a featured panelist at the event, specifically discussing STEM’s role in addressing gender equality (Goal 5) through a sporting lens.

Insights from the Sport & STEM Alliance will also be shared during roundtable sessions at Beyond Innovation, where attendees will decide on the top areas to focus on for greatest collective impact  – learnings that will guide the way forward for the Alliance in 2020. Stay tuned for exciting news to come out of the event!

Since 2017, the global Sport & STEM Alliance has been using sport to inspire passion in STEM education and then taking action to make it happen. If you are interested in joining us, please email [email protected].

Beyond Innovation is just 2 weeks away, but there’s still time to join us! View the program and speakers and register your interest to attend here. 

Photos courtesy of TGR Foundation – A Tiger Woods Charity.