IGNITE Toolkit: inspiring stories and everything you need to know to start and manage a local chapter

IGNITE (Inspiring Girls Now In Technology Evolution) has been showing young girls the range of opportunities represented by STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers throughout the Seattle Public School system since 2000. IGNITE is nationally recognized as a "best practice" for the work we have done increasing participation among girls in STEM education. The program works within the school system, using school presentations, field trips to industry, and job shadows/mentoring to show girls a future full of greater possibilities. IGNITE offers an affordable, community based, multifaceted approach: providing tools and curriculum which allow educators both locally and across the globe to replicate the successful model that thrives in Seattle public schools. The IGNITE Toolkit was written to help you catch the IGNITE spirit and start an IGNITE chapter in your school or community. Ideally, it will provide all the informational resources necessary to ensure success from the first presentation on. Each section of the Toolkit contains information and step-by-step instructions in concise, readable “bytes.” Copies of all resource documents (checklists, forms, letters, etc.) are included in the Appendix and electronic versions of the forms are available on the IGNITE website.