Ball teams up with Girls Inc. of Metro Denver for Career Path Education

Ball Corporation’s philanthropic arm, The Ball Foundation, supports Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs across the U.S. focused on inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers--particularly those programs serving underrepresented groups. Ball’s STEM activities include guest presentations and hands-on workshops that give a glimpse into a day-in-the-life of an engineer.

At Ball’s annual summer outreach event, engineers teamed up with Girls Inc. of Metro Denver to rev up excitement about STEM and the upcoming NASA James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) launch. The students also tried their hand at being thermal engineers through an interactive, hands-on workshop.

As a nonprofit organization, Girls Inc. of Metro Denver’s mission focuses on addressing educational and opportunity inequalities women face head-on. With the right access to strategic tools, mentoring relationships and hands-on learning, these societal obstacles can be overcome. In fact, through research-based methods, the organization observed that Girls Inc. program participants were more likely to believe they could handle harder math or science content and were even more likely to pursue a computer- or science-based career path. To learn more about Girls Inc, visit their site.

Ball STEM Outreach

Ball sees partnering with Girls Inc. of Metro Denver and similar mission-centric organizations as a perfect fit.

“Doing outreach with this group of young ladies was so much fun! I presented on Webb and how important it is to keep things the right temperatures and how we use materials to keep things warm or cold,” Sarah said. “They asked a lot of insightful questions and were inspired by the challenging environment we deal with in space. Outreach events like this often kick start a young girl's journey into a career in STEM.”

Following Sarah’s presentation, the girls tried their hands at being thermal engineers. By juxtaposing, “Earth materials” such as aluminum foil and “space materials” such as multilayer insulation, each girl designed and tested a “spacecraft” that would insulate its instrument (a butter pat). The interactive experience served as a launching pad for conversations surrounding educational paths in science and engineering.

With the Ball Foundation’s help, hundreds of students participate in STEM-focused activities every year. These investments include mentoring and hands-on learning experiences, like this Girls Inc. event.

The Ball STEM Outreach program identifies community efforts aligned with our business strategy, which includes educational achievement regardless of racial and ethnic backgrounds, and gender or socio-economic status.

Ball’s outreach programs is just one way we show up in our local communities. By supporting education initiatives globally, we are investing in the next generation and alleviating barriers. Ball Corporation empowers its employees to bring our knowledge into communities and showing who we are.