The mission of the Los Angeles County Science and Engineering Fair (LACSEF) is to increase literacy and foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education and related fields for Middle and High School students throughout Los Angeles County. LACSEF seeks to promote hands-on learning experiences, inquiry-based science, and design-thinking engineering that extends beyond the traditional classroom setting so that students develop the critical thinking, problem solving, and resilience skills necessary to prepare for future careers in STEM-related fields.

Our primary program is an annual Science and Engineering Fair designed to broaden student engagement in STEM. Along with feeder science and engineering fairs at participating schools, this event exposes middle and high school students to inquiry based science and design thinking engineering that takes them beyond the classroom and focuses on real-world problems. The next fair is scheduled for March 10 - 11, 2024 at the Shrine Auditorium. Through their projects, students develop and refine skills that span multiple disciplines, including but not limited to reading, research, critical thinking, math, writing, data analysis, computer science, organization, presentation, and time management.

LACSEF offers its services to over 900,000 Middle and High School students throughout Los Angeles County. Participation is open to all students in public, charter, private, and parochial schools. It is estimated that over 3,000 students are impacted by the event, as students compete in school science fairs that feed into our fair. For many students, this is
the only extracurricular access they have to STEM related activities. STEM education is essential to the health of our economy. According to the Economic and Statistics Administration (ESA), STEM can be a pathway to greater economic
independence, as STEM employees earn 29% more than their non-STEM counterparts. Additionally, in order for America to remain competitive, we will need a large STEM labor force to meet the estimated 3.5 million unfilled STEM jobs expected in the United States in 2025 (Lazio & Ford, 2019). For this reason, providing programs that encourage participation in hands-on learning experiences of inquiry-based science and design-thinking engineering is crucial to the success of our country.
As technology continues to advance, it is important that students are prepared for the future. This year, LACSEF is already planning to partner with Broadcom’s Coding with Commitment to help students develop the skills they need to keep up with the latest advancements in technology and science. Closing the STEM achievement gap for female, minority, and low-income students will help to achieve greater economic mobility. Additionally, middle school tends to be the tipping point for students in STEM interest. This year, LACSEF plans to work with community leaders and teachers to develop and initiate a plan to encourage middle school students in underrepresented communities to participate in STEM related activities.

Conducting an event of this magnitude is quite expensive and is financed almost entirely by donations, sponsorships and grants. To ensure the long-term financial stability of the organization, we are looking to develop partnerships with more organizations to meet the proposed budget and help build reserves for program expansion.