At Great Minds in STEM (formerly HENAAC) we are gearing up for another successful year starting with our name change. The change was made to reflect the expansion of the role of our educational programs and other efforts we are taking to promote STEM careers in underrepresented communities.

One of these educational programs is the HENAAC Scholars Program. Since its inception nine years ago, the HENAAC Scholars Program has experienced tremendous growth and has awarded over a million and a half dollars in educational grants to over 1,000 deserving recipients. These awards were made possible through the generous support of our outstanding scholarship partners including 2009 sponsors Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Rockwell Collins, Southern California Edison, the Boeing Company, Raytheon, bp, SAIC, Cummins and Verizon.

The goal of our program is to ensure college retention with a 3.0 grade point average or higher; to guarantee college graduation with an undergraduate technical degree in four-five years; and, to contribute to Hispanic communities by producing role models for future generations and securing the country’s place as the finest technological leader in the world.

To qualify for a scholarship, applicants must be full time college students majoring in STEM with an overall grade point average of 3.0 or higher and active in the Hispanic community. In addition to their scholarship, awardees will receive a complimentary student registration package to the 22nd Annual HENAAC Conference and Awards Show which will take place October 7-9 at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. This package includes lodging, travel support and the scholarship check presented to them by their sponsor at the HENAAC Student Leadership Dinner. The scholarship application is now available on the Great Minds in STEM website. The postmark deadline is April 30, 2010.

At Great Minds in STEM, we realize that students have limited resources to attend Conferences and other beneficial networking events. It is for that reason that we offer travel support for college students (in a variety of disciplines related to STEM) interested in receiving travel funding to attend the HENAAC Conference. We are once again prepared to grant over $150,000 in travel and conference registration sponsorships to qualifying individuals. Individual applications and additional information will be available on the Great Minds in STEM website in March 2010.

I would like to ask that you encourage any qualifying individuals to take advantage of these outstanding opportunities.

Visit our website – http://www.greatmindsinstem.com to obtain the necessary applications. If additional information is needed, I can be reached at (323) 262-0997 or kbbarrera@greatmindsinstem.org.