9 ways STREAM Innovations is igniting the imaginations of young people in Fairfield and beyond

9 ways STREAM Innovations is igniting the imaginations of young people in Fairfield and beyond

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Dr. Adrienne Starks of Stream Innovations works at Forge (Bham Now)

 

Bham Now recently wrote this story about Forge member Dr. Adrienne Starks of STREAM Innovations. Read on about the amazing work she is doing!

 

You can’t spend any time with Dr. Adrienne Starks without realizing she’s on a mission. Part of that mission is to help turn Birmingham’s young people on to the thrill of discovery. She’s doing that through STREAM Innovations, a nonprofit she founded in 2015 to bring science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and math to students in her hometown of Fairfield and beyond.

Read on to find out how she’s making a difference here with STREAM and across the globe with a new ambassadorship.

 

1—Dr. Adrienne Starks was just named one of 125 IF/THEN ambassadors for women in STEM .

 

Getting selected for this ambassadorship is no small feat. This rockstar cohort of 125 women from across the country includes two women from Alabama, and Dr. Starks is one of them.

Before she came home to Alabama, she worked at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) doing cancer research comparing African American and European populations, and before that she did genetics research.

In her new role, she gets to represent Alabama and serve as a role model and source of inspiration for middle school girls.

Find out more about If/Then. Contact Dr. Starks at communication@streaminnovations.org about speaking engagements.

2—Why STREAM Innovations?

 

When I asked Dr. Starks what led her from doing cancer research at the National Institutes for Health (NIH) just outside DC to starting STREAM Innovations here in Birmingham, here’s what she said:

 

“Students in underrepresented or underserved communities don’t get the same level of expsoure that students in other places get. This includes Alabama as a whole, compared to what students on the East coast or West coasts get.

It’s important to see people who have the same passion you do. It gives young people courage to say ‘I’m gonna try something I’ve never seen anyone here do. That can take you places you’ve never imagined.”

Learn more about STREAM Innovations.

 

 

3—Science is the best travel plan.

 

 

Dr. Starks, as a triple minority in many spaces within the scientific community—meaning a woman, US-born and African American—discovered that science is the “best travel plan.”

For her, it’s been amazing to have the opportunity to network and develop collaborations with people anywhere around the world on the basis of shared passions. “You get to go to some of the most amazing conferences all over the world doing the thing you love.”

She loves helping to open doors to these types of opportunities to young people in the Birmingham area.

 

“Science removes a lot of barriers. Society tries to seprate us in a lot of ways – gender, class, race, exposure, what country we’re from. But if you have a paper in Nature, Science or another journal, your Southern drawl doesn’t matter.

Fellow scientists will look over accents, whether it’s a really heavy German, Nigerian, Dutch or Southern accent. They want to hear from you because  you’re the person that came up with something they’re interested in. That’s the beauty of it, in my opinion.”

4—Dr. Starks’ journey from Fairfield into scientific spaces.

 

 

“I always wanted a microscope as a kid for Christmas. When I got a microscope, it gave me the opportunity to see something new, first from prepared slides, then from my own slides. From there, I did summer science programs at UAB. There weren’t a lot of people from Fairfield in my programs.

Once I did the first program, I knew there were other programs like this. I did a program just about every summer.

When I graduated from Fairfield, I went to Alabama A&M on a full scholarship. I have two younger siblings and wanted to make sure there was no issue for them scholarship-wise. Now my younger brother, who was always building with Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets is an architectural engineer, and my sister, who was always taking care of anyone who got hurt, is an RN.”

 

5—Dr. Starks’ nephew was the inspiration for STREAM Innovations.

 

 

 

“When I moved back to Birmingham in 2014, my nephew would say ‘auntie is a scientist.’

But one day when he was six, he questioned my credibility as a scientist because he never saw me at the bench; he only saw me at meetings.

So I went and bought a bunch of chemicals and put together a notebook for age appropriate experiments he could do with me. I was there to make sure he didn’t burn himself, but he was allowed to do things wrong. I wanted him to see real science is not perfect.

This turned into the prototype curriculum for STREAM. I pressed on him the importance of imagination, because imagination is a huge part of science.

That same nephew is now engulfed in space. He loves all things NASA, universe, planet.

So when he’s building Spaceships with Legos, I ask him what his spaceship needs to work. We play imaginary games where he has $1 million create what he thinks is necessary to put on the International Space Station. Then I look at it and ask “well, what about this, how will you eject from it, how will it connect to different things” and I send him back to add more pieces.”

6—Imagination is everything in science.

 

 

Dr. Starks is passionate about the importance of imagination, and indulging young people in the thing that sparks their interest. She gets great joy from doing this with her nephew—and now with the young people who are a part of STREAM Innovations.

 

“We start with students in the third grade, because we want to be able to throw a little bit of everything at them. The world they’ll be growing up in will be different. We want to help them be open to new things, to be creative and able to articulate ‘yes, I like this. No, I don’t like engineering (or whatever) and here’s why.’

I want to support kids in finding the things they love to do. The love of that first microscope carried me all the way to grad school and postdoc. That muscle memory I developed as a kid working with microscopes made it second nature to spend hours focusing. I don’t get frustrated, because I have the muscle memory to do the thing I love.”

 

7—STREAM Innovations helps young people think in new ways

 

“I run a nonprofit called STREAM innovations. We add Reading and Art to STEM because we wanted to show students what they could do with those as well. We combine disciplines and passions with whatever’s coming next in our world.

While I definitely try to connect careers to that, I also always try to leave a window open for students to think of things we’ve never seen before, by using technology or know-how of a particular industry to innovate for what we need next.

We intentionally partner with libraries and rec centers in underrepresented and underserved communities. Transportation to get to places like the McWane Center or UAB can be cost prohibitive.”

 

 

Here are some of the topics STREAM Innovations has done:

  • Robotics and tech.
  • Plants and agriculture, germination and hydroponics.
  • How we power our world: solar, wind, water, electricity.
  • How the human body works: where are the organs and what do they do?
  • Bridge building competition.
  • Physics with Lego derby challenges: kids build a lego car and race it multiple times on a 38-foot ramp.

 

This last one really caught my attention because my kids have done the Pinewood Derby at Cub Scouts. What’s cool about the Lego derby challenge is that they get to understand the physics behind why their car is dragging behind or winning, and they can continue to rebuild and race as much as they like. A true scientific process.

 

8—Who teaches at STREAM Innovations?

 

 

“We call our instructors Champions because they serve as a ‘champion’ for their success. We have a mix of volunteers and paid staff. Many are from local companies, and some are individuals who want to support students to learn something new.

We encourage the champions to support with a ‘hands-off’ approach so they have the opportunity to fail safely and delight in the process of figuring out how to get it right.”

 

9—STREAM Innovations runs three key programs.

Library after school programs

  • 3rd-6th graders
  • Open to anyone
  • 3:30-4:30 one afternoon a week
  • In previous years, June, July, August and September
  • STREAM swag for students to take home (microscopes, Legos, cool things to inspire kids to keep learning)

Also, librarians pull books related to the topic and encourage parents and students to check them out.

STREAM Saturdays

  • Saturdays, 9:30AM-1PM
  • In previous years, June, July, August and September
  • $50 fee per student
  • Want to take as many as 100 kids
  • From across Birmingham and Jefferson County
  • Breakfast and lunch provided
  • Yoga for mental and physical health
  • 2-hour round robin to different stations
  • STREAM swag (something connected to the topic)

Kids also get to take home whatever they were working on during their time there.

Previously, these programs operated in Ensley, West End, Inglenook and North Birmingham. STREAM is looking for new communities to serve.

Both the library and rec center programs were funded last year with a grant from UAB’s Community Health Innovation Award.

Coding bootcamps—6 week summer programs

1st year: 

  • Web design, with HTML, CSS, jQuery, JavaScript.
  • Leadership development, financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
  • Friday field trips to local tech companies so they can see what it would look like to potentially work in a company or start your own company.
  • Yoga.

2nd year: 

  • Python.
  • App development.
  • AI via Google AI kits.

3rd year:

  • Computer Hardware repair.
  • Comptia A+ Certification prep

 

The recent 3rd year graduates are eager to start a student-run business building off of their 3 years of computer and tech experience. STREAM Innovations is looking for people who would like to help them with this project.

To get in, rising 7th and 8th graders apply online.

All programs are open to anyone who would like to attend. Coding bootcamps draw kids from public school, private school and homeschoolers. Essays are required with applications to show genuine interest in coding.

STREAM is currently fundraising to run these three programs this year.

If you think STREAM Innovations is as awesome as I do after spending an hour with Dr. Adrienne Starks, and you want to learn more or get involved, we’ve got all the details for you right here:

STREAM Innovations

IF/THEN Initiative

 

 

STREAM Innovations is headquartered at Forge, a fabulous coworking space on the second floor of The Pizitz. Social entrepreneurs like Dr. Adrienne Starks get to create what they love in the company of other movers and shakers in a shared space that’s a cross between a library and a coffee shop. Schedule your tour today.

Member Stories: Elisa Hawkins of Sales Shyft

Member Stories: Elisa Hawkins of Sales Shyft

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Elisa Hawkins has over twenty successful years and extensive knowledge in business to business sales, sales leadership and account management. She recently founded Sales Shyft and began working from Forge! Sales Shyft provides comprehensive sales training and coaching for organizations, teams, and individuals. We asked Elisa a few questions about her journey building her new company!

 

What empowered you to start Sales Shyft?

 

I have been in B2B sales and sales leadership for over twenty years and saw such a need for small to mid-size businesses in sales training and development. They do not have the budget that a Fortune 500 company has for sales enablement and I can bring my experience in working with and for Fortune 500 companies to their teams. It is also my mission to change the perception customers have of sales professionals. This can only be done by shifting sales professionals focus from their product and service to their customers business, solving issues and becoming a trusted business partner, not just another vendor, another sales person.

 

Where do you see Sales Shyft going in the next 5 years?

 

Sales Shyft will be serving businesses and individuals across the country with a digital and virtual platform that will accompany live training and development. We will be the leader in humanizing the sales process.

 

 

 

Talk to me a little bit about what your day to day looks like.

 

Oh my! Every day is different, which is what I love about entrepreneurship. Never a boring moment! I start my day with a nice walk while the coffee is brewing and think through my plans for the day. I spend a lot of time developing content for our training programs, content for social media and expanding my website. I also dedicate a significant portion of time toward prospecting for new clients.

 

What is your favorite aspect of the sales industry?

 

Building relationships and trusted business partnerships with my customers is the best part of a career in sales. I love people, so getting to know the human aspect of the businesses I serve is so rewarding. I am also a fierce competitor so beating the competition and winning never gets old.

 

Do you find having a space like Forge has been beneficial to growing your business?  

 

Forge has been amazing for the development of my business. I am able to network with fellow business owners and Kim and Kelsey have been fantastic in helping to market Sales Shyft through Lunch and Learns, showcasing us through blogs just like this and promoting our social media posts. Owning a business is challenging and Forge has helped me to not feel so alone in the journey of building my business.

 

7 reasons you need to know Rebecca Dobrinski, including FUNights Birmingham

7 reasons you need to know Rebecca Dobrinski, including FUNights Birmingham

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Birmingham, meet Rebecca Dobrinski. For those of you who know her already, she needs no introduction. She’s making a big difference in Birmingham with Red Thread Consulting, FUNights Birmingham and Community Engagement Lunch & Learn at Forge.

Plus, she has a drink named after her at Brennan’s Irish Pub, which we think is pretty cool.

 

1—Rebecca Dobrinski is one of those people behind (and sometimes in front of) the scenes who’s making a lot happen in the Magic City

 

 

Originally from Chicago, Rebecca Dobrinski moved to Birmingham when she was in middle school. She left in 1996 for a sojourn in Orlando, Florida, and came back in 2003. She had a few things she wanted to do, including finishing her bachelors’ degree at UAB. Since then, she’s been deeply immersed in all things Birmingham.

We sat down recently at Forge to chat about her work and some of her Birmingham faves.

 

2—Rebecca Dobrinski works at Forge, which means she has good taste in coworking spaces

 

 

What made you decide to work at Forge?

I had a great part-time job and some small projects on the side. But no work was getting done from my recliner. There was always something to clean or something else to do.

I wanted to be able to stop and focus. So, I came down one day to check it out, and a year later, I’m still here.

I love the collaborative atmosphere.  It’s friendly and it’s fun, but we all know we’re here to work. So many random collisions happen. It’s a great experience.

 

3—She created Red Thread Consulting to improve relationships between businesses and nonprofits through awesome community engagement

What about the work you do?

I’ve been working for nonprofits for the past 30 years, and I know a lot of the challenges they face.

But I also understand how nonprofits create opportunities for people in our community to come together.

When our core team reincarnated TEDxBirmingham, we wanted it to be something that not only showcased people in Birmingham but also brought people in Birmingham together to talk about ideas and make connections.

I’ve been doing that on a larger scale with GlobalXplorer, too. We have an online platform that shows people from all over the world how to recognize potential archaeological sites from satellite imagery to create maps that allow archaeologists to better determine where to start looking for cultural heritage sites.

This way, countries can protect their cultural heritage from illegal looting, urban encroachment, and environmental erosion. Our work with local organizations helps provide educational and economic development opportunities at these sites.

Based off of these types of experiences, I wanted to help small and medium sized businesses organize their community engagement and philanthropy while helping nonprofits—and make the relationship between businesses and nonprofits flow better.

A lot of times when you’re focused on making money, your engagement and philanthropy are important, but not as high a priority as closing a deal or making sure somebody’s paying their invoices. I come to businesses and help them take care of being a  “good corporate citizen.”

4—When Rebecca thought of the name of her business, she got a sign

 

 

How’d you come up with the name Red Thread Consulting?

About 6-8 years ago, I read a parable called “The Red Thread.” The idea is that everyone’s connected to everyone they’re ever going to meet by invisible red threads, and that’s how people seem to know to come in and out of your life.

I was so enamored with this, I got it tattooed on my hand.

Then I started this company. When I went through Create Birmingham’s Co-Starters program, everyone said “that’s a great idea—what’s the name of your company?”

Last Fall, I was working with the finalists for Rev’s Big Pitch and was attending the seminars they had to go to. There was one about branding and telling your brand story. I looked down at my hand and it occured to me: “Red Thread Consulting.” At the same exact moment, the projector above my head exploded. I couldn’t have gotten a bigger sign.

This was in October 2018. I incorporated in January 2019. My first pivot has had to do with learning that community engagement doesn’t always mean  your general community. Sometimes it means coordinating volunteers or engaging with customers. Part of the work is defining community, then finding the best ways to engage that community.

 

5—Rebecca Dobrinski and two friends started FUNights Birmingham

 

 

Tell us about FUNights Birmingham

FUNights Birmingham is the local affiliate of global movement.

It was started in 2012 by a group of friends in Mexico City who were sitting around drinking mezcal and talking about what they’d screwed up in business. Now it’s in 80 countries and 300 cities all over the world.

We joke that I roped in two of my friends to help out with this: Scott Pierce and Jacqui Jones.

Each speaker gets seven minutes to talk and ten slides, and we’re not in control of our slides.

We’re really excited because nobody talks about failure. Everybody talks about success. We talk about huge companies that get bought, small companies get bought, but you can’t tell me they haven’t all failed once or twice.

It’s good to learn from all of that.

 

6—With Forge, she created the monthly Community Engagement Lunch & Learn series so people could get to know local nonprofits

 

After 30 years in nonprofits, instead of having one nonprofit I worked with, I wanted to help several. In partnership with Forge, I created Community Engagement Lunch & Learn. Local nonprofits come and talk about what they do and the services they provide to the community.

  • Where: Forge
  • When: second Wednesday of the month, follow Forge and Red Thread Consulting on Facebook
  • Tickets: free, just sign up so they know how many people are coming
  • Parking: the deck at Forge is free for the first two hours, and the event is one hour
  • Lunch: brown bag (meaning, bring your own)

On deck: 

 

7—We can’t leave without telling you some of Rebecca Dobrinski’s Birmingham favorites

 

Favorite tattoo parlor: Sanctum

 

Favorite coffee shop:  Church Street Coffee and Books

 

 

Favorite watering hole: Brennan’s Irish Pub

 

 

Favorite restaurant

This changes all the time. I love discovering undiscovered places. The latest was a place called Tostadas that has a cauliflower tostada which is great for people who are gluten free like me.

 

Favorite sports team: the Birmingham Bulls

 

 

“I am just a huge advocate of making sure you engage with your community. Volunteer. Donate. Do both of them responsibility. Ask around to find what you’re looking for, and support these amazing organizations.”

Member Stories: Skip Vanderburg of Athenaeum Recovery

Member Stories: Skip Vanderburg of Athenaeum Recovery

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Our Forge members are innovative, forward thinking, and considerate of our Birmingham community. Skip Vanderburg is no exception. Athenaeum Recovery, Skip’s newest undertaking, is a platform that helps loved ones of those suffering from addiction navigate the path to recovery.

Why did you decide to start Athenaeum Recovery?

I have been in recovery for over 9 years. Our investors came to me in San Francisco and asked if I would advise them on this concept of bringing people together who have loved ones with addiction issues or individuals seeking to learn and get recovery. The mission is to help facilitate the aggregation of recovery centers, information about addiction recovery, a safe place for those to come to and discuss openly about addiction and join a community of like-minded people. Additionally, we are building out a Recovery Experience Platform to help recovery centers, counselors and addiction specialists.

 

How do you see your company impacting the Birmingham community in the future?

Our initial launch plan is to help those within the community and surroundings of Birmingham, receive guidance on addiction, local and align recovery needs to resources, and connect the community in an online safe and controlled environment for recovery. Ultimately using Birmingham as the test market we want to scale this program.

What are the next steps for Athenaeum Recovery?

Our next steps at Athenaeum Recovery is not only scale to a national or even global presence, but to develop a multichannel solution suite for beyond the recovery center. An example is engagement and becoming part of larger organization’s CSR programs, which are programs to bring positive impact to the community they serve in.

 

 Why did you decide to join Forge? When did you become a member?

We joined in April. And the reason was we had to hit the ground running. Time is everything in addiction. People are dying daily. We need infrastructure, a place to work and conduct meetings. Forge was ready fit for that to help us on day one to be launched. 

 

What is your favorite aspect of coworking?

Having spent over 2 decades in Silicon Valley, coworking environments are somewhat something we did years ago, so I am very familiar with it. I have been a member of WeWork in the past, which is similar to Forge, so it was a no brainer to locate such a facility in Birmingham and get launched as quickly as we could and Forge has definitely enabled us to do just that.

 

Member Stories: Alex Brackett with Hole In The Wall

Member Stories: Alex Brackett with Hole In The Wall

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Homeowners and businesses often complain that a contractor has made a mess of their home or office and left them with a substandard repair. Hole In The Wall was created to fill this void! Hole In The Wall is a reliable drywall company dedicated to quick, clean, and convenient repairs. Alex Brackett recently joined Forge as he is expanding Hole In The Wall to the Birmingham market.

1. I know you recently moved to Birmingham, what brought you here?

We moved to Birmingham because we were looking for a place to raise our family, and be closer to a non profit that we really care about that is having a huge impact on it’s community.  We also have friends who are like family here and it’s great to be connected with other families with kids that are the same age as ours. I feel that doing life with people you love is the best way to do life. 

2. How does Hole In The Wall differentiate themselves from other construction related businesses?

 

We are different because we are professional. Have you ever tried to get a contractor to show up on time, keep the price you were quoted, clean up the mess they made in your house or just communicate with you? We thought that should change, so we added professionalism to drywall. We will bend over backwards to make sure we communicate with you, and leave your home better than we found it. 

3. How are you different than a contractor or handyman?

A handyman is a jack of all trades, but master of none. We are specialists. All of our technicians are background checked. We give you a 1 year warranty, we show up on time, we have  a fully supported office for timely responses and we use a dust-free process to keep your house free from dust. Our company is well reviewed and not going anywhere. 

4. How are you working to get the word out in Birmingham?

We are doing three things. First, if you type in Drywall Repair Birmingham, AL in Google you will see our ad at the top of the page, and we are at the top of the list for drywall companies. Second, I am reaching out to every company who makes holes. Plumbers, electricians, roofers, restoration companies ect.. all leave holes in your home when they do a  repair from a leak. They typically leave the home or business owner with the task of finding someone to fix the drywall. Third, we are using word of mouth by asking every one who has had a repair to review us on one of the one of many platforms, google, home advisor, yelp or Angie’s list. 

 

5. Why did you choose to work from Forge?

We chose the Forge because it is a great location in Birmingham, we love the atmosphere and the price was perfect for what we needed right now. I couldn’t have asked for anything better!