Since 2016, the Project Fibonacci® Foundation has held its annual STEAM (STEM plus Arts) Leadership Conference, bringing together approximately 100 STEAM scholars between 14-19 years of age for 1 week to participate in a lifechanging program designed to help guide them along on their career journey.
The 2023 STEAM Leadership Conference will be held 23-29 July at multiple venues on Griffiss Business & Technology Park including Rome Free Academy. This year’s theme is Adapting to Climate Change: Sustaining Our Planet, Its Oceans and the Global Population. The conference will showcase presentations by industry experts and celebrity guest speakers and includes workshops, field trips, tours of local STEM companies and arts facilities, Grow Your Future Career Fair and concludes with our popular STEAM Fair where our scholars will pitch their weeklong projects to the public and prospective investors.
We are asking for your help by participating in our Adopt-a-Scholar Corporate Challenge. Your organization can make a big difference in preparing our STEM workforce by financially sponsoring one or more of your employees’ children, interns, or others that you feel would benefit by attending the conference at a cost of $1,500 per student*. Sponsorship covers all costs for the entire week including registration, lodging (Hampton Hotel at Griffiss Park), meals, conference/workshop materials, speakers, security and medical services, transportation, entertainment and other amenities. We are limiting attendance to 100 students and encourage you to send in your nomination(s) and sponsorship payment no later than May 31 as available slots will fill quickly.
Below you will find more information about the conference and our Adopt-a-Scholar Corporate Challenge. The company sponsoring the highest number of students will receive wide media recognition, plus complementary passes to our celebrity/guest speaker and social networking events and be given two free registrations for their employees’ children or interns for the 2024 conference.
Why sponsor a STEAM scholar? Our foundation uses a different approach to engage more students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). We use the arts to grow tomorrow’s STEM workforce and broaden STEM interest. Our aspirational and inspirational STEAM engagement model cultivates a mindset of limitless possibilities.
The program we offer is designed to guide an inclusive cohort of diverse critical thinkers in tackling complex STEM problems that address tomorrow’s societal-technological challenges. We enable young leaders to be the catalysts in creating positive ecosystems for community revitalization and economic prosperity. Studies have shown that artistic critical thinkers can help solve complex STEM challenges and where artistic creativity inspires technological innovation.
Our belief is that the workforce of tomorrow will require imagination, creativity, critical thinking and determination on to address problems such as climate change adaptability and other societal-technical challenges in the future. We are dedicated to preparing our youth to meet these challenges, and our conference theme varies from year to year. The STEAM Leadership Conference will prepare our students for the ever-changing world of technology and the future job market. Together, we can help build the workforce of tomorrow by providing the tools they need to succeed in the future and to encourage our local youth to continue their academic and professional pursuits in our own community. We would like to extend the opportunity for your employees’ children and interns to participate in our 2023 STEAM Leadership Conference. Please share with your employees and families about this exceptional event.
2016 STEAM Scholar
“The skills I have taken away from this week I will use for the rest of my life and career. This conference has truly opened my eyes to the world"
Mary B., STEAM Scholar (2018 & 2019)
“This is my second year attending the conference and my sister attended the conference 2 years prior, which is how I got introduced to it. She’d always come home telling me stories about math and science and it really spiked my interest in attending the conference. Project Fibonacci has helped largely in my college pursuits by exposing me to new career paths and helped me understand what I want to do with my life. I would recommend this program to more students, and I hope my school sponsors more kids in the future.”
Brett M., STEAM Scholar (2016-2019)
“Meeting Dr. Michio Kaku really inspired me to go to college as a Physics major. The Project Fibonacci conference was a game-changer for me. I recommend this program to all students. The speakers that you meet are really inspirational. The different physicists and mathematicians and those in other fields are inspiring. Project Fibonacci really helps students find and develop a passion for what they want to do and become.”
Tea P., STEAM Scholar (2017-2019)
“I absolutely loved attending, making new friends and meeting new people. I loved the workshops and the team building. It helped me become a better leader. It was really unique.”
Cynthia M., STEAM Scholar (2019)
“Project Fibonacci is a place where you can not only learn, but engage in many social activities, learning about various aspects of STEAM. My favorite aspect of the conference is the arts, but I have gained interest in science, technology, engineering and math.”
Sally B., STEAM Scholar (2016-2018)
“The keynote speakers blew our minds. Because of Project Fibonacci, I am not shy anymore and I am more open to communicating.
Kayleigh G., STEAM Scholar (2016-2018)
“I never thought that art had so much to do with science, but Project Fibonacci showed me how much the connection between other subjects can broaden your view.”
Cali K., STEAM Scholar (2019)
“I think that this conference was very important in learning some important life lessons like working in groups, because I know that’s what I have a hard time with.”
Alexandra B., STEAM Scholar (2016-2019)
“Project Fibonacci is a place for me to meet other people who are like minded, to help me focus on what fields I want to go into, or other fields just to see their journey and learn about what others did…Over the last 3 years I learned a lot from the projects, like developing new skills to adapt to challenges. My favorite part was working with my teams, brainstorming, and being immersed in how our ideas would play out.”
Nicholas B. STEAM Scholar (2018)
“Project Fibonacci means education to me. It has science, technology, engineering, art, and math all in a one-week experience. You meet many new people who will have the same interests as you, and you’ll get to listen to experienced speakers presenting their research."
Mackenzie H. STEAM Scholar (2016-2019)
“So grateful for all the memories and amazing people I have met and spent my time with…I can’t wait to do it again…”
Muhammed T., STEAM Scholar (2016-2018)
“As a future educator, Project Fibonacci is the very foundation that has to be laid for students going into high school or college―that STEAM is very necessary for life. It doesn’t matter what major or career; students have to be able to incorporate all of these subjects together…Important to me were the other STEAM scholars, a group of some of the most amazing people I have ever met.”
Sully W., STEAM Scholar (2016-2018)
“Probably the best week I’ve ever spent. I met so many amazing people, made new friends and just had a great time…Project Fibonacci was such a great experience!”
Noah N. STEAM Scholar (2016-2017)
“Students are offered a great opportunity by participating this project…Every single moment of every single day you’re doing something amazing…Thanks to all the different speakers, the intellectuals, and everyone who came together to help us to prepare for our career and a successful future.”
Dr. Alex Filippenko, 2016/2017 STEAM Conference Keynote Speaker Astrophysicist & Science Commentator, Berkely University
“These kinds of programs can get kids really inspired about STEAM fields, in particular STEM but also art because some people have the art perspective and it turns out that math, science, and art have a lot of these relationships; and the Project Fibonacci program actually explores some of these relationships…it’s one of the few of its kind in the nation right now and we’re hoping that this phenomenon takes off to get more kids inspired to pursue both STEM and STEAM fields.”
Dr. Jennette Epps, 2016 STEAM Conference Keynote Speaker NASA astronaut
“I’m really happy to be a part of Project Fibonacci and hopefully I can help contribute to the minds of these young people and encourage them to continue in STEM and STEAM.”
Alan Alda, 2016 STEAM Conference Keynote Speaker, Actor & Founder of Stonybrook Center for Science Communications
“Project Fibonacci, keep up the great work!”
Dr. David Eagleman, 2016 STEAM Conference Keynote Speaker, Author and TV Host, The Brain: The Story of You
“This is an extraordinarily important conference. It represents the marriage of science and technology and the humanities. Everybody should come to this and I’m grateful that I was invited to this and that it exists.”
2019 STEAM Scholar
"The skills I have taken away from this week I will use for the rest of my life and career. This conference has truly opened my eyes to the world"
Parent of a 2019 STEAM Scholar
“To say that this has been a life changing experience for our son, would be an understatement!!! I have never seen a team of more professional, compassionate and excited people so ready to open up the world of STEAM and the career opportunities that can come with it! You made it fun, innovative, exciting -and we are so thankful! This week has opened up a whole new world for our son and we see a spark and excitement in him that was not there before this conference!! The amount of overall growth he has experienced is wonderful! His passion for engineering has come alive more than ever before! A huge thank you for everything you did this past week and beyond! You have no clue how much this has influenced his future!”