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.