She Maps
When many people think of a scientist, they imagine someone (often male) in a lab coat working with a microscope or test tubes.
She Maps has a vision of science far broader. They believe we need a diversity of people and ideas in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (or STEM) workforce to solve the problems of the world. Their purpose is to bring diversity into how we perceive STEM and who does it. They work with teachers and students to engage in STEM through drones, whilst challenging many of the unconscious bias that exists.
Hear from Paul Mead, Co-Founder, business leader and educator.
What inspired you to start your social enterprise, and what specific social or environmental issue are you addressing?
We started She Maps in 2017 after Karen's (my co-founder and wife) experience presenting at a local primary school and secondary school in Cairns during National Science Week in 2016. The theme for National Science Week was drones. Karen is an academic at James Cook University and has been flying drones since 2013 and when she went to the primary school the boys and girls were all excited to hear her talk. When she went to the high school, only the boys showed up. The teacher said that the girls were not interested in drones, and they were finding it really hard to get them involved in STEM programs.
So, She Maps was born to change this. To encourage girls into STEM, through using drones as a tool to engage. We create a safe space for girls to participate and succeed, and showcase diverse role models through our program under the premise of ‘see it, to be it’.
What have been the biggest challenges you've faced in building/scaling your social enterprise, and how have you overcome them?
The biggest challenge is always funding. Having enough to achieve the impact in the world you want to. We have overcome this by building strong relationships with the geospatial industry who support us hugely, as well as applying for as many grants as we can! We also have a range of programs and resources to suit school budgets.
We create a safe space for girls to participate and succeed.
| Paul Mead
How do you measure and assess the impact of your social enterprise, and what outcomes are you most proud of achieving so far?
The impact we see is firstly on the students faces, and the teachers confidence in being able to teach with a new technology in their classrooms. Our impact is longitudinal, and is about changing stereotypes and unconscious bias. This is challenging to measure and attribute to just our programs. But we are part of the national conversations that challenge the traditional boys clubs in the STEM workforce.
We are really proud of the teachers we have supported to bring programs into their schools, and seeing the increased number of girls excelling in STEM subjects.
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations and goals for the future of your business?
We would love to see a world where we are not needed! When gender equality in the STEM workforce is achieved, and where girls are confident in choosing whatever subjects they want at school, rather than feeling they ‘should be’ or ‘shouldn’t be’ doing certain ones.
What advice would you give aspiring impact entrepreneurs considering launching their own ventures to address social or environmental issues?
You have to ready for riding a roller coaster. Life in business is always challenging, but there are some amazing rewards as well. Surround yourself with good advisors, network with others in the impact industry, and always remember what the reason was you started this all.