To coincide with the National STEM Day on November 8, the Ad Council’s She Can STEM campaign, Facebook and MTV announced a new IGTV series hosted by Holland Roden (“Teen Wolf”). The series will feature five inspirational female role models in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). #wcwSTEM – a play on the popular social media hashtag #WCW (Woman Crush Wednesday) – will air on MTV’s IGTV channel beginning today and on Wednesdays throughout November and December.
In a groundbreaking effort to encourage girls to pursue their interests in STEM, the Ad Council convened an unprecedented coalition of partners, including GE, Google, IBM, Microsoft and Verizon, to launch She Can STEM in September 2018. The national public service campaign includes digital and social creative content, as well as television and print advertising that showcases the achievements of female STEM role models to reinforce the idea that STEM is cool, unexpected and inspiring.
“It is so important to show young girls that they can be successful in science, technology, engineering and math through these inspirational true stories,” said Lisa Sherman, president and CEO of the Ad Council. “This new video series is a great extension of our She Can STEM and celebrates the extraordinary accomplishments of incredible STEM women to encourage young girls to forge their own paths in STEM.”
Each episode of the #wcwSTEM series, created through a Facebook Anthology partnership, features Roden interviewing an accomplished STEM woman in her place of work. Through these conversations, Roden will learn about what each woman does, what drives her and why it’s so important to inspire young girls pursue STEM.
“It’s incredibly important to show young women what’s possible with a career in STEM. Our goal with #wcwSTEM is to do just that — offering on-the-ground profiles that take girls inside the workspaces of the raddest women in STEM through the lens of the popular MTV franchise #wcw (Woman Crush Wednesday),” said Addie Marino, global prototype lead at Creative Shop, Facebook. “Built exclusively for Instagram, the series is part of Facebook’s Anthology program, and it will take full advantage of all the creative canvases across the platform – from IGTV to Stories and Feed.”
The first episode aired today (11/7) at 10 a.m. ET, in celebration of tomorrow’s National STEM Day. In this episode, Roden interviews Sound Engineer and Music Producer Alana Da Fonseca about her role in the music industry, what inspired her to pursue her musical passions and some of the most exciting moments from her career. To watch the episode, visit MTV’s IGTV channel on Instagram. Upcoming episodes will feature other extraordinary STEM women, including: Crystal Lee, an environmental civic engineer, Dr. Dijanna Figueroa, a marine biologist and teacher, Amber Hardin, a model and effects designer at Nickelodeon and Diana Trujillo, Robotics Surface Mission Lead for NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission. The IGTV episodes will be promoted through donated media support from Facebook.
The #wcwSTEM series was produced by an entirely female production crew, including Ally Pankiw (director), Molly Perez (producer), Laura Herrington (line producer), Janine Sides (director of photography), Alyssa Olinger (coordinator) and Danielle Billeaux (editor).
The She Can STEM campaign will also launch additional new videos on YouTube tomorrow, for National STEM Day, featuring Disney Star Olivia Rodrigo and Emily Calandrelli, a MIT-engineer turned Emmy-nominated science TV host who is also known as The Space Gal. In these dynamic and engaging videos, Rodrigo will ask Calandrelli about her path in STEM, her most gratifying accomplishments, the most exciting developments in aeronautics and astronautics, and why she’s encouraging girls to stick with STEM.
Since launch, the campaign has also been amplified by popular digital talent, including Karina “Slime Queen” Garcia, the GEM Sisters (Giselle (15 years old), Evangeline (10), and Mercedes (11)), content creator Kamri Noel, actress Jenna Ortega, actress Lidya Jewett, actress and content creator Tessa Netting and 15-year-old astronaut-in-training Alyssa Carson.
To learn more about She Can STEM and the importance of inspiring girls to pursue STEM, join the @SheCanSTEM community on Instagram or visit SheCanSTEM.com.
