MESSAGE
from the CEO & Board Chair
Suzanna Valdez Wolfe
SHPE CEO
Will Davis
SHPE Board Chair
Dear Familia,
We are pleased to share SHPE’s latest Annual Impact Report. Taking the time to reflect on our accomplishments is essential when planning for the next steps we take in pursuit of our mission. It is also a testament to an ongoing track record of investment stretching back to 1974. This report covers an 18-month period as we realign to our fiscal cycle. On the precipice of our 50th Anniversary, we are filled with gratitude and pride of SHPE’s impact for its members.
This past year and a half was filled with many moments of significance. Most notably, in April 2023, fifty SHPE members joined a handful of SHPE staff at a briefing on “Building the Next Generation of Hispanic Leaders in STEM” held at the White House in Washington, D.C. In April 2024, SHPE made history by hosting its first Hill Day on Capitol Hill, bringing nearly seventy representatives to advocate for Hispanics in STEM. Both events proved productive in promoting Hispanic talent as the answer to meeting the demands of the thriving STEM jobs economy.
SHPE partnered with the Latino Donor Collaborative (LDC) to release a groundbreaking report titled “2023 SHPE-LDC U.S. Latinos in Engineering & Tech.” It included findings like a 73.6% increase of U.S. Latino’s enrollment in undergraduate engineering programs during the last decade. This is a promising position for Hispanics as the projections indicate 10.9 million job openings in STEM fields by 2031.
SHPE’s foundational programs Equipando Padres and Virtual STEM Labs also saw increased engagement and growth. The former implemented 25 events with 1,772 parents impacted. The latter held 34 workshops with nearly 10,000 pre-college students reached. These numbers highlight our ongoing commitment to our communities and strengthening the support available for pursuing a STEM education.
Growing and engaging our membership is critical to achieving our mission. At the end of June 2024, our membership exceeded a record-breaking 19,000 students and professionals.
This growth in membership translated to historic attendance at the National Convention last year in Salt Lake City. More records were broken as close to 12,000 registrants attended, many of whom walked away with their lives forever changed. We were joined by over 350 sponsors for a full week of professional development, personal transformation, and thousands of job offers. The largest gathering of Hispanics in STEM lived up to its name!
The successes of this last year was the realization of 50 years of our values of Service, Education, Resilience, and Familia. But none of it would have been possible without you. Thank you for being here yesterday, today, and especially tomorrow as we usher in the next 50 years of SHPE.
Suzanna Valdez Wolfe
SHPE CEO
Will Davis
SHPE Board Chair