New York, NY, November 05, 2024 –(PR.com)– Yamilee Toussaint, the founder of STEM From Dance and MIT engineer, is named one of the Top 5 CNN Heroes of 2024. CNN’s Anderson Cooper made the announcement live on CNN’s morning show and encouraged the public to vote for their favorite finalist so they can continue their life-changing work.
Toussaint will be joining the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute Show, hosted by Anderson Cooper and Laura Coates, for the chance to be named CNN Hero of the Year on Dec. 8, 2024.
Her groundbreaking national nonprofit is transforming the STEM field by empowering girls of color with the know-how, experience, and confidence to dream big in STEM — all through the power of dance.
Voting for CNN Hero of the Year is underway from Oct. 31, 2024 to Dec. 3, 2024. The finalist with the most votes will win the CNN Hero of the Year award and a $100,000 prize.
Anyone can vote up to 10 times a day, every day, until December 3, 2024.
“The possibility of winning this prestigious honor is truly about amplifying our powerful message for young girls of color,” Toussaint said. “It’s a message that they matter. That the world sees their potential, believes in their dreams, and celebrates their love for STEM. It tells them they do belong—in the truest, most authentic expression of who they are.”
Since 2012, thousands of young girls have entered STEM From Dance. Through the rich programming and dedicated community, many participants have been inspired to pursue careers in STEM. Young girls of color create dance routines involving technology, such as lighting up sneakers to the beat of the music or designing projections through computer programming.
“I saw at the time that girls just tend to not feel like math is a place they belong in,” Toussaint explained. “That’s really why we exist and what we are working to change. Because our method attracts girls who otherwise wouldn’t raise their hand to code or build a robot, we know we can impact the field. A big part of getting there will be releasing our curriculum and training so that teachers across the country and the world can adopt our approach and implement it locally.”
You can vote for Yamilee Toussaint to be the CNN Hero of the Year here.
CNN has teamed up with GoFundMe to encourage donations. You can donate here.
Click here to view the feature story about STEM From Dance on CNN.
Learn more about STEM From Dance here and follow Toussaint’s journey on LinkedIn.
