June 13, 2025 • 26 mins
Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Maxine Cain.
Founder of STEM Atlanta Women, joins Money Making Conversations Masterclass to discuss her mission to increase diversity in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. She shares insights on how her organization bridges gaps for Black and Brown women in underserved communities and creates career pathways.
🔑 Key Themes & Highlights
-
Origins of STEM Atlanta Women
- Founded in 2016, the organization was inspired by Maxine’s challenges as an HR leader in a Fortune 500 company, where recruiting women of color into innovation roles was difficult.
- She recognized a lack of representation and cultural barriers that discouraged women from entering STEM careers.
- Her background in corporate event planning and business development helped her secure sponsorships for STEM-focused initiatives.
-
Summerhill Community Hub
- The organization operates out of a two-story loft space in Summerhill, Atlanta, a historically underserved community.
- Summerhill lacked essential resources, including a bank and grocery store, for over 60 years.
- Partnered with Carter Development, which helped provide space for STEM education and community programming.
-
STEM Education & Outreach
- Works closely with local schools, including King Middle School, Carver Early College, Maynard Jackson High School, and Georgia State University.
- Runs programs designed to introduce young girls to STEM careers, helping them build confidence and skills early.
-
Annual STEM Events
- STEMinist Ball celebrates young women excelling in STEM fields by awarding crystal trophies, certificates, and graduation cords at a black-tie event.
- STEM in the City is an afterschool program that exposes students to emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, drone technology, and flavor science with Coca-Cola.
- Collaborated with Usher’s New Look Foundation and IBM to introduce artificial intelligence concepts to students.
-
College & Workforce Development
- Partners with Clark Atlanta University and Emory University to provide certification programs in business intelligence and emerging technology.
- Works with major corporations to create career pathways for Black talent.
- Helps underserved individuals gain industry-recognized certifications for high-paying tech jobs.
-
Vision & Impact
- Maxine started STEM Atlanta Women to create opportunities for young women who lacked access to STEM education.
- She emphasizes mentorship, representation, and hands-on learning to help future leaders navigate STEM careers.
📘 Resources & Contact Information
Dr. Maxine Cain’s work is accessible through:
🔗 Website: STEM Atlanta Women
🔗 Social Media: @STEMAtlantaWomen
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Rashan McDonald, the host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass,
where we encourage.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
People to stop reading other people's success stories and.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Start planning their own.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Listen up as.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I interview entrepreneurs from around the country, talk to celebrities
and ask them how they are running their companies, and
speak with dog prophets who are making a difference in
their local communities. Now, sit back and listen as we
unlock the secrets to their success on Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Welcome to Money Making Conversations Master Class. I'm your host,
Rashan McDonald. We're down here in Atlanta, Georgia, actually community
called Summer Hill, where we're visiting the founder of STEM
Atlanta Women, doctor Maxine Kane, and we're going to learn
the secrets to her success.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Doctor Maxine Kane, Stem Atlanta Women. How did it get started?
Speaker 5 (00:58):
That is an awesome question. So let me kind of
give you the backstory. So my background, I'm just kick Yeah,
I'm gonna tell you a story. So Stem Atlanta Women
started back in twenty sixteen. So my background is human
resources by trade, and so in the world of hr AT,
a fortune five hundred company. We had a really tough
(01:22):
time trying to staff and recruit women of color in
our innovation space, and so I didn't really think about
it at the time, because you know, we're always out
in the community, We're doing trade shows, owning college campuses,
just really trying to find the right talent. And so
it was a time where I had an opportunity to
really take advantage of a very rich pension plan at
(01:43):
this fortune five hundred company, and I decided to take
advantage of that, and I was really going to be
doing a different type of career, but God had other plans, absolutely,
and he said why not you? And the reason that
started was because I was on event planning. I had
an event planning company called Maxine Kane Events, and I
(02:04):
was working with a lot of high wealth individuals and
they were looking for people to sponsor various initiatives. And
they would come to me often and they would say, Hey,
can you ask this company what they sponsor is? Would
they sponsor that? And so I would ask them, well,
what am I selling to them? Because right now, the
most important thing that these companies are focused on is science, technology, engineering,
(02:28):
and math. Back then, that was really when it was
taken off and they were looking for real talent.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Doctor Maxine Kane stem Atlanta Women. I'm in their office space.
Here is two store office space. Tell me about this
location in Summer Hill.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
Summer Hill, Oh wow, you know so. Summer Hill is
the oldest community in Atlanta and one of my corporate partners, Moxie,
behind the gathering spot in Atlanta. I had an opportunity
to work with them a few years back, and Carter
Development was really the organization that's totally redeveloping this community
(03:04):
and they knew that I was looking for space to
be able to provide some education and training in the city.
And they say, hey, we have the great a great
space for you. Why don't we introduce you to the
vice president of Carter Development so you can go over
in the community and see what's happening. And this was
(03:24):
nothing but dirt. There was nothing. The hard tours they
walked us through what was what was going to be
what you see today, and we were going to have
two units that was big, and so because of some
construction constraints, we ended up having this two story life
which we love. And they wanted to ensure that as
(03:47):
they were redeveloping the community. That we were here to
make sure that we were serving and supporting the residents
that have been here for over sixty years.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
Doctor King, I love the colors game pink green, intentional.
Speaker 5 (04:01):
Yes, very much. So so in this community, I think
you know that Summer Hill is the oldest community in
Atlanta and it's an underserved, underrepresented community for years. When
underserved on the ny that there's not a lot of
resources that were available in the community, one being that
(04:23):
it has been a food desert for over sixty years.
They've not had a bank in this community for years,
if not longer. So now you're starting to see as
a part of the redevelopment, you have banks over here,
you have a new grocery store here, but this community
has really been underserved, I mean really underserved.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
It's a beautiful community, thank you.
Speaker 5 (04:45):
It is beautiful. Cardial Development has done a phenomenal job
in redeveloping, but we still know that the legacy community
is still here. And so when they brought us into
and they really embraced us with open arms and make
sure that we had everything we need to provide the
services to the community. So the reason we were very
(05:08):
intentional about the colors is because I wanted to create
a space that was welcoming, that was safe, where the
girls can come in and feel like, this is a
place that they can relax and feel good. And colors
create it brings about creativity and so and we're all
about girls, and we wanted it to be beautiful. I
(05:30):
wanted it to feel luxurious, and I wanted them to
know that, yes, you can have a high end creative
space where you can come and feel good. I would
not dare deliver anything to them that was not as
exquisite as this place is.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
Now let's talk about the community academics in this community
of what schools are you are you are you serving
schools within the Summer Hill community?
Speaker 5 (05:56):
Yes, give us absolutely. So we have Key Middle School,
which is the first middle school that was created by
doctor Martin Luther King. Right in this community. We have
Carver Early College High School, we have Maynard Jackson High School,
we have Georgia State University, we have Parkside Elementary School,
and then we also have Michelle and Barack Obama in
(06:19):
the community too. So it is a historic community with
a lot of historic names and schools. Because we're right
in the heart of downtown, but it's the Summer Hill community,
which we're very proud of, and we wanted to create
this urban creative oasis that are girls, not only the girls,
but their moms, their grandmoms that can come in this
(06:43):
community and use this center as a space for them
to learn and to develop and to feel safe, no
lose them.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Which is science, Technology, engineering, math Atlanta women.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Yes to me.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
When I were talking to you twenty sixteen, Yes, very
important year for you, when we were talking about secrets
to success.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
What was the inspiration for you in starting this foundation?
Speaker 5 (07:08):
Yeah, So my background is human resources. I was an
HR leader with one of the Fortune five hundred companies
around the country and during that time, I had a
very tough time and my team, of course, trying to
staff and recruit women of color in science technology that
were sixteen in twenty sixteen. Yes, and it's still the
(07:31):
same today, but we were having a tough time. And
when I say tough, we were out in the community,
we were at trade shows, we were owning the college campuses.
But women of color were not embracing technology and innovation
and a lot of that was due to the lack
of representation, They didn't see people that looked like them.
(07:52):
They felt that the culture was not welcoming, They felt
like they were not smart enough, and that they didn't
feel like that was a career path. Maybe it was
too hard or whatever. And so my focus was to
change that because I've been in the industry for so
long and we had a culture and an environment where
it was all about leaders first, where we would learn
(08:13):
all the things that we needed to learn about the
telecommunications industry, and then we would cascade that information down
to our frontline employees. And I wanted women and girls
to understand that technology was the number one industry in
the world and they needed to have a space there.
So my purpose of starting STEM atlant of Women was
because I was too one of those little girls. I
(08:35):
was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia. My mother didn't
have a whole lot of resources. She was in an
underserved community, and we didn't have a lot of money,
and I didn't have a lot of resources. And I thought,
because I've been able to be successful today, I wanted
to be one of those leaders that reached back in
the community and bring up other young women to say
(08:58):
you can do it too. And because I was so
passionate about technology and science technology entered in the math.
I knew that if we didn't try to close that
divide and create a pathway for young women coming up
behind me to pursue careers in STEM, we were going
to still be in trouble. And it's the same today.
(09:20):
So a whole lot has not changed. We've made some impact,
but we still have so much more work to do.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
I know, we go see the rest of the building
because I want to go upstairs, and that's where we're
going to leave. One of your foundation members, the head
of your foundation.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
Correct, she's a board chair, board chair.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And so the whole thing about this is, you know,
the hard hat, the dream. It's work, it's work.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
It has worked. Oh my god, it's worked. People.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
How do you get because you know, everybody has a dream,
everybody has a passion to desire to pursue something that's different,
and this is different.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
It is not a forty all week job.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
So how do you get how do you go through
the process of You've always said this was the location
you were in used to be a food desert. Twenty sixteen,
you couldn't even find women of color in this STEM field.
Even today, there's a lot of that their availability. Where
does the future hold for this organization or foundation and
(10:20):
how do you continue to make a difference along with
your board members.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Well, because we're very clear about our mission. We're very
clear about our mission. We're very clear that we want
to see equality with women and girls, that whole gender equality.
Were very clear. But our focus is to enhance and
increase the talent pipeline or pathway for women and girls
(10:44):
in STEM more specifically black and brown girls and underserved
and underrepresented communities. Because these babies are brilliant. They are brilliant.
We have a Steminus Ball that we do every year
or the end of the.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Year, and so quickly, as you said quickly, it is our.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Steminus Ball, steminist Yes, and our Steminus Ball. We highlight
beautiful black and brown girls and underserved communities who have
done phenomenal work in their grade levels of achieving high
scores in science, technology, engineering, and math. And at the
(11:23):
end of every year we do a Steminus Ball, which
is the schools love it because it's their celebration and
we honor them by giving them cords, certificates, and awards.
They get a beautiful crystal award for their accomplishments in
their school. Wow, and they come to a black tie
event they get their awards. They are just beautiful and
(11:44):
they're brilliant. And so I want the world to know
that there are beautiful little girls who are pursuing these
careers and they are smart, they are strong, they are creative,
and they love stem. Believe it or not, they do.
So we're not unicorns. We do exist, but you just
have to nurture it. You have to nurture that. We
(12:07):
and by design, we serve middle schoolers, high schoolers, college students,
and recent college grads between the ages of nineteen and
thirty five. And you may think, wow, that's a big spread,
but it's by design because you need to create the
pathways and it starts early. So one of the programs
that we put into middle schools build on the programs
(12:29):
that go into high school. The high school builds on
the programs going into college. And then when you're in college,
we've helped you navigate from middle school to college. So
now it's time for you to prepare for that career.
We made sure that we've created that bench or that pathway,
so that now they're.
Speaker 6 (12:46):
Ready, Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with
more money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money
Making Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashan McDonald. Money Making Conversations
(13:07):
Masterclass continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and fund of
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Speaker 2 (13:16):
Which dud said, there's a love for there's not just
a business side, because there's business because you got to
counter number.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Chekeep the doors of corporation.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
You got to get sponsors to come in and buy
into this. When I, when I, when I go through
the calendar event because that's what that's what sponsor dollars do.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
This is a nonprofit of steming the City. What is that.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
STEM in the City is our after school program. And
it was really interesting when I created that program because
it started way before we moved into the Summer Hill community.
I used to work do work in a school called
the Atlanta Girls School, and one program that they have
that I found fascinating was that they travel around the
(13:58):
world to different locations and it's required for those girls
to experience an international city. And I thought, wow, that
would be really cool if our girls had that same
type of resource to be able to travel abroad to
experience international culture. But as you know, in these underserved communities,
(14:19):
they don't have that resource. So we during COVID, we
created a program called STEM in the City, and we
wanted to be able to bridge the gap between like
a Coretta Scott King Young Women's Leadership Academy and an
Atlanta girls school, so they get to know each other, right,
they get to experience each other. So we created an
(14:40):
international virtual international trip to Paris, France. I partnered with
one of my partners in Paris and we took them
on a journey and they it was all on a
Goal Pro, So the go Pro leaders were in Paris,
we were on a zoom and we had the entire school,
the Correta Scott Women's Leadership Academy School, go on a trip.
(15:03):
And we also had girls from virtually virtually We had
girls from the Global Village Project in downtown Decatur, we
had girls in Nigeria, we had girls in Spain and
Japan and everywhere from all over the world. They logged
in and they were able to take this journey to Paris.
They were able to see the Eiffel Tower. They went
(15:25):
on a black cultural tour of Paris, and so that's
where it all started because we wanted to give access,
opportunity and exposure to international experiences. So we decided to
do it through a virtual experience first, and I said,
you know, let's create a program called STEM in the City.
We're in the city and we want to be able
(15:47):
to bring STEM education and training through an after school
program so that we can teach them all of the
emergent tech. And that's one thing that we specialize in
is emerging technologies. So it's all about advanced tech worth
Industrial revolution, so that means artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, the hybrid cloud, drones.
(16:09):
We do a lot of drone technology, business and tech,
cosmetic science. Coca Cola teaches our flavor science, so they
learn what it's like to be a flavor scientist. So
we exposed them the things that they would never really
have access to. So that's what STEM in the City
after school program is all back now.
Speaker 7 (16:28):
Now, he was in the Super Bowl this year performing
at halftime. Just recently got honored at NAACP in the rewards.
His name is Usher, Yes, and you did a big
event with Usher, tell us about that.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
Yeah, So Usher's new Luk Foundation. Their leader Krisha Moore,
and I are colleagues and they do a Disruptivator summit
every year, and she asked me to come in and
do a STEM activation and so with me and my
partners at IBM, we went in and we taught an
artificial intelligence course. So that was we created, and well,
she created these various excursions to different corporations, and we
(17:05):
invited the Usher's group. We probably had about seventy five
students that travel to IBM in their Sandy Springs corporate office,
and we taught them about the new Watson X IBM
orchestrates software and we centered it around creativity and so
IBM is really strong about let's create or what if?
(17:29):
And so we told the children, if you had the
opportunity to create or disrupt something in the industry leveraging
artificial intelligence, what would it be. So we broke them
up into groups. So we had retail, we had shoes,
we had the beauty industry, the car industry, we gave them,
we had sports, and so we gave them opportunities to
(17:52):
come up with creative ideas that they can disrupt that
industry by leveraging artificial intelligence. And when I tell you
they brought brought it, they brought it. And so the
winning team got five hundred dollars gift cards and I
mean fifty dollars gift cards for their entire team for
a total of five hundred dollars. And the winning team
(18:13):
also came up with this idea to serve and support
the blind by putting artificial soft artificial intelligence software and
sensors in their shoes, so they understood how to walk
around and get information feeding into them. And we're like, wow,
that's crazy. But I tell you, if you give them
(18:34):
the opportunity to utilize their creativity and imagination, you'll be
surprised what our young people can do.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
You know, we're always surprised because you know, this is
really it. Hit told me. I grew up with six
sisters and so.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
But in the African American community, we're always stereotyped, yes,
and we always last. You know, we're not stereotype when
it comes to entertainment, not stereotype when it comes to athleticism,
but when it comes to education, we always steer a type.
You know, we've heard people say, like you said, earlier.
We can't find that it's not available. Right, HBCUs out there,
(19:11):
you know, delivering thirty three percent of overall STEM graduates
who are black are coming from HBCUs.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Now, are you creating college pathways? Let let's go through.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
No, Are you creating college pathways in your relationship that
you have with your foundation.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
Yeah. So one of the things that we've done is
I work with Emory University and Clark Atlanta University, which
is an HBCU, working with doctor George French over there.
And so we put a workforce development Center at Clark
Atlanta University because we wanted to be able to reach
into the community, not just on the campus, but also
(19:58):
in the community. There are people who want to learn
and get certifications, and the students also want to get
certifications and emerging technology. So we created a program. It
was called Business Intelligence, and we set it up what
it can be virtual, so anybody that's interested in learning
business intelligence can come through the clock and Lanta University program.
(20:20):
And so our whole goal is to expose even though
you know that most of the HBCUs or literal art schools,
right and this particular program was giving them the opportunity
to get a certification so they can immediately go and
apply that to a job, versus having to get a
four year degree, which we think is important to do.
(20:42):
That doesn't get me wrong, but there are some people
in a community that need additional skill sets and so
we were able to do that through Clock Atlanta and
Memory together.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
So are you kind of just throwing out titles a
your doctor of an academia, vaxine, kine. But I talk
about talent acquisition. I think that's why I'm really here
to understand. Can people come to you for a resource
or your resource when it comes to talent acquisition? Yes,
talk about that aspect of what you're doing at Still
(21:16):
Atlanta Women.
Speaker 5 (21:16):
So yes, still a lot of women works with a
lot of organizations in the city to provide access to talent,
more specifically black talent. Okay, And as you know, I
think it's about seventy eight percent of the nation and
I may not have that exact number, but some large
population that do not have four year degrees. And so
(21:40):
when you think about the African American community, that's probably
about sixty seven percent or more don't have college degrees.
And so my job in the city is to work
with major organizations to help find talent to give them
a family sustaining wage. So we give them the skills
that they need. We work with several talent developers, and
(22:02):
we work with colleges and universities and just in the
community alone to help them get these certifications that they
need so that they are equipped to be able to
go and have job interviews and go into these organizations,
which now I think you know most of them are
saying that we don't require a four year degree as
long as you have the skills. And it's all about
(22:25):
skills first and making sure that you are able to
get certifications and the appropriate training and make sure you
have the development that you can go in there and
be successful. You can still get a family sustaining job
of at least sixty thousand or more to be able
to to be able to take care of your family.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
I know that before you started this foundation, you was
an event planner. Yeah, and so in twenty sixteen, a
shift in you. You know, we always talk about mentorship,
we always talk about faith.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
What drove that shift?
Speaker 5 (23:00):
So that's interesting that you used to say that. So
when I was at this fortune five hundred company, I
did corporate event planning for them, training and setting up
training and development for our mental managers to have company training,
and so we would do that quarterly and I loved it.
I loved it, and so when I left an organization,
I started my own event planning company called Maxine Kane Events.
(23:24):
I love doing that, and a lot of the leaders
in the city knew that I was working with a
lot of high wealth individuals and companies and they would
come to me from a business development perspective and say, hey,
can you help us get connected to this company or
this athlete or this leader, and we would love to
(23:45):
know if they would sponsor us. And I'm like, okay,
so what am I going to sell to these individuals
to make them say, hey, we're interested in sponsoring you.
What are you focused on? Are you focused on technology
and innovation? Because that was on the minds of many
leaders and most of them were not. And so I said,
(24:05):
you know, you're making my job harder because I know
what's important to the companies and so when they give money,
they're expecting a return and they're expecting to make sure
that they can see impact. And if you're not aligning
to what their given criteria, is more than likely you're
not going to be successful with that sponsorship. And so
(24:28):
I remember one morning and I'm a person of faith.
I'm a person of faith, and I believe in God,
and I was praying and I said, you know, Lord,
I wonder why, I wonder why that is that so
many of us are just not really focused on STEM
education and training because it's so needed. And I heard
(24:49):
a still small voice say why not you? Why not you?
And I paused and I thought, that's not that's I'm
planning company. This is what I'm doing. And I really
had to think about that. I had to really think
about that, because you know, when you.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Respond, why didn't you go?
Speaker 5 (25:15):
How about you? And I thought, and so I really
had to do a lot.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Of I was just talking.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
I was just talking.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I was really talking that loud.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
And so I had to really think about it. And
so I started doing some research around that, like is
this something that I can really do? And I just
really kind of resonated on my experience, my background, and
the whole purpose of it. But more importantly, it just
took me back to when I was a little girl,
and I'm that little girl that needed that support, and
(25:48):
I wish that I had organizations like Stement Line of
Women that will really reach out and develop and mold
and show us the way, tell us the unwritten rules,
help us figure out the pathway. So I want to
give a big thank you to you Money Making Conversations
Masterclass for selecting us to be highlighted in this way
(26:10):
to tell our story, because by doing that it really
continues to help us further our mission and impact the community.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
So thank you, Wow, thank you.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
posted by me Rushawn McDonald. Thank you to our guests
on the show today, and thank you listening to the
audience now. If you want to listen to any episode
I want to be a guest on the show, visit
Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.
Join us next week and remember to always leave with
(26:40):
your gifts.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Keep winning.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Rashan McDonald, the host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass,
where we encourage.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
People to stop reading other people's success stories and.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Start planning their own.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Listen up as.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I interview entrepreneurs from around the country, talk to celebrities
and ask them how they are running their companies, and
speak with dog prophets who are making a difference in
their local communities. Now, sit back and listen as we
unlock the secrets to their success on Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Welcome to Money Making Conversations Master Class. I'm your host,
Rashan McDonald. We're down here in Atlanta, Georgia, actually community
called Summer Hill, where we're visiting the founder of STEM
Atlanta Women, doctor Maxine Kane, and we're going to learn
the secrets to her success.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Doctor Maxine Kane, Stem Atlanta Women. How did it get started?
Speaker 5 (00:58):
That is an awesome question. So let me kind of
give you the backstory. So my background, I'm just kick Yeah,
I'm gonna tell you a story. So Stem Atlanta Women
started back in twenty sixteen. So my background is human
resources by trade, and so in the world of hr AT,
a fortune five hundred company. We had a really tough
(01:22):
time trying to staff and recruit women of color in
our innovation space, and so I didn't really think about
it at the time, because you know, we're always out
in the community, We're doing trade shows, owning college campuses,
just really trying to find the right talent. And so
it was a time where I had an opportunity to
really take advantage of a very rich pension plan at
(01:43):
this fortune five hundred company, and I decided to take
advantage of that, and I was really going to be
doing a different type of career, but God had other plans, absolutely,
and he said why not you? And the reason that
started was because I was on event planning. I had
an event planning company called Maxine Kane Events, and I
(02:04):
was working with a lot of high wealth individuals and
they were looking for people to sponsor various initiatives. And
they would come to me often and they would say, Hey,
can you ask this company what they sponsor is? Would
they sponsor that? And so I would ask them, well,
what am I selling to them? Because right now, the
most important thing that these companies are focused on is science, technology, engineering,
(02:28):
and math. Back then, that was really when it was
taken off and they were looking for real talent.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Doctor Maxine Kane stem Atlanta Women. I'm in their office space.
Here is two store office space. Tell me about this
location in Summer Hill.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
Summer Hill, Oh wow, you know so. Summer Hill is
the oldest community in Atlanta and one of my corporate partners, Moxie,
behind the gathering spot in Atlanta. I had an opportunity
to work with them a few years back, and Carter
Development was really the organization that's totally redeveloping this community
(03:04):
and they knew that I was looking for space to
be able to provide some education and training in the city.
And they say, hey, we have the great a great
space for you. Why don't we introduce you to the
vice president of Carter Development so you can go over
in the community and see what's happening. And this was
(03:24):
nothing but dirt. There was nothing. The hard tours they
walked us through what was what was going to be
what you see today, and we were going to have
two units that was big, and so because of some
construction constraints, we ended up having this two story life
which we love. And they wanted to ensure that as
(03:47):
they were redeveloping the community. That we were here to
make sure that we were serving and supporting the residents
that have been here for over sixty years.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
Doctor King, I love the colors game pink green, intentional.
Speaker 5 (04:01):
Yes, very much. So so in this community, I think
you know that Summer Hill is the oldest community in
Atlanta and it's an underserved, underrepresented community for years. When
underserved on the ny that there's not a lot of
resources that were available in the community, one being that
(04:23):
it has been a food desert for over sixty years.
They've not had a bank in this community for years,
if not longer. So now you're starting to see as
a part of the redevelopment, you have banks over here,
you have a new grocery store here, but this community
has really been underserved, I mean really underserved.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
It's a beautiful community, thank you.
Speaker 5 (04:45):
It is beautiful. Cardial Development has done a phenomenal job
in redeveloping, but we still know that the legacy community
is still here. And so when they brought us into
and they really embraced us with open arms and make
sure that we had everything we need to provide the
services to the community. So the reason we were very
(05:08):
intentional about the colors is because I wanted to create
a space that was welcoming, that was safe, where the
girls can come in and feel like, this is a
place that they can relax and feel good. And colors
create it brings about creativity and so and we're all
about girls, and we wanted it to be beautiful. I
(05:30):
wanted it to feel luxurious, and I wanted them to
know that, yes, you can have a high end creative
space where you can come and feel good. I would
not dare deliver anything to them that was not as
exquisite as this place is.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
Now let's talk about the community academics in this community
of what schools are you are you are you serving
schools within the Summer Hill community?
Speaker 5 (05:56):
Yes, give us absolutely. So we have Key Middle School,
which is the first middle school that was created by
doctor Martin Luther King. Right in this community. We have
Carver Early College High School, we have Maynard Jackson High School,
we have Georgia State University, we have Parkside Elementary School,
and then we also have Michelle and Barack Obama in
(06:19):
the community too. So it is a historic community with
a lot of historic names and schools. Because we're right
in the heart of downtown, but it's the Summer Hill community,
which we're very proud of, and we wanted to create
this urban creative oasis that are girls, not only the girls,
but their moms, their grandmoms that can come in this
(06:43):
community and use this center as a space for them
to learn and to develop and to feel safe, no
lose them.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Which is science, Technology, engineering, math Atlanta women.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Yes to me.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
When I were talking to you twenty sixteen, Yes, very
important year for you, when we were talking about secrets
to success.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
What was the inspiration for you in starting this foundation?
Speaker 5 (07:08):
Yeah, So my background is human resources. I was an
HR leader with one of the Fortune five hundred companies
around the country and during that time, I had a
very tough time and my team, of course, trying to
staff and recruit women of color in science technology that
were sixteen in twenty sixteen. Yes, and it's still the
(07:31):
same today, but we were having a tough time. And
when I say tough, we were out in the community,
we were at trade shows, we were owning the college campuses.
But women of color were not embracing technology and innovation
and a lot of that was due to the lack
of representation, They didn't see people that looked like them.
(07:52):
They felt that the culture was not welcoming, They felt
like they were not smart enough, and that they didn't
feel like that was a career path. Maybe it was
too hard or whatever. And so my focus was to
change that because I've been in the industry for so
long and we had a culture and an environment where
it was all about leaders first, where we would learn
(08:13):
all the things that we needed to learn about the
telecommunications industry, and then we would cascade that information down
to our frontline employees. And I wanted women and girls
to understand that technology was the number one industry in
the world and they needed to have a space there.
So my purpose of starting STEM atlant of Women was
because I was too one of those little girls. I
(08:35):
was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia. My mother didn't
have a whole lot of resources. She was in an
underserved community, and we didn't have a lot of money,
and I didn't have a lot of resources. And I thought,
because I've been able to be successful today, I wanted
to be one of those leaders that reached back in
the community and bring up other young women to say
(08:58):
you can do it too. And because I was so
passionate about technology and science technology entered in the math.
I knew that if we didn't try to close that
divide and create a pathway for young women coming up
behind me to pursue careers in STEM, we were going
to still be in trouble. And it's the same today.
(09:20):
So a whole lot has not changed. We've made some impact,
but we still have so much more work to do.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
I know, we go see the rest of the building
because I want to go upstairs, and that's where we're
going to leave. One of your foundation members, the head
of your foundation.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
Correct, she's a board chair, board chair.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And so the whole thing about this is, you know,
the hard hat, the dream. It's work, it's work.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
It has worked. Oh my god, it's worked. People.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
How do you get because you know, everybody has a dream,
everybody has a passion to desire to pursue something that's different,
and this is different.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
It is not a forty all week job.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
So how do you get how do you go through
the process of You've always said this was the location
you were in used to be a food desert. Twenty sixteen,
you couldn't even find women of color in this STEM field.
Even today, there's a lot of that their availability. Where
does the future hold for this organization or foundation and
(10:20):
how do you continue to make a difference along with
your board members.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Well, because we're very clear about our mission. We're very
clear about our mission. We're very clear that we want
to see equality with women and girls, that whole gender equality.
Were very clear. But our focus is to enhance and
increase the talent pipeline or pathway for women and girls
(10:44):
in STEM more specifically black and brown girls and underserved
and underrepresented communities. Because these babies are brilliant. They are brilliant.
We have a Steminus Ball that we do every year
or the end of the.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Year, and so quickly, as you said quickly, it is our.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Steminus Ball, steminist Yes, and our Steminus Ball. We highlight
beautiful black and brown girls and underserved communities who have
done phenomenal work in their grade levels of achieving high
scores in science, technology, engineering, and math. And at the
(11:23):
end of every year we do a Steminus Ball, which
is the schools love it because it's their celebration and
we honor them by giving them cords, certificates, and awards.
They get a beautiful crystal award for their accomplishments in
their school. Wow, and they come to a black tie
event they get their awards. They are just beautiful and
(11:44):
they're brilliant. And so I want the world to know
that there are beautiful little girls who are pursuing these
careers and they are smart, they are strong, they are creative,
and they love stem. Believe it or not, they do.
So we're not unicorns. We do exist, but you just
have to nurture it. You have to nurture that. We
(12:07):
and by design, we serve middle schoolers, high schoolers, college students,
and recent college grads between the ages of nineteen and
thirty five. And you may think, wow, that's a big spread,
but it's by design because you need to create the
pathways and it starts early. So one of the programs
that we put into middle schools build on the programs
(12:29):
that go into high school. The high school builds on
the programs going into college. And then when you're in college,
we've helped you navigate from middle school to college. So
now it's time for you to prepare for that career.
We made sure that we've created that bench or that pathway,
so that now they're.
Speaker 6 (12:46):
Ready, Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with
more money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money
Making Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashan McDonald. Money Making Conversations
(13:07):
Masterclass continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and fund of
money Making Conversations master Class on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Which dud said, there's a love for there's not just
a business side, because there's business because you got to
counter number.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Chekeep the doors of corporation.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
You got to get sponsors to come in and buy
into this. When I, when I, when I go through
the calendar event because that's what that's what sponsor dollars do.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
This is a nonprofit of steming the City. What is that.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
STEM in the City is our after school program. And
it was really interesting when I created that program because
it started way before we moved into the Summer Hill community.
I used to work do work in a school called
the Atlanta Girls School, and one program that they have
that I found fascinating was that they travel around the
(13:58):
world to different locations and it's required for those girls
to experience an international city. And I thought, wow, that
would be really cool if our girls had that same
type of resource to be able to travel abroad to
experience international culture. But as you know, in these underserved communities,
(14:19):
they don't have that resource. So we during COVID, we
created a program called STEM in the City, and we
wanted to be able to bridge the gap between like
a Coretta Scott King Young Women's Leadership Academy and an
Atlanta girls school, so they get to know each other, right,
they get to experience each other. So we created an
(14:40):
international virtual international trip to Paris, France. I partnered with
one of my partners in Paris and we took them
on a journey and they it was all on a
Goal Pro, So the go Pro leaders were in Paris,
we were on a zoom and we had the entire school,
the Correta Scott Women's Leadership Academy School, go on a trip.
(15:03):
And we also had girls from virtually virtually We had
girls from the Global Village Project in downtown Decatur, we
had girls in Nigeria, we had girls in Spain and
Japan and everywhere from all over the world. They logged
in and they were able to take this journey to Paris.
They were able to see the Eiffel Tower. They went
(15:25):
on a black cultural tour of Paris, and so that's
where it all started because we wanted to give access,
opportunity and exposure to international experiences. So we decided to
do it through a virtual experience first, and I said,
you know, let's create a program called STEM in the City.
We're in the city and we want to be able
(15:47):
to bring STEM education and training through an after school
program so that we can teach them all of the
emergent tech. And that's one thing that we specialize in
is emerging technologies. So it's all about advanced tech worth
Industrial revolution, so that means artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, the hybrid cloud, drones.
(16:09):
We do a lot of drone technology, business and tech,
cosmetic science. Coca Cola teaches our flavor science, so they
learn what it's like to be a flavor scientist. So
we exposed them the things that they would never really
have access to. So that's what STEM in the City
after school program is all back now.
Speaker 7 (16:28):
Now, he was in the Super Bowl this year performing
at halftime. Just recently got honored at NAACP in the rewards.
His name is Usher, Yes, and you did a big
event with Usher, tell us about that.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
Yeah, So Usher's new Luk Foundation. Their leader Krisha Moore,
and I are colleagues and they do a Disruptivator summit
every year, and she asked me to come in and
do a STEM activation and so with me and my
partners at IBM, we went in and we taught an
artificial intelligence course. So that was we created, and well,
she created these various excursions to different corporations, and we
(17:05):
invited the Usher's group. We probably had about seventy five
students that travel to IBM in their Sandy Springs corporate office,
and we taught them about the new Watson X IBM
orchestrates software and we centered it around creativity and so
IBM is really strong about let's create or what if?
(17:29):
And so we told the children, if you had the
opportunity to create or disrupt something in the industry leveraging
artificial intelligence, what would it be. So we broke them
up into groups. So we had retail, we had shoes,
we had the beauty industry, the car industry, we gave them,
we had sports, and so we gave them opportunities to
(17:52):
come up with creative ideas that they can disrupt that
industry by leveraging artificial intelligence. And when I tell you
they brought brought it, they brought it. And so the
winning team got five hundred dollars gift cards and I
mean fifty dollars gift cards for their entire team for
a total of five hundred dollars. And the winning team
(18:13):
also came up with this idea to serve and support
the blind by putting artificial soft artificial intelligence software and
sensors in their shoes, so they understood how to walk
around and get information feeding into them. And we're like, wow,
that's crazy. But I tell you, if you give them
(18:34):
the opportunity to utilize their creativity and imagination, you'll be
surprised what our young people can do.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
You know, we're always surprised because you know, this is
really it. Hit told me. I grew up with six
sisters and so.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
But in the African American community, we're always stereotyped, yes,
and we always last. You know, we're not stereotype when
it comes to entertainment, not stereotype when it comes to athleticism,
but when it comes to education, we always steer a type.
You know, we've heard people say, like you said, earlier.
We can't find that it's not available. Right, HBCUs out there,
(19:11):
you know, delivering thirty three percent of overall STEM graduates
who are black are coming from HBCUs.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Now, are you creating college pathways? Let let's go through.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
No, Are you creating college pathways in your relationship that
you have with your foundation.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
Yeah. So one of the things that we've done is
I work with Emory University and Clark Atlanta University, which
is an HBCU, working with doctor George French over there.
And so we put a workforce development Center at Clark
Atlanta University because we wanted to be able to reach
into the community, not just on the campus, but also
(19:58):
in the community. There are people who want to learn
and get certifications, and the students also want to get
certifications and emerging technology. So we created a program. It
was called Business Intelligence, and we set it up what
it can be virtual, so anybody that's interested in learning
business intelligence can come through the clock and Lanta University program.
(20:20):
And so our whole goal is to expose even though
you know that most of the HBCUs or literal art schools,
right and this particular program was giving them the opportunity
to get a certification so they can immediately go and
apply that to a job, versus having to get a
four year degree, which we think is important to do.
(20:42):
That doesn't get me wrong, but there are some people
in a community that need additional skill sets and so
we were able to do that through Clock Atlanta and
Memory together.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
So are you kind of just throwing out titles a
your doctor of an academia, vaxine, kine. But I talk
about talent acquisition. I think that's why I'm really here
to understand. Can people come to you for a resource
or your resource when it comes to talent acquisition? Yes,
talk about that aspect of what you're doing at Still
(21:16):
Atlanta Women.
Speaker 5 (21:16):
So yes, still a lot of women works with a
lot of organizations in the city to provide access to talent,
more specifically black talent. Okay, And as you know, I
think it's about seventy eight percent of the nation and
I may not have that exact number, but some large
population that do not have four year degrees. And so
(21:40):
when you think about the African American community, that's probably
about sixty seven percent or more don't have college degrees.
And so my job in the city is to work
with major organizations to help find talent to give them
a family sustaining wage. So we give them the skills
that they need. We work with several talent developers, and
(22:02):
we work with colleges and universities and just in the
community alone to help them get these certifications that they
need so that they are equipped to be able to
go and have job interviews and go into these organizations,
which now I think you know most of them are
saying that we don't require a four year degree as
long as you have the skills. And it's all about
(22:25):
skills first and making sure that you are able to
get certifications and the appropriate training and make sure you
have the development that you can go in there and
be successful. You can still get a family sustaining job
of at least sixty thousand or more to be able
to to be able to take care of your family.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
I know that before you started this foundation, you was
an event planner. Yeah, and so in twenty sixteen, a
shift in you. You know, we always talk about mentorship,
we always talk about faith.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
What drove that shift?
Speaker 5 (23:00):
So that's interesting that you used to say that. So
when I was at this fortune five hundred company, I
did corporate event planning for them, training and setting up
training and development for our mental managers to have company training,
and so we would do that quarterly and I loved it.
I loved it, and so when I left an organization,
I started my own event planning company called Maxine Kane Events.
(23:24):
I love doing that, and a lot of the leaders
in the city knew that I was working with a
lot of high wealth individuals and companies and they would
come to me from a business development perspective and say, hey,
can you help us get connected to this company or
this athlete or this leader, and we would love to
(23:45):
know if they would sponsor us. And I'm like, okay,
so what am I going to sell to these individuals
to make them say, hey, we're interested in sponsoring you.
What are you focused on? Are you focused on technology
and innovation? Because that was on the minds of many
leaders and most of them were not. And so I said,
(24:05):
you know, you're making my job harder because I know
what's important to the companies and so when they give money,
they're expecting a return and they're expecting to make sure
that they can see impact. And if you're not aligning
to what their given criteria, is more than likely you're
not going to be successful with that sponsorship. And so
(24:28):
I remember one morning and I'm a person of faith.
I'm a person of faith, and I believe in God,
and I was praying and I said, you know, Lord,
I wonder why, I wonder why that is that so
many of us are just not really focused on STEM
education and training because it's so needed. And I heard
(24:49):
a still small voice say why not you? Why not you?
And I paused and I thought, that's not that's I'm
planning company. This is what I'm doing. And I really
had to think about that. I had to really think
about that, because you know, when you.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Respond, why didn't you go?
Speaker 5 (25:15):
How about you? And I thought, and so I really
had to do a lot.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Of I was just talking.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
I was just talking.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I was really talking that loud.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
And so I had to really think about it. And
so I started doing some research around that, like is
this something that I can really do? And I just
really kind of resonated on my experience, my background, and
the whole purpose of it. But more importantly, it just
took me back to when I was a little girl,
and I'm that little girl that needed that support, and
(25:48):
I wish that I had organizations like Stement Line of
Women that will really reach out and develop and mold
and show us the way, tell us the unwritten rules,
help us figure out the pathway. So I want to
give a big thank you to you Money Making Conversations
Masterclass for selecting us to be highlighted in this way
(26:10):
to tell our story, because by doing that it really
continues to help us further our mission and impact the community.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
So thank you, Wow, thank you.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
posted by me Rushawn McDonald. Thank you to our guests
on the show today, and thank you listening to the
audience now. If you want to listen to any episode
I want to be a guest on the show, visit
Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.
Join us next week and remember to always leave with
(26:40):
your gifts.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Keep winning.
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