Innovation Fund

The New York Hall of Science is the source for inspiring science. The City's only hands-on science and technology center, NYSCI presents more than 450 exhibits, North America's largest science playground and serves as a laboratory of learning for a half-million visitors each year. Its exceptional educational programs include the signature Science Career Ladder (SCL), which employs and mentors 200 young men and women annually—many from underrepresented backgrounds. As NYSCI's exhibit floor Explainers, these high school and college students learn not only the principles of science, but also how to teach these principles to an audience of students, teachers and families. More than 60 percent of SCL alumni have gone on to careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) or education. The SCL has been replicated worldwide, including sites in the United Kingdom, South Africa and India.

NYSCI is based in Queens, the most ethnically diverse county in the United States, and is a unique resource for new Americans from every part of the world. This cultural diversity is reflected in the backgrounds of its SCL participants. Explainers and their families come from more than 20 countries worldwide—from Ecuador to Egypt, from Poland to Pakistan. SCL Explainers speak many languages, enhancing the NYSCI experience for visitors with similar backgrounds.

By supporting the Innovation Fund, you invest as a partner with NYSCI in nurturing the minds and talents of present and future generations. You will help NYSCI create exhibits of consequence and education programs that have a direct effect on our City's students, teachers and families. NYSCI is preparing for the 50th anniversary of its iconic Great Hall, which was unveiled during the 1964 World's Fair. This special anniversary year will include new exhibitions and education initiatives, including a new professional development center for teachers, which will employ emerging technologies to deliver the highest quality training in the most cost-effective ways. These exhibitions, programs and research initiatives all focus on the human infrastructure of science and technology. This is NYSCI's essential contribution: placing people at the center of the scientific enterprise, enriching the capacity of millions of New Yorkers to participate as teachers, learners, informed citizens, and science professionals.

For information on making a contribution to the Innovation Fund please contact Dan Wempa at dwempa@nysci.org.