Partnership between MassBioEd & Life Science Cares Boston will recruit, train and deploy an army of industry volunteers to inspire and mentor students interested in STEM careers
Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation (MassBioEd) and Life Sciences Cares Boston announced today the launch of a collaboration to streamline STEM education and career development volunteer and community outreach opportunities for life science industry professionals.
Harnessing the network and experience of two organizations, Compass Collaborative aims to recruit, manage, train, and place volunteers to engage with students, educators, and nonprofit organizations via mentorship, networking, skills-based volunteering, and more. 
Through the Compass Collaborative, the founding organizations expect to increase meaningful connections between industry professionals and those seeking to enter the field, driving interest and building pathways to careers in the life sciences. Both MassBioEd and Life Science Cares, through its network of nonprofit partners, rely on industry volunteers to inspire, educate and mentor students of all ages and backgrounds.
Volunteers fill out an intake form gauging their specific interests, professional backgrounds and lived experiences, and are then matched with volunteer opportunities aligned with their interests. STEM education and career development volunteer opportunities are curated at https://bit.ly/CompassCollabOpps.
“Just like a compass has different directions, we want to demonstrate to students that a career in life sciences can lead to a broad range of jobs and can guide them to endless opportunities,” said Sarah MacDonald, President of Life Science Cares Boston. “We know that by building meaningful connections to mentors and other professionals, we can cultivate student interest in life science careers and more broadly, end systemic inequalities in the education workforce ecosystem.”
Life Science Cares Boston is committed to Compass Collaborative as the organization deepens its work to help connect students and adults to opportunities in the industry. Compass Collaborative fits alongside Project Onramp, a summer internship program for underrepresented and underresourced college students, and One-to-One, a technology platform connecting students and industry professionals for informational interviews and networking.
“We are very excited to partner with Life Science Cares to streamline career awareness and development for students and underrepresented adults,” said Sunny Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer of MassBioEd. “Through this collaboration, we will bring the expertise and experience of our BioTeach and BioTalent teams to other nonprofits as we curate resources and materials to guide and train volunteers in their engagements with students and job seekers.”
Compass Collaborative is the newest initiative of MassBioEd, following its Life Sciences Apprenticeship Program, which trains and places diverse adults in meaningful and sustainable life sciences careers, and its ACCESS Program, which ignites middle and high school students’ interest in life sciences, focusing on school districts with populations underrepresented in the life sciences industry.
About Life Science Cares Boston
Founded in 2016, Life Science Cares Boston has partnered with more than four dozen community organizations to direct financial resources, donated goods, and tens of thousands of volunteer hours from life science companies and their employees to reduce the immediate and long-term impacts of poverty. These grants and partnerships further Life Science Cares Boston’s goal to leverage the intellectual, financial, and human capital of the industry to collectively reduce the impacts of poverty, while helping companies build connections with the community and internally between employees.
About MassBioEd Foundation
The MassBioEd Foundation (MassBioEd) is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization. Its mission is to build a sustainable life sciences workforce in the region through educational programs that engage and excite teachers, inspire and propel students, and illuminate the pathway from the classroom to careers with a focus on expansion, opportunity, and diversity.