Celebrate the SAME Foundation this Giving Tuesday

In 2016, the SAME Foundation was established to build on a century-long legacy of SAME members giving back their time and resources to grow the next generation of engineering leaders for our nation. For more than 100 years, SAME has understood that for the engineering profession to endure as a reliable bedrock for our national security, new cadres of young leaders will need to be discovered and developed. It is through this lens that the SAME Foundation today has grown its impact in fostering engineering leadership for the nation, having imparted significant investment in inspiring future STEM professionals and elevating rising leaders.

During 2023, the SAME Foundation received its first two official corporate sponsorships while garnering growing charitable contributions from individuals inside and outside the Society. This momentum is thanks to the continued positive outcomes from the programs the Foundation supports: the Leader Development Program, Camps Mentoring Program, and STEM Pathways Program. With the year-end fast approaching, consider supporting the SAME Foundation in your philanthropic contributions this Giving Tuesday. America’s future is bright. Let’s help make it brighter.

Why Your Support Matters

Changing Lives with STEM. If you attended the 2023 JETC in San Antonio, you saw some amazing young leaders on stage representing SAME’s Leader Development Program, which the Foundation fully underwrites. Colleen Rust, PG, and Lt. Cdr. Kevin Remley, P.E., USPHS, shared the story of how their team developed, through the Leader Development Program, what would become We Must Go To Them—now the STEM Pathways Program. This initiative with American Indian/Alaskan Native communities in Florida, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Alaska (as part of a pilot with several SAME Posts) is showing the possibilities of an engineering-related career to a population where STEM education and mentorship historically has lagged. This program, made possible through a grant from the United Engineering Foundation and matching funds from the SAME Foundation, can inspire countless more promising youth to explore a future in STEM.

Mentoring Future Leaders. During the 2023 SAME Camps Season, at five locations in partnership with the military services, SAME’s Camps Mentoring Program gave more than 20 young leaders the chance to stimulate the minds of tomorrow’s STEM professionals. While the hands-on engineering and construction the students are exposed to is awesome, it is often the tutelage they receive from those who have recently charted the path to STEM careers that gives them confidence to pursue their dreams. Many mentors stay connected to campers in the months and years afterward, helping elevate their journey to success. The SAME Foundation is proud to contribute to the tremendous legacy of the SAME Camps Program, which for over 20 years has helped produce thousands of STEM professionals and leaders for our nation.

Leadership in Development. Each year, SAME’s Leader Development Program offers high-potential young professionals and mid-career members the chance to spend an entire year learning alongside their peers in a true joint training environment. This program, since its founding in 2019, has become a highly sought after leader development opportunity for both industry and military members. About half of the participants come from the uniformed services; the other half represent SAME member companies. The projects the cohorts have developed, as individuals and collaboratively, have taken on large challenges and issues within the A/E/C community, and some even have become formally implemented within SAME. Imagine if there were more resources to expand the program to more aspiring leaders?

The SAME Foundation has received a Platinum Seal of Transparency by Candid (GuideStar) and a four-star rating with Charity Navigator.