LYRA
A BIT ABOUT US
Lyra is a nonprofit startup that aims to bridge the gap between the high STEM career expectations and aspiring students in underserved communities. During research in a biomedical engineering lab, our team met and realized that there is an unmet need for STEM+ education in underserved high schools. The curricula in these underserved communities were not designed to show how holistic and interdisciplinary STEM really is after entering college. Because of these disparities, high schoolers in underserved communities experience difficulty in meeting STEM career expectations, discouraging them from pursuing these careers. Lyra was founded in Newark and is a student-led non-profit that aims to bridge this gap. We provide programs in underserved communities to help students prep for STEM careers. We do this through both interactive workshops and targeted mentorships focusing on unconventional STEM topics and experiences that can’t be taught in a classroom or read in a textbook.