Rancho Bernardo firm encouraging interest in science by at-risk girls

A Rancho Bernardo-based company is encouraging impressionable, at-risk girls to continue their education and pursue the sciences through a mentorship program with female employees.

Millennium Health has partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County to launch the new program Beyond School Walls STEM Sister-2-Sister. Through the program, Millennium Health female employees are volunteering their time during the workday to be Big Sisters to underserved middle school-age girls at Del Dios Academy of Arts and Science in Escondido.

Starting last month, the inaugural group of 15 Little Sisters are being bused to Millennium Health’s Rancho Bernardo headquarters so they can meet with their Big Sisters for 90 minutes twice a month. During the encounters the Big Sisters spend time talking with their Little Sisters about school and other things in their lives, playing games and doing other activities, plus devoting part of the sessions toward an activity that involves science, technology, engineering or mathematics.

Tanya Moreno, Millennium Health’s vice president of genetics, research and development, is paired with sixth grader Jazmin. (It is Big Brothers Big Sisters policy not to release the last names of the Littles in their program.)

“This is a thrilling opportunity, an amazing thing,” Moreno said about why she wanted to become a Big Sister. “I love science and it’s really important to encourage girls to maintain their interest in science and technology.”

Among activities Moreno said she plans to do with Jazmin are “fun” experiments in the lab so she can learn about DNA.

Jazmin said she wanted to be a Little Sister because it is “a once in a lifetime opportunity where I can learn about things related to STEM.” The 11-year-old said her older brother sparked her interest in STEM when he told her about things he has studied.

Maria Rodriquez, a California licensed scientist who sets up reports for pharmaceutical genetic testing, is paired with Yuvia, a 12-year-old sixth grader.

Rodriquez said she was inspired to go into her field by “great teachers who dedicated their time to be there for (me).” When she heard about Millennium Health’s new program, she volunteered to be a Big Sister because “it’s an opportunity to give back.” Rodriquez said she plans to help Yuvia build up her confidence during her mentorship sessions that have included playing soccer and doing things in the lab.

Yuvia said she hopes Rodriquez can help her overcome insecurities and be there to help her work out problems. Her current interest in science revolves around cures, she said, adding she enjoys doing new activities.

The mentorship program was the brainchild of Millennium Health’s CEO, Brock Hardaway. He joined the company a couple years ago to lead its 1,400 employees nationwide, including the more than 800 working in the local area. The company has donated $100,000 to launch Beyond School Walls.

“It’s important to us, beyond the safety of employees and communities in which we live, to also create the workforce of tomorrow for our biotech community in San Diego,” Hardaway said. “Part of that is having children have access to and (be) excited about science and math.”

The father of two teenage girls said joining the Big Brothers Big Sisters board was a way for him to get involved in the community and pursue his “passion” for helping youth after moving to San Diego from Texas. Last year, Millennium partnered with the organization and one of its first endeavors was to provide bicycles to Littles. With the new Beyond School Walls program it is not only having its employees mentor children in underserved communities, but also getting other companies to do the same. These include Qualcomm, Cisco and Biocom.

“What better place to launch this program than the hotbed for technology and biotechnology?” Hardaway said. “There are plenty of companies like us who have great science, technology and employees who want to help. … Our hope is that this program becomes a national model for all Big Brothers Big Sisters sites throughout the country.”

Debra Condon, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County, said for more than 100 years Bigs have been helping Littles believe in themselves through one-on-one mentorships. This new program, for girls only at Millennium and for boys and girls at the other companies, is bringing middle school students at the crossroads of their education to the workplace so they can see STEM in action.

“They need to see it to be it,” Condon said. “(Otherwise), they do not know what they are capable of through more education. They can understand what is going on in their great community.”

Condon said Millennium Health’s focus on 11- to 13-year-old girls is especially important since they are the primary targets and victims of human trafficking. She said San Diego has the ninth highest human trafficking rate in the U.S.

According to a 2012 National Gang Intelligence Center report, in San Diego County juvenile prostitution is the second most profitable gang activity, surpassed only by drug dealing. Gangs prey on vulnerable pre-teen girls who have low self-esteem and a dysfunctional home life. However, a strong, positive female mentor can counteract that by helping the girls improve their self-esteem, being a safe outlet for the challenges they face at home and school, and motivate them to succeed academically.

Kristen Clayton, a social worker at Del Dios, said females are vastly underrepresented in STEM careers since they have less than 25 percent of STEM jobs even though they are half of the workforce. The inaugural group of sixth- and seventh-grade girls was selected because they live in low socioeconomic Escondido neighborhoods influenced by gangs.

“They are not our top performing (students) or our lowest, but are doing well in school and deserve to be recognized for their potential,” Clayton said. Since their mentorships began, she said the girls look forward to their sessions with their Big Sisters and are motivated to come to school.