Helping girls and young women in Mexico explore careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), while furthering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, is central to the mission of Knorr-Bremse Global Care North America. On Aug. 27, the foundation co-sponsored the STEM for Social Good Bootcamp – Mexico, an online event and workshop hosted by the United Nations organization Girl Up, in partnership with Girl Up Latin America and the Caribbean. The event, centered in Mexico, featured local experts discussing careers in STEM fields and sharing advice for girls interested in the field, while also addressing the problem of water scarcity in Mexico. 

Knorr-Bremse Global Care North America Inc. (KBGCNA) is the North American arm of a global nonprofit organization, Knorr-Bremse Global Care. With the support of Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC, a member of Munich, Germany-based Knorr-Bremse, KBGCNA awarded Girl Up $50,000 in grant funding to support the event. Bendix also provided programming and promotional support for the effort and hosted an in-person viewing of the virtual workshop attended by 30 participants at its Acuña, Mexico, manufacturing facility.

Together, the more than 100 bootcamp participants discussed STEM pursuits centering on the theme of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, while also exploring ways to close the gender gap in STEM fields. 

“Knorr-Bremse Global Care North America and Bendix are focused on supporting programs that encourage gender equality while at the same time helping young women to pursue their interest in STEM careers,” said Maria Gutierrez, president of KBGCNA and director of corporate responsibility and sustainability at Bendix. “Girl Up, through Girl Up Latin America (LATAM) and the STEM for Social Good Bootcamp in Mexico, is working toward these same goals: helping more girls to go into STEM careers and providing opportunities especially for those who wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to these fields. That is why we’re so proud to have partnered with this organization and to have lent our support. The bootcamp offered our participants the unique opportunity to see how their work in STEM can solve the problems of water scarcity and sanitation in local communities, and we’re so happy to be a part of that.” 

Leadership and STEM Training to Support U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 

Founded by the United Nations Foundation, Girl Up is an international organization focusing on leadership training for girls and young women. Through six STEM for Social Good Bootcamps planned around the globe in 2021, the organization is educating participants about the field of STEM, while also sharing tools to help participants become advocates and activists for gender equality and promoting the objectives of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Participants in the STEM for Social Good Bootcamp – Mexico explored gender inequality related to girls’ and women’s access to clean water in Mexico and Latin America while being encouraged to address solutions.

“We’re excited to partner with KBGCNA as an organization that is committed to the very same issues that we’re trying to tackle,” observed Barbara Aranda, regional representative for Girl Up LATAM. “What we always try to do through our programs is understand what our girls want us to bring into the conversation. And what we’ve seen in the past year is that girls in Latin America are quite interested in climate action and responsibility. It was our mission to develop and host a program to raise awareness around increasing access to water in our country and creating innovative solutions to protect our access to water.” 

The nearly 100 participants who took part in the virtual bootcamp were located across Mexico. The group of 30 attendees who gathered at Bendix’s Acuña facility included daughters of Bendix employees along with female students from a local vocational school, CECyTEC: Colegio de Estudios Científicos y Tecnológicos del Estado de Coahuila, with whom Bendix Acuña offers apprenticeships, and the local Acuña chapter of the Pentathlón Deportivo Militarizado Universitario.

Shared Insights from Women in STEM  

During the Girl Up STEM Bootcamp – Mexico, participants had the opportunity to hear women in the STEM field discuss their professional trajectories. They also learned more about how to combat water scarcity and ocean pollution through STEM by taking part in a laboratory to devise potential solutions to combat water scarcity in their communities. Additionally, participants were given the opportunity to apply for a Girl Up STEM grant to implement their solutions in the community.

Bendix Acuña program champion and Bendix KPS and Lean Manufacturing Manager Jazmín Sifuentes welcomed the local attendees and introduced two Bendix panelists, Blanca Morales and Yahaira De Los Santos, who shared their insights during the event. 

“Globally and in Mexico, women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change and access to natural resources, such as those addressed by the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals,” Sifuentes observed. “The STEM for Social Good program is working to address this by helping girls and young women explore the gender gap in STEM and develop the skills necessary to induce change in their communities. KBGCNA and Bendix believe that in supporting this effort, we’re achieving our goals to further girls’ education in STEM-based fields while promoting the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and raising awareness of gender equality.”