Cambio means change.
Right now, museums have a timely and critical opportunity to build capacity for authentic and sustained collaborations with their communities. By evolving organizational practices, museums can open their doors wider to authentic Latinx engagement.
Cambio is a National Science Foundation-funded professional development project for informal learning institutions—zoos, children’s museums, science centers, and other similar organizations—across the United States. It’s built on the premise that by developing cultural competence specific to Latinx communities and STEM—the fields known collectively as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—coupled with intentional changes in practice, museums can improve their ability to be inclusive of their Latinx communities, cultures, and audiences.
In practice, Cambio offers a yearlong professional development program, along with resources and tools for museum professionals. We help museums shift internal practices to better create STEM experiences that are culturally relevant, responsive, and sustaining to Latinx audiences.
After joining our annual Cohort Program, participating museums:
- Meet in person to kick off the experience to build community and jumpstart learning.
- Participate in monthly virtual meetings where coaches and faculty facilitate knowledge-building, experiential learning, and community-building.
- Work to develop and implement a locally relevant Strategic Initiative focused on Latinx communities and STEM.
- Convene with other Cambio Alums for a Culminating Summit at the end of the grant period.
Building on Experience
Cambio leverages CCLI* (Cultural Competence Learning Institute), a professional development initiative for diversity and inclusion, and the actionable insights from the Exploratorium’s National Science Foundation-funded GENIAL Summit for engaging Latinx in informal science institutions. Our faculty of seasoned facilitators, museum educators, CEOs, researchers, and scientists draw from experience, active work in their fields, advice from cross-industry advisors, and a commitment to co-learning.
Cambio is a multi-year professional development initiative. Cambio is made possible through the generous support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and is a collaboration between the Exploratorium and CCLI (Cultural Competence Learning Institute). This material is based upon work supported by NSF under grant 1906595. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.
