HENAAC™, a non-profit organization promoting careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, is creating a new overall name to the organization - Great Minds in STEM™. We are doing this to reflect the expanded role of our Education Programs and other efforts we are taking to promote STEM careers in underserved communities. To help clarify our plans, here are some Frequently Asked Questions and Answers:

Not a lot other than the overall name of the organization. Great Minds in STEM™ is the new name of the organization and HENAAC™ will remain as the name of our outstanding conference for Recognition and Recruiting. The HENAAC™ conference will still have a scholarship program, travel grants, a college bowl, career fair and a Hall of Fame.

Yes, we will still have a HENAAC™ conference with a focus on Recognition and Recruiting for Hispanics in STEM presented by Great Minds in STEM™. We will also continue to expand the events at the conference for educational program participants and professionals.

For over 20 years, HENAAC™ has been known for an outstanding conference that recognizes Hispanics in Engineering, Science and Technology. It provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their abilities in the college bowl, network with professionals and executives and participate in a career fair. The conference is also an excellent source of top talent for recruiting organizations.

However, over the past few years, our award winning Education Programs have become an ever increasing part of the organization and are now larger than the Conference. As we continue to expand our Education Programs and our fund raising efforts, we needed an overall new name to represent all of the activities of the non-profit organization.

No, our vision remains: "Keeping America technologically strong by promoting science, technology, engineering and math careers, especially in under represented communities". And our mission remains as we have stated for the past few years:

• To educate, motivate and enable more underserved students to achieve careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)
• To develop and leverage Hispanic STEM talent to play a leadership role
• To engage families, educators and employers to support underserved students in STEM careers
• To inspire our nation through recognition of the achievements of Hispanics and other role models in STEM
• To lead collaboration and cooperation within the STEM community

We will continue to execute our mission with excellence as we have done in the past. Great Minds in STEM™ will continue to expand our education programs and seek new sources of funding to support our mission. Our PARR strategy that we have been implementing for the past few years remains the same and it is to execute on our vision and mission by providing:

• Programs: Develop programs that enlighten and educate Hispanics and the underserved to pursue STEM; and that help regional communities bring together resources to take action.
• Association: Build associations and alliances with key national leaders in industry, government and academia and apply our expertise and access in the Hispanic community to further the STEM agenda.
• Recognition & Retention: Provide platforms for the national recognition of Hispanics, other STEM talent and organizations to promote role models and help organizations retain top talent through recognition.
• Recruitment: Provide venues and forums for the recruitment of top Hispanic and underserved talent.

Great Minds in STEM™ will focus on the underrepresented and underserved. Hispanics are a large part of that population and we will continue to leverage our history with the Hispanic community and continue to recognize their achievements at our HENAAC™ conference.

We needed to change our terminology to underrepresented and underserved vs. solely Hispanic to comply with Federal Government requirements for education program contracts and funding.

We have already been doing that in the past few years and this is another reason for the new name. For example, in K-12 education programs we include STEM examples, we added information technology category to our awards and many of our awards already go to scientists and chemists. We will continue to look at our award categories and nominations to cover the full extent of STEM careers.

As our education programs grow, we may expand our awards and sessions at the conference to also provide forums for our Education Program participants and recognition for those people and programs. We are also looking at increasing our professional track at the conference, considering how we could support regional conferences and looking to leverage more partnerships with other STEM focused organizations.

Please go to our web site for more about our name change and programs. You can also ask questions of any board member or senior staff member.

We hope these Questions and Answers were useful to help you understand our direction and new name. Please know that the Board and Staff of Great Minds in STEM™ continue to be committed to do all we can to help solve the looming STEM crisis in our country and very much appreciate your support in this effort. We would also like to thank The Daily Brand and The Walt Disney Company for their help in our new name and logo.