![](https://assets.zyrosite.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,w=1920,fit=crop/ALp8z3jejPtX5Jqn/1-YNqDLJkEJPczyk3d.png)
Meet Francisca
115 Million youth over the age of 15 cannot read or write.
Young women make up 59% of the 115 million illiterate youth today. Across generations, women were deprived of core learning skills like reading and writing. My grandmother, Francisca, never got this chance. STEM IN A BOX is in her honor.
Our team works hard, so every day that passes, fewer girls like my grandmother wonder who they would have become if given a chance to go to school.
![](https://assets.zyrosite.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,w=574,h=383,fit=crop/ALp8z3jejPtX5Jqn/img_3095-dOqMEvgkLDf8loaN.jpg)
![](https://assets.zyrosite.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,w=328,h=278,fit=crop/ALp8z3jejPtX5Jqn/img_3095-dOqMEvgkLDf8loaN.jpg)
"In honor of Francisca."
Meet Maria
Hi there! My name is Maria, and I am a human-centered designer working towards breaching access to education and technology in developing countries.
I have not always been a designer, let alone a changemaker. I graduated cum laude from ESCP Business School, studying Financial Management in London, Turin, and Berlin. Yet, inspired by my grandmother’s resilience and intelligence when denied access to schooling, I founded STEM IN A BOX, a youth-led initiative distributing robots assembled from electric waste and cardboard in Latin America and Africa.
STEM IN A BOX was my first interaction with Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D). I am now pursuing my Master’s at the University of Colorado Boulder ATLAS Institute, specializing in the Design of Technology for Social Impact. I have worn multiple hats throughout my life, but I hope to merge my passions for finance, social entrepreneurship, and technology in my long-term career in ICT4D.
![](https://assets.zyrosite.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,w=660,h=440,fit=crop/ALp8z3jejPtX5Jqn/74fe75a9-57e1-4650-963a-22efb70229a2-AQEXNW6DNzTnN8zk.jpg)
![](https://assets.zyrosite.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,w=328,h=278,fit=crop/ALp8z3jejPtX5Jqn/74fe75a9-57e1-4650-963a-22efb70229a2-AQEXNW6DNzTnN8zk.jpg)