Education Colombia Project #61232

Build Bright Colombian Futures through STEM

by MAKAIA

Build Bright Colombian Futures through STEM

Project Report | Dec 11, 2025
Opening Doors Through STEM Education

By Andrea Chajin | Crowdfunding Professional

Dear supporters,

Thanks to your generosity, MAKAIA’s STEM Talents Incubator continues to transform the educational and professional futures of vulnerable youth in Colombia. Your contributions are opening doors that, for many of our participants, once seemed completely out of reach.

One of the most powerful examples of your impact is Andrés Ospina, a participant from Medellín who transitioned from the STEM Talents Incubator into MAKAIA’s advanced bootcamp. The STEM Incubator plays a crucial role in this transition: youth significantly strengthen the very competencies evaluated in the Gorilla Test—the admission exam for the bootcamp—greatly increasing their chances of passing it successfully. And for those who choose not to pursue the bootcamp but instead apply to university, these same strengthened skills lead to better performance on the national ICFES/Saber 11 exam, expanding their opportunities for higher education.

Andrés shares:

“I was offered the opportunity to join the incubator, where I strengthened many skills such as math, reading comprehension, critical thinking, and others that helped me a lot when taking the exams.”

The Incubator not only strengthened his academic skills, but also his confidence and motivation:

“They supported me. They were always there, always checking on me, accompanying me through the entire process, and giving me the motivation I needed to complete my certification.”

After completing the bootcamp, Andrés is now exploring new employment opportunities and building a career path he once wasn’t sure was possible:

“This process taught me so many things for my future… it opened the doors for me to get a good job.”

Beyond his personal goals, Andrés dreams of giving back to his community:

“I dream of using all the knowledge I gained to help other people and positively impact their lives… to be a contribution to society.”

In Colombia, access to higher education is deeply unequal: only 39% of graduates continue their studies, and public school students score nearly 30 points lower on the national Saber 11 exam. Among the poorest youth, just 23% enroll in higher education. The STEM Talents Incubator directly tackles these gaps by strengthening critical thinking, math reasoning, reading comprehension, and essential digital and life skills—equipping vulnerable students with the competencies they need to progress toward vocational or postsecondary studies.

Join Us in Expanding This Impact

As we continue this work, we invite you to share this story with others who believe in education, fairness, and opportunity. The more people learn about what is possible, the more young lives we can help transform.

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Aug 13, 2025
Juan's Journey: a non-polluting energy generator

By Andrea Chajin | Crowdfunding Professional

Juan (name changed for privacy) discovered the STEM Program last year while attending high school in Puerto Wilches. The call for applications came with a promise that sparked his curiosity: innovation, projects, and creativity. Without thinking twice, he enrolled and began attending the virtual classes, where each session opened the door to new ideas.

Midway through the year, the school organized a Science Fair. Inspired by what they were learning in Makaia’s STEM Program and driven by the excitement of exploring more about science, Juan and a classmate decided to develop a project: a non-polluting energy generator for their community, which frequently suffers from power outages. They consulted several teachers at their school, but many told them it was impossible. Far from being discouraged, that motivated them even more. They worked day and night, even staying up late, taking advantage of the fact that the school lent them a space to develop their prototype.

Life took them to Girón, Santander, where an institution became interested in their project and connected them with a company that financed the necessary materials to move forward.

For Juan, the STEM Program was more than just a course—it was a boost. “The time was 100% well spent,” he recalls. “We always had attentive instructors who answered our questions with patience and kindness. That guidance was key to continuing to believe in our ideas.”

Today, their project is still going, and Juan keeps alive the same motivation that led him to enroll that day in school: the conviction that innovation begins with curiosity and is sustained by perseverance.

The STEM Program is a training process that helps young people strengthen the essential skills they need to be part of the technology industry. The training includes four core components: numerical reasoning, critical thinking, reading comprehension, and life skills. From 2023 to date, Makaia has certified 718 young people in this program.

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Apr 21, 2025
New Paths Through Data and Inclusion

By Ana Isabel Restrepo Guerra | Project leader

A young political scientist from Itagüí, Antioquia, found herself unemployed in September 2024. With a degree from the National University and a background in social sciences, she decided to apply to the STEM Seedbed—an initiative led by Makaia to connect women, people over 50, and vulnerable populations with opportunities in the tech sector.

Through this program, she discovered a new world: technology and data analysis. “During the process, I engaged with topics I never imagined exploring as a political scientist,” she shared. As she progressed, she realized that data skills could enrich her professional profile and open doors to fields that blend technical knowledge with social impact.

After receiving her certification in November 2024, she joined Makaia’s Data Analysis Bootcamp, which included training in Artificial Intelligence tools. There, she honed her technical skills and strengthened her vision of using data to better understand social realities and build empathetic solutions.

Soon after completing the Bootcamp, she secured a position as a Data Journalist in Economics at La Pipol, a digital media outlet that translates complex financial topics into accessible content. In this new role, she works with large datasets to create clear, reliable, and useful information for the public.

“This achievement was made possible thanks to the journey I took through the STEM Seedbed and Bootcamp. I found a new way to research, to tell stories about reality, and to make an impact,” she reflected.

Her experience reflects the core goal of this project: to expand tech-sector opportunities for people who have traditionally been excluded—offering quality training, personalized support, and meaningful connections to the digital ecosystem.

Why is your support important?

Thanks to donors on platforms like GlobalGiving, stories like this one continue to flourish. Every contribution helps fund scholarships, improve virtual training infrastructure, and connect diverse talent with real opportunities in the tech world.

We continue transforming lives through technology. Thank you for being part of this change.

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