Today is National STEM Day, and as someone who’s worked in engineering and technology most of my life, I am thrilled to see more awareness and support for CS/STEM education. Having access to strong STEM courses and devoted teachers created opportunities for me and for thousands of my fellow Amazonians, and it’s now our turn to inspire and create opportunities for the next generation of students.

Amazon has committed more than $60 million to CS and STEM efforts that help students, particularly those who are disadvantaged in today’s society, reach their full potential in the digital age.

Today, I’m pleased to announce that Amazon will be participating in Code.org’s global Hour of Code, taking place during Computer Science Education Week (Dec. 4-10). Amazon teams including Amazon Future Engineer, AWS Educate and Alexa will welcome hundreds of students to Amazon offices across the US.

We are excited to extend our existing relationship with Code.org – a leading nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing participation by women and underrepresented minorities. Amazon recently committed $10 million over the next 5 years to support Code.org because we believe in Code.org’s mission that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science. This year Code.org is working to identify areas of particular need for K-12 computer science classes, and you can help us by adding your local school.

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Photo by Margaret Nicosia

We are thrilled to take part in helping develop the talented technology and business leaders of tomorrow.

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Photo by Margaret Nicosia

Happy Coding!