Michael Dawson Interview 12/5/2020
ERC: Michael Dawson, founder, Executive Director, head scientist and youth developer of Innovators for Purpose is our guest. Welcome, Michael. Remind us about the why, the reason behind iFp? What did you see as the need?
Michael: We founded Innovators for Purpose in 2014 to spark young people’s interest, especially youth that are underrepresented in design and STEM fields, in developing the skills and mindsets to change the trajectory of their lives. And that's my life story.
I grew up in Florida about 20 miles South of Kennedy space center. I watched many Apollo and Space Shuttle launches right from my doorsteps. We would watch the countdown on TV and then walk outside and watch the spaceship go up. The ground would literally shake beneath our feet. Not once during my formative years, did anyone within my sphere of influence say, “Hey, let's take a ride up 15 miles to Kennedy Space Center and see one of the launches up close.” Who knows what that would have sparked in a somewhat curious kid's mind?
School was always important to me. I was a good student. It was just ingrained into me. My mother really pushed education. I was always good in math and science, but I never really knew what I could potentially do with it. In the 11th grade, a guidance counselor --who wasn't even my guidance counselor-- tapped me on my shoulder and said, “Hey, I would like for you to go check out this afterschool program. I think you'll find it interesting.” So, I did, and that's when I was introduced to engineering. From there I went on to earn a bachelor's and a master's degree in engineering, which led me up here to Massachusetts. Just like our mission, I got excited about developing skills and mindsets – and it changed my life.
To a larger degree, Innovators for Purpose is doing that very same thing. We are that guidance counselor out there, so to speak. We're tapping on young people's shoulders and saying, “Hey! there's amazing opportunities out there if you apply yourselves.” And from there, we begin to expose them to all of the unbelievable companies around Massachusetts, especially in Cambridge, such as Google, Microsoft, Biogen, and the big universities like MIT, Harvard, etc.
ERC: Let's talk about Cambridge for a second --for someone who didn't know it, how would you describe Kendall Square?
Michael: Well, it’s called “the most innovative square mile on the planet.” You walk down the street, there is Google, Microsoft, Novartis, Biogen, Akamai, Draper Labs – and there’s the Cambridge Innovation Center that has a wealth of startups. It's just this amazing space. There’s innovation everywhere. It's an incredible place to be.
ERC: Tell us about the student who chooses Innovators for Purpose.
Michael: When we started Innovators for Purpose, we strategically designed it to be at the intersection of art / design and STEM. We felt that there were many STEM programs. However, they are really enrichment programs. They are enriching students who already have an interest in STEM.
We wanted to pull in students who didn't already have an interest in STEM. We also wanted to bring in students on the arts side as well. We have a great mixture of students. Some of our students are more on the artistic end, some are more on the on the tech side. When we bring them together to work on our amazing projects, the ones that are artistic become a little more technical and the ones on the tech side become a little more artistic. I think we also draw in some students who aren’t necessarily artsy or STEMy but are looking for something too.
We have an incredible robotics program, but some students are intimidated by hard-core concepts. We attempt to position our programming in a fun and meaningful way. Our Real Projects with Real Impact usually pique their interest. What’s important is to get our message out there. So that students know what we're doing, what’s possible, then can make an informed decision to join us.
ERC: The Looking Glass you guys did is a big deal, right in Kendall Square. Tell us about that.
Michael: Yes, it sure is. Our students conceived and designed it. It's a permanent installation in Kendall Square. The Cambridge Redevelopment Authority were looking for creative interventions in the built environment. It could have been anywhere in Cambridge. So, we had the specific task of creating a sculpture in Galaxy Park. We studied Galaxy Park which looks toward Boston in one direction and down Main Street towards Central Square in the other. We studied two parks and came up with multiple ideas. We decided to go forward with this one.
This sculpture is called the Looking Glass. It allows people to look backward and forward in time. If you look in one direction, it frames Longfellow Bridge which was built in 1793. At the time, only 3 families lived East of Harvard Square. So, you can kind of think about what times were like before the bridge was built. When you look in other direction, down Main Street, you can envision the future. That's where all of the exciting science, tech and startup companies are. The Looking Glass has become an iconic symbol in Cambridge. And a symbol of what youth can do if given an opportunity. I see pictures of it everywhere. We're really proud of that.
ERC: Michael, what’s important to the iFp organization in 2020? How is iFp doing in terms of gaining support and visibility, especially in these hard times where your help is crucial?
Michael: Our goal is to help young people develop skills and mindsets that will get them from where they are to where they want to be. Whether that's as a scientist, an engineer, a designer, or even a lawyer. Whatever they want to do, as long as it is productive and helping change lives. We are giving them the space to do that. Not only are we focused on helping our young people develop their skills and mindsets, but we're also trying to bring awareness to the business community that these amazing young people are right in their midst. But that’s not easy. So we're working hard to do that as well.
Maybe that will be our holiday gift. That our mission will continue to grow, prosper and we'll get the support behind us that’s needed. This has been a labor of love. We started this 7 years ago without any institutional support behind us. It was basically the Dawson’s checkbook that supported this project for a long time. We’ve have started getting support behind us, but we still need much more to do the work. We need businesses and foundations to look at what we're doing. The difference that we are making speaks for itself.
There are quite a few corporate and institutional STEM programs, but as I said the problem is still there. Those programs are missing many young people. The same youth tend to continue getting the support, and that’s okay, but obviously there's a gap that's not being filled. There are organizations out there, like us trying to do this work, but are not getting the support needed. We are beginning to gain some corporate sponsors and foundation support, but there's still so much more that can be done.
ERC: Michael, sometimes a hint of irony creeps into your voice. When you talk about all that
talent that you have, the young people who imagined and built that. You've told us about all that they did, the thinking and conceptualizing, what kinds of metal would be chosen, the metallurgy, the precision crafting and cutting, all of that. I've heard you speak about, of all the riches of Kendall square and the fact that almost all of the people who work there are not from the community. Can you talk about
that disconnect, that feeling that drove you to want to dig in, in that place, of all places?
Michael: Let's say Kendall Square is here (points). And right across the street is the most economically challenged neighborhood in Cambridge. I mean, literally, you just walk across the street and you're there. That disparity is troubling. People who come in to work or sight-see, may have walked through the neighborhood and not know the struggles that people in that community -- and in surrounding communities-- are going through. So there's a definite disconnect there.
ERC: These are fraught times, with some very overdue conversations about policing, Black Lives Matter, health care and housing. You’ve mentioned that your students with your help, have seized on a theme called This Should Not Be, can you tell us a little about that?
Michael: We're working on a project now for MIT that's going to be installed sometime next year. The project highlights diverse innovators who have helped Kendall become what it is. When George Floyd happened, we took our work to another level. The George Floyd incident happened on Memorial Day, May 25th. That was a Monday. Our program meets on Mondays and Thursdays. There was talk about George Floyd, but it exploded that weekend. There were protests everywhere. It was all over the news.
innovatorsforpurpose.org/this-should-not-be
All over social media. Everyone was being bombarded with the news on George Floyd. That Monday, we met with our students. Before jumping into our work, we said let’s talk. We started talking about George Floyd - what they were seeing on TV and social media. They had never experienced anything like this. These are 14, 15, 16, and 17-year-old young people. Some of them were shaking. They were afraid. Am I going to be next? They were just that afraid. So, at the end of that conversation, we said, okay, we have two choices. We can either there remain afraid. Just go about our daily lives being afraid or we can try to do something that will make a difference. Everyone said, let's do something! Then the task became, what do we do?
That was the genesis of theThis Should Not Be project. By the way, the title came from a blog by former president Barack Obama right after the George Floyd incident. So, immediately after the meeting with our students - we began talking with the Cambridge Public Library. They are true partners. We've been working together since 2017. In January, we became the flagship partner in its new STEAM Academy. They've been very good to us.
Our studio is based in the Cambridge Public Library. We went to our primary contacts and said, “The students want to do something around systemic racism. We've had some ideas around augmented reality. We think we want to do something on systemic racism with augmented reality and we want to do it on the library’s lawn.” They said “That sounds great. Let us worry about the details. Just go for it.” And the rest is history. Our spring session was wrapping up in a couple of weeks. We started gathering ideas going, then in the summer we just hit it - six hours a day, four days a week for five weeks. The result is an incredible groundbreaking augmented reality installation that’s on the Cambridge Public Libraries lawn right now.
During the Summer, we did a deep dive into systemic racism. The student read articles, watched videos, and had discussions with each other. At night they were writing about what they were learning. The next day, they were extracting highlights from each other's papers and synthesize the info. Those papers and synthesized insights became the basis for the script underlying the installation. It's by far the most important work we've done as an organization.
ERC: If I were sitting around with some of the moms and dads, and I asked them, that man, Michael Dawson, that Innovators for Purpose group, what does he do for young people that they don't get in school. How do you think they would answer me?
Michael: We would hope that they are very thankful and grateful for what we are doing for their children. We're exposing them to opportunities that they never imagined. We have some that are going into college next year. So, even outside of our regular hours we're working with them to get their college applications together. Helping them work on their portfolios. Lining up people to review their essays and portfolios. So, I think they would be appreciative of what we're doing. Our focus is on being a trusted guide helping them reach their dreams. I think they'll give us a good report.
ERC: I have no doubt that they would. Thank you, Michael, Donna, the iFp Board, partners, students and families!!