Girl Scouts of Nassau County including those from Uniondale and Hempstead spent a Saturday inside Hofstra University’s science labs, taking part in hands-on workshops designed to spark interest in STEM careers through the 10th annual Imagine Your Possibilities conference.
For 11-year-old Maya Moore, a Girl Scout from Uniondale, on Nov. 13 the day offered experiences she doesn’t often get in school. She said most of the workshops introduced her to completely new ideas, especially the one about DNA.
“At first, I just thought DNA was to help connect families through genetics,” Maya said. “But we learned that you can also solve crimes with it.”
Her mother, Latoya Moore, said Maya had shown a growing interest in science since transitioning from California Avenue School to middle school. She added that the conference helped show her daughter that there’s more to STEM than just equations and textbooks.
“She’s doing much better in the classroom now,” Latoya said. “And I wanted her to see there’s creativity and purpose in science too.”
Rande Bynum, in her eighth year as chief executive of the Girl Scouts of Nassau County, said Hofstra has been a strong partner throughout the decade-long STEM conference. She emphasized how hands-on lab experiences help Girl Scouts expand their understanding of science and see new career possibilities.
Girls as young as in the sixth grade through 12th attended the imagine your possibilities opportunity.
Bynum noted that partnerships with companies like Estée Lauder have deepened that exposure, showing girls how science connects not only to cosmetics, but also to fields like marketing, law and business.
“Giving girls access to college labs and female STEM mentors is crucial for building confidence early,” Bynum said.
For Maya, for example said she was especially drawn to the hands-on engineering aspect of the program too.
“I like solving things and getting them to work step by step,” she said.
During the conference, women scientists led the workshops, showing the girls real-life examples of women succeeding in science and technology. For Bynum it was important for the girls to see what their possibilities are in the STEAM field because it is mainly male dominated.
“I think it’s cool when women do it,” Maya said. “A lot of people think we can’t work in that type of stuff.”
According to the Girl Scouts of the USA, only 28 percent of the U.S. STEM workforce is female — making early access to mentors and labs like Hofstra’s all the more vital.
Miho Tanaka, Estée Lauder’s vice president of global product safety and green chemistry, served as the keynote speaker. She helped girls understand how science influences everything from cosmetic formulas to packaging decisions.
Girl scouts were able to see the workings and behind the scenes of the cosmetic field and how it connects to science.
“The understanding of lip gloss, nail polish, or whatever your thing is it translates to the “how that gets made” and “why that gets made”, and what its impact is on the planet, and packaging and all that that needs to be popular.”
It’s awesome to see the hands-on experiences the girls get,” she added. “They’re literally in the lab, doing the work, meeting the people, and seeing the possibilities. We know girls are interested in STEM. What they often need is access—real equipment, real scientists, and real examples of women doing these jobs.”
The half-day conference transformed Hofstra’s labs into learning spaces where girls rotated through workshops in DNA analysis, civil engineering, wind energy, forensic science, color manipulation and sustainability.
Bynum added that girls often face stereotypes and limited exposure to advanced science fields.
“I think there are probably stereotypes that girls can’t do certain things, and so I think Girl Scouts does a really good job in helping girls overcome those stereotypes,” Bynum said.
She gave several examples of girls who might have those challenges, “You might be the only young woman in the class, and I think sometimes being the “only” is a barrier.”
Girl Scouts works to counter these barriers by supporting college access and helping girls navigate financial aid. Still, Bynum noted that long paths to STEM careers can be difficult for those who need income sooner, and that while progress is being made, gender bias remains a real obstacle.
The Imagine Your Possibilities conference is part of a broader initiative by Girl Scouts of Nassau County to increase girls’ access to science and technology fields. The organization runs a year-round slate of STEM-focused programming, reaching more than 2,000 girls annually across the county.
In Uniondale, several troops regularly participate in coding workshops, robotics competitions and nature-based science projects through partnerships with local nonprofits and school-based programs.
“We want girls from every ZIP code, every background, to know STEM is for them,” said Bynum. “That starts with visibility, but it grows with opportunity.”
