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Treobytes Tailors STEM Education to Tomorrow’s Workforce

After a 20-year career working for life sciences companies, Ava Mason founded her own startup. She came up with the idea after hearing her daughter describe her experience building a solar-powered car at camp. She founded Treobytes in 2014 to expose underrepresented students to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and empower them to change their communities.

“The goal initially was just to expose kids to STEM. What is STEM, what does that mean, and why is that important?” Mason said. “If we’re going to close the gap between girls and minorities entering stem disciplines, entering postsecondary education, we have to be deliberate about what we do.”

To date, Mason has graduated 300 students through Treobytes. Her nonprofit works with students from kindergarten through high school, offering after-school programs, summer camps and in-school technology rotations.

Structure Helps

Mason remembered her childhood growing up in Indianapolis, and how her education helped prepare her for her future career. There was a level of stability that helped support her goals.

“There were some fundamentals, some structure in my life, that was a great predictor of my outcome,” she said. “Our kids don’t have that consistency. There’s a lot of disruption.

Mason had two older brothers, and her parents worked the same hours every day. Her dad, a mailman, got home at 3:30 p.m., and her mom, who worked at a finance center, got home shortly after 5. Though neither of them went to college, they emphasized the importance of education to their kids. Mason’s elementary school was a short walk away; just five houses down the street.

“That was the consistency that all of us had day in and day out. But that wasn’t the consistency in our community,” she said.

For high school, Mason’s parents pitched in to send her to a private school rather than having her face a long bus ride. They wrote up an excel spreadsheet with how much overtime they would need to work to make it possible. At first, she was accepted on probation.

“I took an entrance exam and failed it miserably,” she said.

But after her first grading period, her teachers said she should retake the test. She was moved to the more advanced classes.

Biotech Experiences

Mason was accepted to Purdue University, where she studied biochemistry. Since then, she has worked for a number of biotech companies, from startups to Fortune 500 companies, and from bench research to business development.

Mason moved to San Diego while she was working for Merck & Co. Inc., where she was responsible for the company’s work with military installations in Southern California.

With Treobytes, Mason gives kids hands-on workshops to understand how electronics work. Her nonprofit partners with local school districts and colleges, including the San Diego Unified School District, San Diego Mesa College and San Diego State University.

Building a Computer

Most cohorts are 20 to 24 students, and include instructions on everything from coding to engineering concepts. Some are facilitated in both English and Spanish. One of Treobytes’ classes teaches students how to build a computer from scratch.

“We had a kid who knew nothing about computers at all become one of our best students. His parents, when they realized what he was doing, they couldn’t believe it,” Mason said. “He blossomed. It was really cool to see that.”

In particular, Mason said she tries to tailor Treobytes to students’ learning styles. While a student might struggle with math literacy, the same child will be able to put together a 600-piece Lego set.

Program Is Growing

Treobytes has been growing; Mason said the program grew 110 percent last year and is on track for 80 percent growth this year. And services like it will be much needed in San Diego. Statistics from the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. show a massive gap between degree holders and the area’s future workforce.

In 2017, just 15 percent of graduates with college degrees were Hispanic. By contrast, nearly half of San Diego’s seventh-grade class that year was Hispanic.

“We have to invest in the education of the kids that are here,” Mason said. “Minority kids will be the biggest demographic of kids that will enter the workforce. If the industry doesn’t invest in the workforce — and I mean really invest — we’re going to have a major issue.” n

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