As Beyond100K’s chief program officer, Maya Garcia leads the organization’s efforts to grow and nurture a vibrant network of diverse, powerful partners from across sectors to act as a community and make meaningful progress toward ending the STEM teacher shortage in the United States. An award-winning educator, Garcia taught eighth-grade science for eight years in Washington, D.C., where she also led professional development and served as a master teacher before shifting to a role in government. For more than 10 years, Garcia served as the science and STEM education lead for both the Colorado Department of Education and the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education, where she oversaw standards implementation efforts and led strategic initiatives in STEM. In this capacity, she also cultivated cross-sector stakeholder groups that served to advance implementation efforts and launch STEM learning ecosystems. Garcia feels that educators must be intentional about co-creating affirming and justice-centered learning environments and learning experiences where students and their teachers can develop and refine their identities in STEM. She holds a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and behavior from Mount Holyoke College, a Master of Arts in teaching from American University, and is currently pursuing a doctorate of education in leadership for educational equity at the University of Colorado Denver.