ACCEYSS Network opens university-community resource center

Inside TXST

Jayme Blaschke | January 22, 2021

Shetay Ashford-Hanserd, an assistant professor in the Department of Organization, Workforce and Leadership Studies at Texas State University, oversaw the grand opening of the Association of Collaborative Communities Equipping Youth for STEEAAM Success (ACCEYSS) University-Community Resource Center in San Marcos on Jan. 21.

The primary goal of the ACCEYSS U-CRC is to provide connections, funding and resources for faith-based and community organizations with a shared vision of closing the STEM equity and racial wealth gap in Hays and Caldwell counties. The ACCEYSS Network invites researchers, educators, entrepreneurs, community organizers, faith leaders, industry partners and supporters to utilize the U-CRC’s shared resources; whether it’s a training space or meeting room for their employees, a quiet office space without a long-term lease or a place to connect with like-minded individuals striving to make a powerful impact in their community.

ACCEYSS Network was founded by Ashford-Hanserd as one of 70 two-year design and development launch pilots funded by the National Science Foundation’s INCLUDES program. The outcomes of the ACCEYSS project yielded creation of the ACCEYSS Model (i.e., informal K-12 STEM curriculum framework) and initiation of the ACCEYSS Network with inaugural partners from the Greater San Marcos region.

Ashford also founded the STEEAM pathways project in rural communities with partners in Luling, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has consolidated her efforts under the umbrella of the ACCEYSS Network to strengthen the STEEAAM workforce ecosystem in the Greater San Marcos region.

ACCEYSS Network's mission is to provide underrepresented and underserved youth and families with access to STEM and agriculture pathways through entrepreneurship and the arts (STEEAAM). The ACCEYSS Network Community Resource Center is available to both members and non-members alike. For more information, visit www.acceyss.org.