The new vision of the Indiana STEM Ecosystem is to assist cross sector groups to develop collaborative and functioning STEM ecosystems at the regional level that will work to develop a network of support, resources, guidance and opportunities that will positively impact access to high quality STEM learning, academic outcomes, post secondary attainment, and gainful local employment within the STEM field. Serving as a statewide mediary, the Indiana STEM Ecosystem will support initial development and launch of regionally based STEM ecosystems as well as provide ongoing support, resources and state level alignment of initiatives. Aligning regional STEM goals and priorities to the larger STEM goals of the state of Indiana will ensure collaborative alignment as well as collective impact. As a cross-sector, statewide collaborative, the Indiana STEM Ecosystem will support common goals, metrics, and forms of impact measurement will assist in identifying statewide and regionally specific areas of need as well as best practices that can be scaled for impact across Indiana. 

Under the recently signed federal CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the Indiana STEM Ecosystem will be an eligible applicant for funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a new K-12 STEM grant program that scales up best practices in STEM through new NSF-funded centers. With this newly established access to federal grant programs, the Indiana STEM Ecosystem intends to launch statewide regional support initiatives in the development of STEM hubs through partner educational service centers and other cross-sector partnerships to facilitate widespread and sustainable implementation of promising, evidence-based STEM education practices, models, programs, curriculum and technologies.