2023 Annual Impact Report

2022-23

ANNUALIMPACTREPORT

WHAT’SINSIDE

2022-23ReachandImpact

PartnerSchools

HowAreYouMakingADifference

OurPrograms

● CREATE.PLAY.LEARN(Elementary)

● EMPATHIZE.EXPLORE.ENGINEER(Middle)

● DesignThinkingCircle(High)

● StudentSuccessMetrics

RecognizingOurCollaborativeCommunity

● Donors

● Teachers

● Partners

● Grantors

2022Financials

VIsion2025:SMORESTEAM4ALL

WeExceededOur2022-23ProgrammaticGoals andGrowingOurImpactYearoverYear!

Most children in our participating Title-1 schools have limitedaccesstoSTEAM(ScienceTechnologyEngineering Art Math) and do not have access to Design Thinking. A survey of participating students during the 2022-23 school year found more than 80% of the students were learning Design Thinking for the first time through MarshmallowMinds.

ResearchstudiesatHarvardSchoolofPublicHealthshow that the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change disproportionately affect low-income families. Design Thinking is a simple yet powerful problem-solving processthatcanempowerTitle-1schoolchildrentoface challenges and become creative problem-solvers for a betterfutureforthemselvesandtheircommunities.

Weareaddressingapressingeducationneed throughourprograms

Therefore, promoting Title-1 school student engagement with STEAM and Design Thinking education from early years to build creative confidence in problem-solving is becoming increasingly crucial for navigating the future ofunknownsanduncertainties.

OurPartnerSchools

WhereYourFunds AreMakingADifference

Our goal is for you to know that your gift to the 2022-23 Marshmallow Minds Annual Fund has positively impacted thousands of students in thefollowingpartnerschools.Afterreadinghow your donation has impacted these under-resourced school children, we hope you have a greater understanding of philanthropy atMarshmallowMinds.

SantaClaraCounty

FREEOUTREACHPROGRAMTITLE-1PARTNERSCHOOLS

WindmillSpringsElementary(SanJose,CA)

SanteeElementary(SanJose,CA)

RamblewoodElementary(SanJose,CA)

DahlElementary(SanJose,CA)

FranklinElementary(SanJose,CA)

ShirakawaElementary(SanJose,CA)

HOWAREYOUMAKINGADIFFERENCE

Our missionistomakefutureready,highlyengaging, and experiential education easily accessible and veryaffordabletoTitle-1schools.

Our program fosters children's Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math (STEAM), problem-solving, and socio-emotional learning (SEL) skills — the foundationsforlifelonglearningthatallowchildrento staycurious,collaborative,andcreativeforever.

YourgifttotheAnnualFundisa tangibleexampleofhowyou arereachingbeyondtoensure MarshmallowMinds’greatest strengths-ourpeople,our program,andourcommunityreceivethesupporttheyneed tohelpusmeetourvisionand missioneachandeveryday.

YOURANNUALFUNDDOLLARS

Enableustodesign innovativecurriculaand studentfriendlymetrics toolkitsformeasuring growthmindset,radical collaboration, problem-solving,and empathy.

Enableustodeliver themostengaging classroomexperiences ledbyourtrained facultyandoffer hands-onlearningwith technologyandSTEAM

Ensurethatwecan offerourprogramto Title-1schools serving under-resourced communitiesatFREE OFCOST.

OurIn-SchoolProgram

STEAMExplore&DesignThinking

The Marshmallow Minds STEAM Explore and Design Thinking program offers learning opportunities for grades K-8 with 3-15 hours of instruction covering topics from science, physics, robotics,andecology.

Introducing real-world learning experiences and allowing children to problem-solve using Design Thinking and STEAM helps them become aware of their environment and feel the excitement of hands-on problem-solving while learning to work ingroupsandhavefun.

ACCESS PROGRAMBROCHURE

ReadyforanImmersive Experience?

Watchtheclassroom videoswherestudents immersethemselvesin ourlessonsdeveloping theirgrowthmindset, radicalcollaboration, empathy,and problem-solving.

CREATE.PLAY.LEARN(GRADESK-5)-NEW!

WHERECHILDRENBECOMECURIOUSANDCOLLABORATIVE

During the 2022-23 school year, we successfully piloted the CREATE.PLAY.LEARN program with elementary school students where the goal is to progressively build Design Thinking and problem-solving skills as we start introducing these concepts to them at a young age as early as kindergarten and continue to work with the schools to reinforce them with new learning experiences/designchallengeseachyear.

We have a set of 12 design challenges that offer students in grades K-5 opportunities to design solutions through utilizing a variety of engineering and scientific concepts. These challenges include: Lego robotics skyscrapers design, Lego bridge design, Makey Makey music maker, hydraulics animatronics, introduction to Littlebits circuits, Littlebits self-driving car design, color illusion and camouflage design, astronaut spaceship design, waterslide design, 2D shapes marshmallow design, and Bee-bot programming.

EMPATHIZE.EXPLORE.ENGINEER(GRADES6-8)

WHERECHILDRENBECOMECREATIVEPROBLEMSOLVERS

The goal of the EMPATHIZE.EXPLORE.ENGINEER program is to give middle school students an opportunity to connect with real-world experiences, commit to the Design Thinking process, andbeapartofthesolutionnotonlyintheirclassroomsbutalso byengagingincommunityvolunteering.

We have a set of 4 lessons that offer students in grades 6-8 opportunities to dive deep into the design thinking process and problem-solve. These challenges include: Trebuchet Design, Lego Robotics Biomimicry Design, Migratory Bird Conservation Design(+Habitat Restoration Field Trip), and Design of Salmon MigrationinaWarmPlanet(+CommunityCleanupVolunteering).

DESIGNTHINKINGCIRCLE(GRADES9-12)

WHERECHILDRENBUILDCONFIDENCE FROM REAL-WORLDPROBLEMSOLVING Design Thinking education, stewardship, and action are centralcomponentsofbeingaDesignThinkingCirclehigh school youth leader. The program cultivates a pipeline of DesignThinkingambassadors,fromworkshopparticipants to junior youth leaders, to mentors and role models ready to take ownership of the STEAM Explore and Design Thinking program and make a difference in underrepresentedcommunitiesinSTEAM.

HowDoWeMeasure Student

LearningOutcomes?

Success Metrics are quantifiable factors that define success. Setting and tracking well-defined metrics to assess our student learning lets us improve overall results and align our people and processes with the programobjectives.

Followingaretheexpectedlearningoutcomesthatmakerealmeaningof the experience children have through our program: Guided mastery of theDesignThinkingprocess,scienceandengineeringpractices,growth mindset, radical collaboration, enhanced empathy, problem-solving, andcreativeconfidenceforprojectinnovation.

A combination of metrics is used to measure the effectiveness of the learning process. The Success Metrics Toolkit from Marshmallow Minds includes

● Classroomscoretrendanalysisbasedon student self-reflection rubricontheabovementionedlearningoutcomes

● Teacher&studenttestimonials

● SELandDesignThinkingflashcards

● DesignThinkingJournal

● Pulse-check/quizzes

ClassroomScoreTrendAnalysis

To measure student progress, participating students take a self-reflection survey after each lesson to evaluate how they performed in growth mindset, collaboration, enhanced empathy, andproblem-solving.

ClassroomScoreTrendAnalysis

The classroom score system is used to metricize the self-reflection survey data taken from classes and output a numerical value representing the program's success in a particular class. One of the success criterias for MarshmallowMindsprogramisaclassroomscoreof3orhigheroutof4in theself-reflectionsurvey.

The above graph represents the classroom scores for one of the 15 participatingclassroomsacross4differentlessonsthatweretaught during the course of the entire school year - Migratory Bird Conservation Design (MBCD)inSept/OCtof2022,TrebuchetDesign(TD)inNov/Decof2022,Lego Robotics Biomimicry Design (LRBD) in Jan/Feb of 2023, and Roller Coaster Design(RCD)inMar/Aprof2023.

With the help of the trend analysis we are able to not only see if the classroom score of 3 or higher out of 4 has been achieved for all the learningoutcomes,butwearealsoabletoseeifthereisanimprovementin students’ growth mindset, radical collaboration, enhanced empathy, and problem solving with every lesson. The trend analysis allows us to not only measure student learning and understanding of Design Thinking concepts with time, but also serves as a powerful tool to look at our lessons more carefully and determine where we can enrich the content to achieve the resultsweareaimingfor.

“It was such a pleasure to have Marshmallow Minds come into our classroom and guide students through the Design Thinking process! Formanystudents,theideaofempathywasjustadefinition;now,they understand the real meaning of the word as a result of using the Design Thinking process to solve a variety of real-world design problems such as reducing bird strikes by designing bird-friendly tall structures using circuits and programming as part of the Migratory Bird Conservation Design lesson. In addition, many students enjoyed using their hands and minds to collaborate with the ideas of their classmates.Afterthebrainstormingandbuilding,studentsareguided to reflect in their interactive journal. The materials were highly interactiveandofhighquality.Allthepresentationscamefromexperts in the fields we were studying. The hands-on experiments during the Trebuchet Design class really helped solidify our math practices; especially, make sense of problems and persevere in solving them, construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others, modelwithmathematics,andattendtoprecision.Thankyousomuch for making learning fun!” - Christine Kowalishen, 6th grade teacher, RamblewoodElementary

https://www.marshmallowminds.org/testimonials

“Marshmallow Minds outreach programmakesourstudentsfeel honored and worthy.” - Alie Victorine, 6th grade teacher, WindmillSpringsElementary

I learn a lot from Marshmallow Minds. I learned that to start designing anything,wehavetoknowthefeelingoftheuserwhichisempathy.We learned about trebuchet, saving pandas, building roller coasters, and helping bird migration. Empathy is really important because when people know other’s feelings, they can try to help change it by putting themselves into their situation. - 6th grade student, Ramblewood

Elementary

InLegoRoboticsBiomimicryDesign,Ienjoyedworkingtogetherwithmy classmatesandbuildingLegoPrototypestosavethepandasandIalso enjoyed when we had to talk about how our prototypes could help rescuethepandas.-

6thgradestudent,FranklinElementary

InTrebuchetDesign,IlearnedthatF1xD1=F2xD2istheformulatomake a trebuchet. we also learned about fulcrums. the fulcrum is a triangle that you use to launch stuff fro catapults/trebuchets. we also learned aboutleverarms.youputaleverarmontopofafulcrumandthenput weightononesideandwhateveryouaregoingtolaunchontheother side so it can launch at what you are aiming at. - 6th

gradestudent, RamblewoodElementary

Migratory Bird Conservation Design lesson was really fun and interesting. I learned many things about birds and coding. In my opinion, this might be the most fun thing I have experienced in school thewholetimeI'vebeenhere.Thankyouforthisamazingexperience.6thgradestudent,DahlElementary

https://www.marshmallowminds.org/testimonials

ThankYouForYourSupporttotheAnnualFund. 180%ofFundraisingGoalReached!

HeroesattheHelm

PARTERSCHOOLTEACHERS

MARSHMALLOWMINDSFACULTY

HariniSenthilvasan

KendraJMoore

ImeldaMurillo

JoycelynMartinez

MinetteBarrios

RachelWhitmeyer

JoycelynEspedilla

LoshiaBoram

VinhNguyen

RebeccaWarren

ChristineKowalishen

AmandaMorgan

StacyDivine

NicoleWaite

LynetteIrvine

JudyMol

JeehyeLee

RohiniNaik

Masterclass

TusharMoorti

AlieVictorine

AnuritaGupta(freelanceSTEM educator)

Collaborating with teachers at our partner schools, our faculty at MarshmallowMindshavesuccessfullyimplementedourSTEAMExploreand Design Thinking program in 42classroomsacrosssevenschools. We set outthisschoolyeartoreachatleast1000children,andwearedelightedto sharethatourhighlyengagingandexperientiallearningexperienceshave engaged2,244children!

Wereceived350LovetoCodeChibitronicsSTEAMkitsfrom San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory(SFBBO) that support our Migratory Bird Conservation Design hands-on learning experience.

Family Giving Tree donated 250 STEAM kits to support the following lessons - Lego robotics skyscrapers design, Lego bridge design, Makey Makey music maker, Hydraulics animatronics, Introduction to LittleBits circuits, LittleBits self-driving car design, Color illusion and camouflage design, Astronaut spaceship design, Waterslide design, 2D shapesmarshmallowdesign,andBee-botprogramming.

We partnered with the Warriors Community Foundation for their 2023 STEAMFestattheChaseCenterinSan Francisco and delighted more than 200 of young Warriors fans with hands-onSTEAMactivities.

Bypartneringwithateamofgraduatestudentsfrom the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology

Emily Hardison and Jacey Van Wert enthusiastic support from one of our donors, Mclaughlin, we have developed a new, highly engaging environmental STEAM lesson for middle school children on how climate change is impacting the critically endangered salmon population in California.A Tough Trek: Salmon Migration in a Warm Planet will introduce students to various ecological problems encountered by the critically endangered salmon population during their migration and utilize Design Thinking concepts to help them empathize withsalmonanddiscoveranddesignsolutionstoaid their survival. Students will use Sphero LittleBits and SpheroBoltroboticsSTEAMkitsintheirdesigns.

2022EducationandCommunity OutreachGrantsReceivedFrom

2022GrantAwardsSummary

A grant funding of $149,200 was awarded to Marshmallow Minds by Valley Health Foundation, through the County of Santa Clara Federal Coronavirus StateandLocalFiscalRecoveryFundsundertheAmericanRescuePlanActto buildamoreresilientandsustainableorganizationfocusingonracialequity.

Marshmallow Minds and the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO) received a $54,880 grant from the Santa Clara Valley Water Districtinsupportofour"SafeBirds, Safe Waters" environmental STEAM education and outreach program aimed at protecting birds, restoring local wetlands as an adaptation to climate change, and educating 1000 traditionally underserved populations of students about bird science, technology, and conservation.

TheCaliforniaCoastalCommission awarded their Whale Tail grant to Marshmallow Minds and San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory ( SFBBO)intheamountof$37,750for successfully implementing the Safe Birds, Safe Waters environmental STEAM education program over the next two years that will reach approximately 700 Title-1 school children from the under-resourced communitiesofSantaClaraCounty.

The Santa Clara Valley Water DistrictawardedaSafe,CleanWater Mini-Grant to Marshmallow Minds for piloting a new curriculum design project - A Tough Trek: Salmon MigrationinaWarmPlanet.

Mary A. Crocker Trust awarded a mini-grant to Marshmallow Minds forpilotinganewcurriculumdesign project - A Tough Trek: Salmon MigrationinaWarmPlanet.

TeichertFoundation awardedamini-granttoMarshmallowMindsforbringing the Lego Robotics Biomimicry Design STEAM Education program to 200 Title-1 schoolchildrenduringthe2022-23schoolyear.

Environmental Volunteers awarded “Let’s Go!” Field Trip grants to fund Title-1 classroomstovisitAlvisoMarinaCountyParkandengageinhabitatrestoration volunteering.

EveryGiftMakesaDifference!

In 2022, Marshmallow Minds' revenue increased 38% from the previousyear.

The majority of our funding came from individual contributions, foundation, and corporate supportaccountingforabout62% of our revenue. The fee-based program made up the second-largest funding source, accounting for approximately 24% of our revenue. Local and regionalgrantsaccountedforthe

Sinceourfounding,wehaveconsistentlyexceededourfundraisingand programmaticgoals.Inrecognitionofoureducationalandcommunity outreach effort and substantial impact, our donor contributions through fundraising increased 15% from 2021 to 2022. We are truly gratefulforourcommunity'sgenerosity.

Starting fall of 2022, there is renewed interest from the community in our fee-based program. We are thankful to Lincoln Elementary school and parent community, located in Cupertino,CA,fortheirsupport.

ImprovedOperatingEfficiency

We are delighted to share with you that Marshmallow Minds operating efficiency rating is at A with respect to the percentage of spending on our programs and an A+ with respect to lowering our fundraisingspending.

88%ofourrevenuesupportedour educationalandoutreach programs.

Ourfundraisingcostwasunder $5@$3.51forevery$100spent.

VISION2025:SMORESTEAM4ALL

TheboardteamisdelightedtosharethatMarshmallowMIndsrecently won a competitive grant award of $149,200 through the County of Santa Clara Federal Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds under the American Rescue Plan Act. The grant funding will bringourvision2025-SMORESTEAM4ALL- tofruition.

Theproposedproject,SMORESTEAM4ALL,aimsto

a. Createanequitabledigitalplatformtodramaticallyimprovethe overall end-user experience in the areas of learning, fee-based programming,andfundraising,and

b. Create a strategy to grow our ability to offer our educational program to more students with a laser focus on under-resourced/Title-1schools

that will solidify and scale the revenue generation for Marshmallow Minds and help the organization recover from the negative economic impacts of COVID-19. The project will help Santa Clara County residents by providing educational support for children of all backgrounds, with an emphasis on Title-1 schools to recover from COVID-19pandemiclearningloss.

RecoveringfromCOVID-19LearningandFinancial LossthroughanEquitableDigitalPlatformand GrowthStrategicPlanning

Grant funds will help our organization recover from the severe impacts of the pandemic on nonprofits,especiallythoseprovidingeducationalservices.

1.Equitabledigitallearningplatformto addressdisproportionatelearninglossin theTitle-1schoolcommunitiesweserve

2.

Thepandemichitourorganizationatapivotaltimeaswehadjustincorporatedasanonprofit and initiated our fundraising efforts and initiatives to serve Title-1 students with free programming. Covid-19 impacted our ability to build our nascent donor base and bring qualityprogrammingtostudentsinpersonaswehadplanned.

We invested significant staff time and organizational resources to fundraise online, create engaging online content, and build relationships with Title-1 classrooms. This resulted in bringing our program to over 300 students in the 2020-2021 school year and 1325 students in the2021-2022schoolyear-366%growth.

TheCovid-19resiliencegrantwillhelpreimburseourexpensesandstafftimefortheseefforts and allow us to immediately invest our ongoing fundraising earnings into our programs and organizationalgrowth,whichthepandemicdelayed.

4.

Our fee-based program contributed to a large percentage of our revenue during the first threeyearsandallowedustosteadilybuildoursubsidizedprogramsforTitle-1schools.When schools shut down due to COVID-19, our fee-based program revenue significantly dropped by86%in2020andevenfurtherin2021.

Weplantousegrantfundstorejuvenateandgrowourrelationshipswithfee-basedschools to increase program-based revenue. By strengthening our revenue-generating infrastructure, we will create a plan to expand our program-based revenue to 20% of our overallbudgetedincome,whichwillgenerateastableincomeforus,whichwecanthenuse tosupplementourfreeoutreachprogramsforTitle-1schools.

Another area of significant importance is investing the grant fund in a growth strategic planning for scale and support to build capacity to serve 10,000 students by 2025-2026 schoolyear.

3.Fee-basedprogramservicedesign blueprint toaddressnegativeeconomic impactasaresultofsignificantrevenue lossfromfee-basedprogram

Asustainableonlinefundraising softwareplatformtoaddress fundraisingchallenges

Investingrowthstrategic planningforscaleandsupport

OurCommitmenttoNondiscrimination, RacialEquity,Diversity,andInclusion

MarshmallowMindsadmitsstudentsofanyrace,color, nationaloriginandethnicorigintoalltherights, privileges,programsandactivities.Itdoesnot discriminateonthebasisofrace,color,nationalorigin andethnicorigininadministrationofitseducational programs/services,scholarshipandloanprogramsand otherschool-administeredprograms.

AtMarshmallowMinds,diversity,equity,andinclusionare essentialtooursuccessasanorganization.Weare committedtocreatingaculturewhereeveryoneisvalued andtreatedwithrespect,andwhereeveryonehasthe opportunitytocontributeandsucceed.

Werecognizethatsystemicdiscriminationandbiases havehistoricallymarginalizedcertaingroupsandweare committedtotakingactivestepstodismantlethese systemsandcreateamoreequitablesociety.

Wearecommittedtopromotingdiversityandinclusionin allaspectsofourwork,includinghiring,promotion,and otheremploymentpractices.Wewillregularlyreviewand updateourpoliciesandpracticestoensurethattheyare inclusiveandequitable.

Fosteringacultureofrespect,understanding,and inclusivity,wecanbetterserveouremployees,customers, andstakeholders,andcreateabetterworldforallofus.