Company: Samsung Electronics America, Ridgefield Park, NJ
Nomination Submitted by: Relev8
Company Description: Samsung Electronics America, Inc. is a leader in mobile technologies, consumer electronics, home appliances and enterprise solutions. A wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SEA is pushing beyond the limits of today’s technology to provide consumers and organizations with a portfolio of groundbreaking products and services.
Nomination Category: Communications & Marketing Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Corporate Responsibility
 Nomination Title: Samsung Solve for Tomorrow: Igniting the Next Wave of Diverse Innovators & Change-Makers
- Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
Launched in 2010, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a national competition that challenges U.S. public school students in grades 6-12 to explore the role science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) can play in solving some of the biggest issues in their local communities. The competition engages students in active, hands-on learning that can be applied to real-world problems – making STEM more tangible and showcasing its value beyond the classroom. To date, Solve for Tomorrow has awarded $24 million in classroom technology and supplies to 2,800+ public schools across the United States.
The Solve for Tomorrow campaign runs during the course of each school year, culminating with a live “pitch” event where ten teams of National Finalists present their STEM solutions for community issues to a panel of judges, including Samsung executives, STEM educators – like award-winning Chesapeake Public Schools teacher Paula Labbe, and special guests – like MindSpark Learning Chief Impact Officer Kiki Huckaby. For the purposes of this award entry, we’re spotlighting the success of two Solve for Tomorrow campaigns:
- The 12th annual Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition: September 2021 – April 2022
- The 13th annual Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition: September 2022 – May 2023
Samsung Electronics America 's Head of Corporate Citizenship Ann Woo is the architect behind Solve for Tomorrow. She has played a pivotal role in the success of the STEM education program. This initiative has had a transformative impact on diverse students, igniting their passion for STEM subjects. By empowering students from various backgrounds to address real-world challenges through innovative solutions, Samsung's program has fostered a sense of inclusion and representation in the STEM field. Encouraging diversity in STEM is crucial as it brings fresh perspectives, ideas, and talents to the forefront, paving the way for a more equitable and innovative future in technology and beyond.
- Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 247 words used.
Guided by Ann Woo, the strategic Solve for Tomorrow communications and PR campaign is comprised of recruiting schools/teachers, supporting teacher/student participation, and enabling prize fulfillment.
Phase 1 - School/Teacher Recruitment (pre-competition): Samsung employs announcements, OpEds, emails, social media, and ads to encourage schools and teachers to apply. Samsung also taps education community partners, like DonorsChoose, the leading nonprofit crowdfunding platform that empowers America’s public-school teachers to request resources for their students, to spread the word about Solve for Tomorrow and promote participation. The Solve for Tomorrow website provides application information, a detailed FAQ, and highlights of past winning projects for idea generation.
Phase 2 - Teacher/Student Participation & Support (during competition): Participating teachers receive regular emails from Samsung, building strong relationships, celebrating their efforts, and encouraging teachers to come back year after year. Samsung employees volunteer as mentors. Through our ongoing media outreach, we connect teachers and students with national, local, and education trade media. Samsung provides media advisory templates helping schools gain added exposure via local media. Schools’ user-generated content (UGC) highlighting their competition experience on social channels is amplified via Samsung’s social platforms.
Phase 3 - Teacher/Student Experience (post-competition): Solve for Tomorrow and its partner, DonorsChoose, collect feedback from schools regarding their multi-month competition and prize fulfillment experience to identify opportunities to iterate and improve upon the citizenship program.
All told, we measure the program’s impact through:
- Student & school participation
- Engagement with our communications via earned & owned channels
- Positive teacher & student experience
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the nominated campaign or program - its genesis,development, planning, commission, and performance to date - OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions, provide them in the appropriate spaces below:
N/A
- Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 248 words used.
Samsung identified a pressing national issue thirteen years ago – U.S. academic performance in STEM subjects lagged global competitors. We launched the Solve for Tomorrow competition for public middle and high school students to rekindle educators’ and students’ enthusiasm for STEM disciplines, cultivating critical thinkers for an informed society and helping ensure a robust STEM workforce for U.S. tech companies.
Importantly, Solve for Tomorrow doesn’t focus on one single issue. Rather, it has helped tackle a myriad of environmental, social, and community-based issues by requiring each school’s students to identify an important concern for them, their families, peers, and neighbors, applying STEM skills to develop solutions. Food waste, mass shootings, student transportation, and environmental justice were among the addressed in 2022 and Climate change, mental health, the pollinator collapse, and disability access are among the issues tackled in 2023.
Major diversity issues in STEM education also have been addressed via Solve for Tomorrow – which, in 2021/2022, had 45% participation by under-resourced Title 1 schools and 30% female team participation, and, in 2022/2023, enjoyed 50% participation by under-resourced Title 1 schools and 50% female team participation. Both the 12th and 13th Solve for Tomorrow competitions also had balanced ethnic and urban/suburban/and rural diversity.
Ann Woo's leadership and commitment to diversity have been instrumental in making Solve for Tomorrow a resounding success. She’s also responsible for managing key corporate initiatives that uphold Samsung’s global vision of ‘Enabling People,’ empowering future innovators to achieve their full potential.
- Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of July 2021. Even if your initiative started before July 2021, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of July 2021 only (up to 250 words):
Total 245 words used.
RE: School/Teacher Recruitment: For the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 cohorts, we were able to draw nearly 2,200 public middle and high school entries. This was a result of extensive targeted recruitment efforts that included:
- Announcements: 4
- OpEd: 2
- Direct & partner educator communications: emails, eNewsletters, web banners, social ad campaigns, custom article promotions, geo-targeted pushes in states with low teacher sign-up
RE: Teacher/Student Participation & Support: We were able to drive a 37% uptick over the last year and generate greater school/community social engagement.
- Announcements: 11
- Blogs: 17
- OpEds: 4
- Stories: 1,163
- Media impressions: 2.9B UVM
- Organic social:
- Instagram impressions: 2.3M | New Instagram followers: 712
- Facebook impressions: 10.2M | New Facebook followers: 1,520
- 169,838 members of the public voted for their favorite school for the Community Choice Award
RE: Teacher/Student Experience:
- Feedback from a 2022-2023 State Winner: I cannot begin to tell you how impactful this project has been on learning in our school. Because of your generosity, we were able to outfit an engineering and design lab for our students with technology like 3D printers. This donation also provided the propulsion needed for our school district to invest in added technologies. The Solve for Tomorrow impact has had a ripple effect on our community.
- Recognizing the gender gap in STEM education, we launched a “Where Are They Now” series on Samsung’s corporate website, showcasing young women alumni of our student teams. (Example: here and here)
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