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KEYs - Keys to Empowering Youth

Spring 2013 Registration!


Thank you to all of our March 6th participants! We had so much fun learning about battery cells, lighting up LEDs with lemons, and thinking about material properties while constructing tennis rackets.

Our April 6th session is now FULL. Additional interested participants will be placed upon the waitlist.

There are still spots available for our May 11th session! Sign up is below. Fill out our application and publicity release, and we will let you know which sessions you have been accepted to within a week.

This spring, KEYS will be holding sessions on:

Saturday, March 9th
Saturday, April 6th
Saturday, May 11th

Registration is now open for Spring 2013



Sign up is now open on a first come, first serve basis. Looking forward to seeing everyone for another amazing semester of KEYS!


Spring 2013 Registration Form



Spring 2013 Publicity Release

Working with a Mentor Shoe Engineering Engineering Talk Building Rollercoasters

If you have any questions, please email KEYs Coordinators Ceili Burdhimo, Rachel Lathe, and Sarah Weiss.



What is KEYS?

KEYs is a motivational program that brings 11-13 year old girls together with MIT women students to participate in workshops held periodically throughout the year. The goal of KEYs is to empower young women by promoting their self-confidence, increasing their self-esteem, and unveiling opportunities for their potential career paths. Girls are encouraged to take a closer look at science and its impact on society. Workshops such as "Moving Beyond Stereotypes," "Women's Health and Medicine," and "The Environment and You," are designed to excite girls about science and inspire them to think about their lives in new ways. By showing girls what possibilities exist in their own lives, KEYs strives to help them develop their own goals and dreams.

Girls ages 11-13 are at the center of a critical educational dilemma in the United States. Educational bias, gender-based preconceptions, and stereotypes leave girls with diminished self-esteem and a compromised educational foundation. In response to this phenomenon KEYs was initiated at MIT in 1993, working toward the following goals:

  • Promoting self-confidence
  • Increasing self-esteem
  • Unveiling opportunities for potential career paths
  • Promoting interest in science, particularly among ethnic minorities/under-served girls
  • Providing positive role models
  • Encouraging direct action
  • Overcoming negative stereotypes