Our Report is in ERIC – USDOE

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🙌🏽💕🎊Celebratory Milestone for Calm and Mindful LLC with the United States Department of Education 🙌🏽💕🎊

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Our STEM educator workforce policy paper is now officially published in ERIC, the U.S. Department of Education’s national library of education research. We submitted it in 2025, and after review, it was accepted into the repository.

  • The Gold Standard Database: ERIC is the world’s largest and most trusted digital library of education literature. Being included means this work is part of the definitive national archive of educational research.
  • Rigorous Selection Criteria: ERIC does not accept everything. Documents and journals must pass a strict review by the review board, evaluating the work’s relevance to education, methodological quality, and contribution to the field.
  • Massive Visibility: Millions of policymakers, academics, researchers, and educators use ERIC daily. Having Calm and Mindful LLC report there guarantees global dissemination and drastically increases citations about this report.
  • Federal Backing: Because it is funded and maintained by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) within the USDOE, inclusion carries an implicit stamp of professional relevance and federal standard compliance.

📚 👩‍🏫 🎓Why a STEM Teacher Shortage Report Belongs in ERIC🔬🧬

Every classroom problem starts as a conversation, but it only becomes change when the right people can read about it. That is why ERIC matters.

The Education Resources Information Center, sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education, is a free online library of education research that anyone can search. Teachers, school leaders, graduate students, and legislative staff all use it, and nobody needs a university login or a paid subscription.

When Calm and Mindful LLC’s policy paper on strengthening the STEM educator workforce was added to ERIC, it joined a trusted national record. For a small, independent organization, that is a big deal.

🎓🤩Credibility often follows the platform, and ERIC gives this work a permanent home with a stable link that can be cited, shared, and found years from now.

Written by Dr. Maria D. Santiago Valentin in October 2024, it speaks to a real and costly gap. The research it cites points to nearly 100,000 unfilled high school STEM teaching jobs and close to 150,000 in middle school. It also notes that STEM professionals can face a pay cut of almost $40,000 when they move into teaching.

What makes the paper practical is that it listens. It blends interviews with educators, a literature review, and a scan of federal and state bills. It then turns those findings into three clear priorities: stronger teacher preparation, meaningful financial incentives, and ongoing professional development, including paid mentorship and support for teacher wellbeing.

Policymakers rarely have time to hunt for ideas. When a paper like this sits beside peer-reviewed studies in ERIC, it can inform a committee memo, a district budget discussion, or a grant proposal. Students deserve qualified STEM teachers, and sharing this report where decision-makers can find it is one step toward making that case.

Read the full report: Strengthening the STEM Educator Workforce: Policy Recommendations (ERIC ED682493)

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Throwback 2018 Agence Parisienne du Climat

Maria Santiago ValentinLeave a comment

Visiting the Agence Parisienne du Climat in Paris, 2018

In 2018, I had the privilege of visiting the Paris office of the Agence Parisienne du Climat (APC), and it left a lasting impression on me. As a Climate Reality Leader and Mentor, I’m always eager to see how cities turn climate commitments into real, practical action, and Paris is a place where ambition meets implementation.

The team welcomed me warmly and shared how the agency supports residents, building owners, and local businesses in reducing energy use and emissions. What struck me most was how accessible their approach is. Climate action isn’t presented as an abstract goal; it’s translated into concrete steps people can take in their homes and neighborhoods. Their work shows that cities can be powerful engines of change when they bring together citizens, experts, and local government.

Here are some of the key areas of their work:

  • Energy retrofitting: Guiding co-owned buildings and homeowners through renovations that improve energy efficiency and cut emissions.
  • Citizen advice: Offering free, independent guidance on energy savings, renewable energy, and available financial support.
  • Climate planning support: Helping the City of Paris implement and monitor its Climate Action Plan.
  • Awareness and education: Running events, workshops, and campaigns to engage Parisians in the ecological transition.

I left inspired and eager to share these lessons with my own community and mentees. 🌍

#ClimateReality #ClimateAction #Paris #CityClimateLeadership

Latinxs in Sustainability

Latinxs in Sustainability and Calm and Mindful LLC.

Maria Santiago ValentinLeave a comment

🌸🌸Honored to have taught the next generation of climate leaders! 🌎⚡🌸🌸

On Wednesday evening, I had the privilege of speaking as a guest lecturer in the Fall 2026 Latinxs in Sustainability (LiS) x CUNY Lecture Series at The City College of New York, alongside prominent Dr. Selva Calixto, PhD sharing our time and expertise with students in the Level Up! course.

This series connects students with people working in clean energy, sustainability, and climate. It goes beyond textbook concepts to the real projects, tough tradeoffs, and career pathways that shape this field. Students need to see people who look like them, and who share their stories, leading in these spaces.

In my session, I shared:

⚡ Energy market trends and the role energy professionals play in advancing resilience and sustainability goals
⚡ Lessons learned, and the challenges that don’t make it into the case studies
⚡ The skills and pathways students can build to enter the clean energy workforce

Whether through advocacy, mentorship, or community engagement, I’ve committed myself to making sure the benefits of the clean energy transition reach the communities that have been left out of the conversation for too long.

Educating is one of the most powerful forms of advocacy. Every student who leaves with the confidence, skills, and community to pursue this work is another voice for a just and sustainable future.

Thank you to Stephanie Almodovar, Carolina, and the entire Latinxs in Sustainability team for building this platform and inviting me to be part of it. Congratulations to Dr. Selva Calixto and all of this semester’s speakers. I was honored to share this stage with you!

To the students: thank you for your questions, your curiosity, and your ideas. The future of this field is yours. 💚

#LatinxsInSustainability #CUNY #CCNY #CleanEnergy #EquitableDecarbonization #EnergyResilience #ClimateJustice #SustainabilityEducation #LevelUp

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Calm and Mindful LLC is Associate Member of CSW-NY

Maria Santiago ValentinLeave a comment

CSW-NY: Advancing Gender Equality Through Civil Society

NGO CSW/NY is a New York-based nonprofit coalition that connects civil society organizations with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the principal global body dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Each year, it helps advocates, activists, and organizations take part in CSW sessions, creating opportunities to share expertise, build partnerships, and influence policy conversations.

Its mission is to amplify civil society voices at the UN, promote women’s human rights, and support the full implementation of global commitments to gender equality. Through events, programming, and collaboration, CSW-NY brings grassroots perspectives into international dialogue.

The CSW-NY community spans nonprofits, academic institutions, and businesses. Among its members, Calm and Mindful LLC has been listed as an Associate Member [Private Sector] since 2024, reflecting its support for women’s wellbeing and the broader goals of gender equality.

🍃**THROWBACK | When My Voice Became Part of Puerto Rico’s Climate Policy Record**

Maria Santiago Valentin

🌿 THROWBACK | When My Voice Became Part of Puerto Rico’s Climate Policy Record

Some moments in our professional journey become more meaningful with time.

Today, I look back with gratitude and pride on the opportunity I had to testify before Puerto Rico’s Committee of Experts and Advisors on Climate Change (CEACC) during the public hearings on Puerto Rico’s Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation, and Resilience Plan.

What makes this moment particularly meaningful is that my testimony was officially documented in a Government of Puerto Rico public record. It represented the intersection of several dimensions of my life’s work: education, environmental advocacy, climate justice, community empowerment, and my enduring connection to Puerto Rico.

In my testimony, I emphasized several principles that continue to guide my work:

🌎 Climate action must include environmental justice. Communities experiencing the greatest vulnerabilities must have a meaningful voice in climate planning.

🏝️ Puerto Rico’s communities must be at the center of resilience planning. Climate resilience is not only about infrastructure—it is about people, health, education, livelihoods, culture, and community capacity.

📚 Education is a climate solution. Building climate literacy empowers young people, educators, families, and communities to understand risks and participate in solutions.

🤝 Community voices belong at the policy table. Effective climate policy requires collaboration among government, educators, scientists, community organizations, and residents.

🌱 Mitigation, adaptation, and resilience must be connected to equity and opportunity. Climate strategies should strengthen communities while protecting Puerto Rico’s natural resources and future generations.

Looking back, I recognize this testimony as part of a much larger trajectory.

I am especially grateful that this contribution is preserved in an official government document. It is a reminder that our voices, our expertise, and our lived connections to our communities can become part of the public record and part of the policy conversation.

Education. Environmental justice. Climate action. Community resilience. Puerto Rico.

📄 Read the official Government of Puerto Rico document containing my testimony:
Puerto Rico Climate Change Public-Hearing Report — CEACC

Our voices matter. Our communities matter. And our participation in shaping a more resilient future matters.

#Throwback #ClimateJustice #EnvironmentalJustice #PuertoRico #ClimateAdvocacy