About First STEM Scholars
First STEM Scholars was founded to address the hidden barriers first-generation STEM students face while navigating higher education. Built from years of experience in STEM counseling and student success initiatives, the organization exists to provide clear strategies, structured guidance, and measurable pathways to advancement.
Founder
Paty Villegas is a STEM counselor and education strategist dedicated to strengthening first-generation student outcomes. Through workshops, consulting, and speaking, she partners with institutions committed to retention, equity, and long-term student success.
In 2019, she became an Adjunct Lecturer at the same college she attended, Evergreen Valley Community College, teaching career development and college success courses for the counseling department.
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Her mission is to equip students with the college and career readiness skills, knowledge, and mindset necessary to successfully navigate post-secondary education and prepare for the workforce. Over the past two years, more than 1,000 students have participated in her program. What started as a teaching role has evolved into a comprehensive program with a mission, vision, goals, and curriculum that has helped hundreds of students succeed.
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Her goal is to transfer the knowledge and strategies she has gained as both a student and a professional to improve college student retention rates and increase post-education completion rates.
Our Mission
Strengthen the future of California by increasing the rate of underrepresented students enrolling in, staying in, and graduating from college.
What We Do
First STEM Scholars prepares underrepresented students to become tomorrow’s STEM leaders while equipping educators and institutions to better support them.Led by first-generation professionals, we guide students through career exploration, leadership development, college planning, and access to internships and scholarships. We partner with K–12 systems, colleges, universities, and industry leaders to design high-impact, equity-centered programs.
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Our workshops for educators and institutions and initiatives are intentionally built to increase enrollment, retention, transfer, and graduation rates among underrepresented and undocumented students. Our approach is culture-centered, data-informed, and proudly first-generation led.
Our Why
First STEM Scholars was born from a simple but powerful belief: students deserve the kind of guidance, representation, and advocacy that many of us had to navigate without.In 2021, our founder, Paty Villegas, began serving as a STEM Transfer Counselor at Evergreen Valley College while also teaching career development and college success courses. She later became the Lead Counselor for the MESA Program at Mission College and expanded her work to Foothill College’s MESA Program, supporting hundreds of aspiring STEM students with their academic and career goals.
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Through this work, two realities became clear: the persistent lack of representation in the STEM workforce, and the systemic and cultural-institutional barriers first-generation and low-income students face when pursuing STEM pathways. While searching for resources designed specifically for first-generation Latino STEM students, very few existed and even fewer reflected their lived experiences, cultural strengths, and aspirations. That gap became the foundation of First STEM Scholars. We exist to ensure that future doctors, engineers, scientists, and researchers not only gain access to opportunity, but also develop the confidence, clarity, and support needed to truly belong—and thrive—in STEM.