Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

What Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics does

oSTEM, Inc. (Out in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, Incorporated) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional association founded in October 2005 and incorporated in 2009, serving LGBTQ+ students and professionals in STEM. The organization operates a chapter-based membership model with over 150 collegiate chapters at colleges and universities and professional chapters in cities across the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, with 1,400+ registered individual members. Membership is free with voluntary donations; core member-facing programs include collegiate and professional chapter membership, an annual conference (16th edition scheduled for Albuquerque, NM, October 22-24, 2026) with a Career & Graduate School Expo, a scholarship program awarding $2,500-$5,000 per recipient (community-funded and partner-funded by Ansys, Arup, Tighe & Bond, and Semiconductor PRIDE), a Graduate School Application Assistance program providing up to $750 per individual, and an online career center (careers.ostem.org).

The technology stack is built on third-party association infrastructure rather than proprietary systems: YourMembership.com (YourMembership.com, Inc.) provides association management software, membership management, event management, email marketing, and the career center; Discord hosts the online member community; Webex supports virtual events; Bonfire powers the eStore for merchandise; Stripe handles invoicing; and Facebook and LinkedIn provide social OAuth login. The organization is governed by a 10-member Board of Directors including a President & CEO, VP of Finance, VP of Membership, VP of Operations, and VP of Innovation and Technology, with members holding no voting rights over business or services. There is no disclosed paid headcount.

Revenue is generated primarily through corporate sponsorships via the year-round Organizational Advisory Council (OAC) and conference sponsorship packages, voluntary donations and membership contributions, conference registration fees, scholarship-designated donations, and merchandise sales. Named OAC members include Allen Institute, Chevron, Zebra Technologies, Riot Games, Juniper Networks, DRAPER, and Actalent, plus scholarship-sponsor partners. The organization is incorporated in Connecticut with a principal executive office in Grandville, MI, and holds EIN 27-1204776.

Name

Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Legal name

Out in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, Incorporated

Website

https://ostem.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

oSTEM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional association serving LGBTQ+ students and professionals in STEM through 150+ chapters in the US, UK, and Canada, offering free membership, an annual conference, scholarships, a career center, and graduate school application assistance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association and LGBTQ+ STEM Advocacy

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392), Business Associations (813910), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Harassment Prevention, EEO & Workplace Conduct Compliance (EDABADAE)

Keywords

• LGBTQ+ STEM advocacy
• STEM professional association
• Student scholarship programs
• Nonprofit community organization
• STEM career networking

Headquarters

HQ city

Grandville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Corporate Sponsorships: Annual Organizational Advisory Council (OAC) membership provides year-round partnership with benefits including meetings, newsletter placement, and networking. Conference sponsors receive exhibit space, registrations, resume access, and Career Portal access.
2. Donations: The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Membership dues are voluntary donations based on what members are willing and able to pay. Tax-ID/EIN is 27-1204776.
3. Scholarship Fund Donations: Donations specifically designated for community-funded scholarships supporting LGBTQ+ STEM students. Includes donor appreciation tiers with conference discounts and merchandise perks.
4. Merchandise Sales: eStore sales through Bonfire platform offering official oSTEM merchandise. Physical merchandise with shipping costs, typically shipped within two business days via USPS, UPS, or FedEx.
5. Conference Registrations: Annual conference registration fees with early bird pricing available. Professional and student registration categories with awards ceremony attendance benefits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

oSTEM, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional association serving LGBTQ+ students and professionals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The organization operates a free membership program across 150+ collegiate and professional chapters in the U.S. and abroad, delivering its core value through an annual conference, scholarship program, graduate school application funding, career center job board, mentorship, and chapter-based community programming.

Product overview

oSTEM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional association for LGBTQ+ people in STEM, operating as a single unified membership organization rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offerings include membership programs (Collegiate and Professional), the Annual Conference, Scholarship Program, Graduate School Application Assistance, Career Center, Chapter Directory, Awards Program, Monthly Newsletter, Member Resources, and the Organizational Advisory Council sponsorship program. The organization connects over 150 collegiate chapters at colleges/universities and professional chapters in cities across the United States and abroad. The YourMembership.com platform powers the member portal, career center, event management, and website functionality.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• oSTEM Annual Conference
• Collegiate Chapter Membership
• Professional Chapter Membership
• oSTEM Scholarship Program
• Graduate School Application Assistance
• oSTEM Career Center

Quantifiable outcome

• 150+ chapters serving LGBTQ+ people in STEM across US and internationally
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Allen InstitutecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOrganizational Advisory Council (OAC) member providing year-round partnership support, guidance, and resources to oSTEM's programmatic mission. OAC membership includes meetings, newsletter placement, and networking opportunities.
• AnsyscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOAC member and scholarship sponsor providing the Ansys Scholarship ($4,500 for Bachelor's, Master's, or Doctorate students in computer sciences, engineering, or physics with 2.75 minimum GPA).
• ChevroncoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOrganizational Advisory Council (OAC) member providing year-round partnership, perspective, guidance, and resources to support oSTEM's mission.
• Zebra TechnologiescoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOAC member and event co-host for Pride Month webinars featuring LGBTQ+ leaders in STEM. Provided panel participation and conference registration sweepstakes prizes.
• Riot GamescoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOrganizational Advisory Council (OAC) member providing year-round partnership support and resources to oSTEM's LGBTQ+ STEM programming.
• Juniper NetworkscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOrganizational Advisory Council (OAC) member providing year-round partnership, guidance, and resources to support oSTEM's mission.
• DRAPERcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOrganizational Advisory Council (OAC) member providing year-round partnership support to oSTEM's LGBTQ+ STEM professional development mission.
• ActalentcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOAC member and event co-host for Pride Month virtual panels featuring LGBTQ+ professionals. Provided panel participation through recruiters and practice leads.
• Semiconductor PRIDEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry partner collaborating with oSTEM on Pride Month webinars and semiconductor PRIDE scholarships ($2,500-$5,000) supporting LGBTQ+ STEM students interested in semiconductor careers.
• ArupsecondaryGTM or Marketing PartnerScholarship sponsor providing the Arup Scholarship ($2,500 for undergraduate or graduate students in civil, mechanical, electrical, acoustical engineering or architecture with 2.5 minimum GPA). Requires essay on sustainable development goals alignment.
• Tighe & BondsecondaryGTM or Marketing PartnerScholarship sponsor providing the Tighe & Bond Scholarship ($2,500 for sophomore through graduate students in environmental and engineering fields attending school in oSTEM Regions A, B, or G).

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• InterPride: InterPride is an international federation of LGBTQ+ Pride organizations with member chapters globally; relevant adjacent peer given oSTEM's chapter-based LGBTQ+ organizing structure, though InterPride focuses on Pride events rather than professional STEM identity.
• Human Rights Campaign (HRC): Human Rights Campaign is the largest US LGBTQ+ advocacy organization and the venue where oSTEM was founded; an incumbent peer in the broader LGBTQ+ organizational ecosystem and a strategic ally for policy and corporate engagement.
• National Organization of Women in STEM (various) / Society of Women Engineers: Society of Women Engineers is a much larger, established chapter-based STEM diversity organization; comparable business model (collegiate + professional chapters, conference, scholarships, corporate sponsors) but focused on women rather than LGBTQ+ populations, illustrating the broader identity-in-STEM association category.
• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE): NSBE is a large, established identity-based STEM chapter organization with collegiate + professional chapters, an annual convention, and corporate partnerships; a broad-incumbent comparable to oSTEM in chapter-network and conference-driven business model.

Direct peers

• Point Foundation: Point Foundation is a major LGBTQ+ scholarship provider and leadership development organization for LGBTQ+ students, directly comparable to oSTEM on the scholarship and member-pipeline dimensions though broader than STEM.
• Reaching Out MBA: Reaching Out MBA serves LGBTQ+ graduate business school students through chapter-based programming, conferences, and fellowships — structurally analogous to oSTEM's collegiate chapter + annual conference model applied to MBA students instead of STEM.
• Out Professionals: Out Professionals is one of the largest LGBTQ+ professional networking organizations in the US, directly comparable to oSTEM's professional chapter mission of connecting LGBTQ+ working professionals through networking and community programming.
• Out for Work: Out for Work focuses on LGBTQ+ college student career development and emerged from the same HRC Out for Work conference context as oSTEM, making it a directly comparable peer serving overlapping LGBTQ+ student populations with career-readiness programming.
• NOGLSTP: National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals is the closest direct peer — an LGBTQ+ STEM professional association with a similar mission of advancing LGBTQ+ representation in STEM fields, distinguished mainly by being more professionally-oriented versus oSTEM's collegiate chapter emphasis.

Regional players

• Stonewall (UK LGBTQ+ charity): Stonewall is a leading UK LGBTQ+ advocacy and workplace-inclusion organization; relevant regional peer to the UK professional chapter expansion at oSTEM and as an indirect model for corporate LGBTQ+ partnership programming.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/outinstem
• Facebookfacebook.com/ostem.incorporated
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3355374
• Instagraminstagram.com/ostem.global

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics