Si Se Puede Foundation

What Si Se Puede Foundation does

Si Se Puede Foundation, now branded as Firewheel STEM Institute, is a Chandler, Arizona-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1993 that delivers STEM education to youth, with a stated focus on underserved students. Programming is structured around competitive robotics across multiple age and difficulty tiers, including FIRST Lego League, FIRST Tech Challenge, FIRST Robotics Competition, the National Underwater Robotics Challenge, and the Desert WAVE underwater autonomous vehicle team, which finished 1st at the 2024 International Robosub Competition. The organization complements competitive teams with broader STEM engagement such as LEGO summer camps and a STEAM Engine program.

The technical platform for these activities is a purpose-built STEM Center equipped with manufacturing equipment, 3D printers, CAD workstations, and dedicated robotics bays, supplemented by a Mobile STEM Center that extends programming into schools and community sites. The portfolio of FIRST Chairman's Awards, ASPRA awards, and Cox Communications Connect2STEM recognition indicates sustained competitive and community standing over multiple years.

The business model is donation-funded: the entity operates as a tax-exempt nonprofit with 11–50 employees, accepting one-time gifts, corporate sponsorships, and a Sustaining Membership recurring tier. There is no disclosed revenue, no equity funding, and no commercial pricing model; program participation is structured around team enrollment and community partnerships rather than fee-for-service tuition. As a result, financial scale is opaque, and any growth assessment must rely on programmatic signals rather than reported financials.

Name

Si Se Puede Foundation

Legal name

Firewheel STEM Institute

Website

https://sisepuedefoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Si Se Puede Foundation, now branded Firewheel STEM Institute, is a Chandler, Arizona-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1993 that delivers competitive robotics and STEM education to underserved youth through a fixed STEM Center and a Mobile STEM Center.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit STEM Education Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

akta.pro primary industry

Competition Robotics Teams & Coaching (FLL/FTC/FRC, VEX) (EDAMADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

STEM, Digital Literacy & Maker Education Nonprofits (BPAGADAG), Robotics & Engineering Summer Camps / Bootcamps (EDAMADAF), LEGO / Block-Based Robotics Programs (EDAMADAD), Robotics, Engineering & Makers Camps (EDAMALAE)

Keywords

• STEM education programs
• Robotics competition teams
• Youth nonprofit education
• Maker space facilities
• STEAM hands-on learning

Headquarters

HQ city

Chandler

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Tax-deductible charitable contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations supporting STEM education for underserved youth. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Firewheel STEM Institute (formerly Si Se Puede Foundation) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers hands-on STEM and STEAM education to underserved youth through a dedicated STEM Center facility in Chandler, Arizona. The organization runs multiple competitive robotics programs, including FIRST Tech Challenge (Binary Bots), FIRST Robotics Competition (Degrees of Freedom), Robosub (Desert WAVE), FIRST Lego League, National Underwater Robotics Challenge, Jeep Hack, STEAM Engine activities, and a LEGO Summer Camp. Programs are supported by a Mobile STEM Center that extends reach into underserved communities.

Product overview

Firewheel STEM Institute (formerly Si Se Puede Foundation) is a nonprofit STEM education organization offering a portfolio of hands-on robotics and STEAM programs for underserved youth. The core offering is the STEM Center—a dedicated facility housing manufacturing equipment, 3D printers, CAD workstations, robotics bays, and classrooms. This facility supports multiple competitive robotics teams and programs including FIRST Tech Challenge (Binary Bots), FIRST Robotics Competition (Degrees of Freedom), Robosub/Desert WAVE, FIRST Lego League, National Underwater Robotics Challenge, and Jeep Hack. Additional services include the STEAM Engine program and a Mobile STEM Center that brings equipment and education to underserved communities. The organization rebranded from Si Se Puede Foundation to Firewheel STEM Institute to better reflect its mission of igniting curiosity and innovation in students.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• STEM Center

Quantifiable outcome

• 1st place world champion at International Robosub Competition 2024
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• STEM For Kids: Franchised STEM education provider offering hands-on robotics, engineering, and coding programs for K-12 youth. Comparable in mission, age demographic, and hands-on program delivery, though operates via a franchise model rather than as a community-anchored nonprofit.
• Iridescent: Nonprofit delivering hands-on STEM and engineering education to underserved youth, including the Technovation program. Comparable in mission (bridging STEM access gaps for underserved communities), target population, and small-staff operating model.
• Citizen Schools: Nonprofit running out-of-school STEM and career-focused programs for underserved middle-school youth. Comparable in donor-funded nonprofit model, target population (underserved youth), and structured enrichment-program delivery.
• RoboNation: Organizer of the International Robosub Competition in which Firewheel's Desert WAVE team competes and has won. Operates as a STEM-education nonprofit advancing autonomous robotics, directly comparable in program focus and beneficiary age range.
• MATE Inspiration for Innovation (MATE ROV Competition): Runs an underwater ROV competition ecosystem closely paralleling Robosub. Comparable as a nonprofit operating a niche underwater-robotics competition with student teams, similar target demographic, and similar competition outcomes model.

Broad incumbents

• FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology): Operates the FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST Tech Challenge, and FIRST Lego League — the exact competitions Firewheel's teams compete in. It is both an upstream sponsor/standards body and the most analogous peer in mission and program design.
• Project Lead The Way (PLTW): Large nonprofit providing STEM curriculum and teacher training across K-12. Comparable as a mission-aligned STEM education nonprofit serving youth, though PLTW operates at much larger scale via school district partnerships rather than direct facility-based competition programs.
• Code.org: Major STEM/CS education nonprofit focused on expanding access to computer science. Comparable as a 501(c)(3) donor-funded STEM education nonprofit, though Code.org operates at national scale and focuses on K-12 CS curriculum rather than competition robotics.

Emerging players

• Bricks 4 Kidz: Franchised STEM enrichment provider offering LEGO-based engineering and robotics programs for kids. Comparable in LEGO/robotics-based youth enrichment focus, though operates via a franchise/after-school model rather than direct-competition pathways.

Others

• National Science Teaching Association (NSTA): Nonprofit professional association advancing science education and supporting K-12 STEM teachers. Comparable as a sector-adjacent nonprofit in STEM education, though operates as a membership/professional body rather than directly delivering youth programs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/firewheelstem
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@firewheelsteminstitute
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php?id=61586867904291
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-si-se-puede-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/firewheelstem

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Si Se Puede Foundation