Rita Mikita is a STEM educator specializing in Project Based Learning. Her innovative work as a teacher has been recognized by Lemelson-MIT, The Gund Foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, and the Cleveland Teacher’s Union. Rita lives in Cleveland, Ohio and enjoys spending her time with her husband and two children.
I Bet You Didn’t Know
I enjoy reading and spending time with friends and family. I love exploring and trying new things, including visiting restaurants to try new food, visiting museums and taking long walks/hikes in new areas.
What I Love About My Job
We are making real, deep, transformational change in communities across the globe. TIES meets communities where they are and works with them to achieve the goals relevant to their stakeholders. TIES is flexible, listens well and leverages an entire organization’s diverse expertise in STEM, education, engineering, community organizing, etc. to empower leaders and create positive change.
A Transforming Moment
I have witnessed true “a-ha” moments for communities, including one community that was convinced that they were not able to engage with the business community in any meaningful way beyond a funder/grantee relationship. The community would actively engage in dialogue that described all of the reasons why they were not able to engage funders in a discussion about STEM education and a talent pipeline. In a meeting, with attendees present from many different sectors present, a business leader discussed their challenges in hiring talent and their need for an active talent pipeline with youth. Such discussion, facilitated by TIES, created a whole new dialogue for a community with larger employers in their region!