Number of Extended Learning Opportunities: 4 students

Extended Learning Mentor Grade Level or Position: 

Extended Learning Contact Names: Joanna Smith <joanna@daleysmithstem.com>                                       

Description of the Opportunity: 

Joanna Smith, a 35-year-old New Yorker of Jamaican descent, is a world traveler and visionary STEM educator based between New York and Maryland. With over 15 years of engineering experience, she has become a trailblazer in merging the arts with STEM education to help students and professionals unlock their full potential.

Known for her energizing mantra, “STEM Time is Play Time,” Joanna empowers learners to see science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through creative and unconventional approaches such as music, roller skating, and literacy. Her unique framework helps people use music as a gateway to mastering math, boosting confidence, academic performance, and innovation.

Drawing from over 30 years of piano experience and a decorated engineering career, Joanna founded Daley Smith STEM and Daley Genius, two pioneering STEM tech companies that host annual STEM Summer Camps, Conferences, and Year-Round Curricula in Music and Math, Rollerskating and Math, Coding, and Financial Literacy. Her programs have impacted over 3,000 students and adults globally, equipping them with skills to build character, increase income, and lead in STEM careers.

Joanna’s influence has been recognized by several prestigious organizations. She has been featured on Bronxnet’s very own OPEN,  Project Management Institute, named a “New Face in Civil Engineering” by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and is an educational partner with Steinway & Sons. She is also the author of the Math and Music Sticker Book, How to Practice Anything and Become Great at It, How to become a civil engineer- A Fun Guide for kids and parents, co-author of No more Unclaimed promises and a co-author of the children’s anthology STEM Possible, featuring young authors ages 8–12.

Her teaching and outreach span Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Trinidad and Tobago, and beyond collaborating with organizations such as BronxWorks, the Urban League Design League, Branch Brook Skating Rink, Bronxville Public Library, The Westport Museum, Yonkers for the Arts, The KB Foundation, and Boys & Girls Village.

Joanna Smith continues to redefine STEM education through creativity, innovation, and purpose proving that when art meets science, genius is inevitable.

 Extended Learning Mentee(s):