The Event: The Women’s Board of the Adler Planetarium welcomed more than 600 guests to a stellar 2016 Celestial Ball, “Across the Universe,” on Sept. 10, complete with dinner under the sky theater dome and teen science “sommeliers” showing experiments table-side.
Honored guests included the S&C Electric Company which received Adler’s 2016 Corporate Partner award for its generous support of ATLAS (Adler Teen Leaders Advancing STEM).
Since 2002, the Women’s Board has been leading the charge for Adler’s science education programs, research and community outreach focused on underserved youth, especially young women, in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Cause Célebre: With their new ad campaign, “Space is freaking awesome,” the planetarium seeks to make science exploration accessible to all. “(We’re) helping to connect with young people, helping them realize that…their creativity and ingenuity is exactly what we need at the table,” said Michelle Larson of Long Grove, president/CEO and astrophysicist by trade.
“Our mission is to inspire curiosity and exploration,” said Chris Comerford of Chicago, VP/CIO. The Adler team actively goes out into the communities with programs like “Scopes Into the City” to enable underserved communities to participate in its programming, and even partners with the Chicago Public Library to allow telescopes to be checked out.
“We want people to come and experience our sky shows and our exhibits, to be part of the community (and) to give all children access to what we do,” said Comerford.
Bottom Line: Celestial Ball raised more than $1.6 million in support of exhibitions, shows and programs that engage the community and inspire young people to pursue careers in STEM. More at adlerplanetarium.org
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