Building belonging: How GeekWire’s STEM Educator of the Year uses Legos to bridge the tech gap

Through Lego robotics and a STEM curriculum, Project LEDO serves as both an inspiration and a safety net for low-income kids and students of color in Portland, Ore., and surrounding areas.

“In a climate where school funds no longer cover vital STEM enrichment, Project LEDO serves as a consistent and reliable pillar,” said Cynthia Kieffer, principal of Portland’s Lent Elementary, adds that the program develops teamwork, perseverance and leadership in kids.

Others who work with the program echo that sentiment.

“We have seen our students become more engaged when they are able to explore STEM in a supportive, welcoming and encouraging environment,” said Eman Abbas of the Iraqi Arabic School in Lake Oswego.

Project LEDO founder Fidel Ferrer “sparks curiosity, fuels innovation and reminds our KairosPDX leaders that they belong in the world of science, technology, engineering and math,” said Tiffany Dempsey, a director at KairosPDX, which provides teacher training and elementary education.

Since Ferrer launched Project LEDO’s first robotics camp with 25 students in 2021, the nonprofit has served 1,500 kids and expanded to provide school supplies, laptops and food for families in need.

For his STEM and community leadership, Ferrer is being honored at the GeekWire Awards as STEM Educator of the Year, alongside Tracy Drinkwater, founder of Seattle Universal Math Museum (SUMM). First Tech is sponsoring the award. Both will be recognized at the GeekWire Awards event May 7 at Seattle’s Showbox SoDo.

Ferrer was inspired to create Project LEDO by his own experience feeling like an outsider in science and tech. He immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba with a dentistry degree, then enrolled at Portland State University in 2012, earning a bachelor’s in biochemistry and molecular biology. After working in a lab, he shifted to technology and joined Apple.

Particularly in college, he said, “I didn’t feel a lot of folks that look like me in that field. It was really isolated.”

That changed when Ferrer began volunteering at a Portland school with a large Black and Hispanic student population. Energized by the experience, he wanted to expand his reach and registered as a nonprofit while still working at Apple in Global Operations & Strategy.

Project LEDO takes its name from “La Edad de Oro,” a book that Ferrer’s mother read to him as a child, which translates to “the golden age.” The organization serves kids from kindergarten through eighth grade, with a focus on sixth and seventh graders competing in Lego robotics competitions.

Programming includes summer camps and in-school and after-school sessions during the academic year. The organization is also exploring international education partnerships in Cuba, Bolivia and Nigeria.

Project LEDO has seven employees and contract instructors across multiple sites, along with volunteers who handle the essential — if unglamorous — task of sorting Lego pieces after each robotics season. Most funding comes from individual donors, foundations and corporate support.

In recent years, Ferrer has also been tapped as a STEM education voice for state and global leaders, including as an advisor for Oregon’s STEM Investment Council.

But what excites him most is watching students transform. At a December Lego robotics contest, Ferrer saw kids who had once shown little interest in STEM show up confident, polished and even cheering on their competitors.

“It was such an inspiration to me,” Ferrer said. “They were so, so incredibly good.”

Astound Business Solutions is the presenting sponsor of the 2026 GeekWire Awards. Thanks also to gold sponsors Amazon Sustainability, Baird, BECU, JLL, First Tech and Wilson Sonsini, and silver sponsors Prime Team Partners.