The FY2020 FIRST ®Annual Impact Report celebrates progress from our 2019-2020 season, FIRST ®RISE SM powered by Star Wars: Force for Change – a season when our global robotics community came together to build FIRST City, a place where we celebrate our differences and embrace innovative concepts and technology to strengthen our future cities.
Together, we RISE represents the power of the extraordinary support and commitment of our sponsors, volunteers, mentors, donors, partners, and countless others to drive our mission forward. When our global competition season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many sponsors and donors were able to shift to unrestricted funding to support the FIRST mission.
Though the season ended early, there’s so much to celebrate: We impacted more young people with our programs than ever before. This report is a celebration of that impact: We share our latest longitudinal study evidence showing the long-term impacts of FIRST participation on STEM interest and careers, how we’re RISING to meet the needs of more students with our programs through equity, diversity, and inclusion strategies, and inspiring stories that exemplify how the FIRST community created meaningful change at home this year.
The report also includes a message from FIRST leadership; notable moments from the FIRST RISE season; a summary of progress in the FIRST ®Robotics Competition, FIRST ®Tech Challenge, and FIRST ®LEGO® League programs; FIRST financials; and an acknowledgment and listing of FIRST sponsors, donors, and Program Delivery Partners.
