251 - Larry Cohen on How FIRST Builds STEM + Professional Skills

In this week’s episode, Tom Vander Ark is speaking with Larry Cohen, the newly-appointed President of FIRST. FIRST is a global nonprofit robotics community that prepares young people for the future. They develop and support K-12 STEM programs with their FIRST Lego League, FIRST Tech Challenge, and their famous FIRST Robotics Competition. FIRST is so widespread that almost a third of U.S. high schools have a FIRST team!

Previous to joining FIRST, Larry has spent three decades of his career on Wallstreet, building word-class teams and delivering value on financial services platforms. But, when a friend brought him to a FIRST Robotics Competition, he was hooked and never looked back.

Join in on the conversation as Larry speaks about the future of work and how FIRST is supporting the development of STEM skills (as well as professional skills)!

Key Takeaways:

[:10] About today’s episode.

[:50] Tom welcomes Larry Cohen to the podcast.

[:56] Cohen speaks about his passion for learning early on in his education.

[1:30] When did Cohen narrow in on engineering specifically?

[2:50] Cohen shares what he ended up graduating with at Harvard.

[3:36] When did Cohen decide to get into financial services?

[4:56] Would Larry agree that work experiences are as important as formal education in terms of helping people understand what they want to do?

[6:17] What did Larry enjoy about working in the banking sector?

[7:56] Larry reflects on the changes in the industry he’s seen throughout his career regarding computers and automation.

[9:50] Larry speaks about what he learned about in these fintech environments as well as the important skills and attributes that were most key in the positions he has held.

[11:32] On Wallstreet, Larry was building big teams that were running and building big trading platforms. He was always working in large teams to deliver large-scale systems. Larry speaks a bit about this and emphasizes the importance of collaboration.

[12:36] Would Larry agree with the sentiment that taking on big complex challenges as a team can really help students regardless of the sector of work they decide to go into?

[13:54] Larry highlights some more important aspects that are widely important in this new innovation economy.

[14:57] An important lesson: problem-solving is important… but problem-finding is also becoming critically important.

[16:22] Jessica shares about the GettingThrough microsite!

[17:04] After 30 years of extraordinary success in the financial sector, why did Larry decide to become the CEO of FIRST?

[18:40] Larry tells the origin story of FIRST.

[20:57] Larry explains what FIRST does and shares its program offerings.

[23:26] What makes these programs so valuable for students.

[25:17] Tom underscores the importance of complex challenges and how FIRST serves students by providing these complex problems.

[27:21] What makes the FIRST Robotics Competition so different from other student competitions/challenges.

[29:15] Larry speaks about FIRST’s initiative to support equity and diversity.

[30:37] What if schools were more like a FIRST lab? What would a FIRST school look like?

[32:57] Larry shares what’s currently on the FIRST roadmap!

[35:12] Larry reflects on what he enjoys about working at FIRST.

[35:52] Larry takes a moment to acknowledge the critical role of educators.

[36:05] Where to learn more about FIRST.

[37:02] Tom thanks Larry for his inspiring work and for joining the podcast.

[37:15] Larry gives an inspiring closing comment.

Mentioned in This Episode:

FIRST

GettingSmart.com/GettingThrough

For More on Great STEM Tools, Check-Out:

Getting Smart Ep. 238: “Chad Dorsey on Modeling and Data Science in STEM Education”

Get Involved:

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