Sponsor Spotlight: Overdeck Family Foundation

Since 2020, Overdeck Family Foundation has partnered with the National Inventors Hall of Fame^® to provide children access to meaningful learning experiences.

The Foundation was established in 2011 by John and Laura Overdeck, with the goal of providing all children the opportunity to unlock their potential. It focuses exclusively on enhancing education, funding efforts both inside and outside of school in the areas of early childhood, hands-on STEM education, and K-9 programs that include supporting educators and student-centered learning environments.

Opening the Doors to Effective OST Enrichment

Thanks to the support of organizations like Overdeck Family Foundation, in 2024 alone, our National Inventors Hall of Fame education programs reached more than 375,000 PreK-8 students. These programs include Camp Invention^®, our nationwide K-6 summer enrichment program; Club Invention^®, our immersive afterschool STEM program for grades 1-6; and Invention Project^®, an inspiring, year-round PreK-8 STEM curriculum. Each of these programs is directly inspired and influenced by our Hall of Fame Inductees and designed to guide children to build an innovative mindset and essential life skills.

Overdeck Family Foundation ensures greater access to our education programs by funding scholarships for children who otherwise could not attend. Emma Banay, the Foundation’s Inspired Minds portfolio manager, explained, “Through the Foundation’s Inspired Minds investment portfolio, we support organizations that promote joy and rigor in STEM learning, with a particular focus on scaling approaches that improve students’ STEM attitudes, knowledge and skills.”

To create exciting and effective STEM programs, our National Inventors Hall of Fame team builds the stories of our Hall of Fame Inductees into our hands-on curricula, and the Foundation values how this approach keeps children engaged and inspired as they build lasting skills.

“What makes the National Inventors Hall of Fame unique is the team’s ability to turn the stories and inventions of Hall of Fame Inductees into joyful, hands-on learning experiences,” said Banay. “National Inventors Hall of Fame programs give students the chance to solve problems, design prototypes, and explore creative challenges that build real-world STEM knowledge and skills — all in the flexible hours of out-of-school time, when curiosity and imagination can flourish. Importantly, this kind of learning, which kids might not encounter during the regular school day, sparks interest in STEM while also cultivating persistence, collaboration and creativity.”

Supporting the Future of Evidence-Based Programs

Along with ensuring greater access to our education programs, the Foundation also acts as a thought partner, supporting research and strategic initiatives.

“In addition to grant dollars, Overdeck Family Foundation is proud to provide our grantee partners with strategic capacity-building support to help them unlock innovation, evidence and growth opportunities,” Banay said. “Over the past few years, the National Inventors Hall of Fame has participated in several capacity-building engagements focused on financial modeling, scenario planning, evaluation and messaging strategy. These targeted efforts have helped the Hall of Fame adapt in real-time to rapidly changing funding environments and strengthened the organization’s long-term sustainability, ensuring that more students nationwide can continue to access high-quality STEM experiences.”

To give families a better understanding of what our programs can do for their children, Overdeck Family Foundation previously funded our partnership with Learning Heroes, leading to research-based insights that have strengthened our offerings. The Foundation also has helped our nonprofit to analyze and showcase our many proven program benefits, from creating supportive environments and building confidence and problem-solving skills to boosting academic achievement and sparking a love of learning.

“Research shows that hands-on, project-based learning deepens understanding, can lead to higher science achievement and understanding of science and engineering practices, and can increase STEM attitudes, identity and interest,” Banay said.

With support from Overdeck Family Foundation, the National Inventors Hall of Fame is continuing our research focus with a rigorous two-year evaluation that was launched earlier this year.

“For us, evidence is essential — not only to validate impact, but also to help schools, families and funders make informed choices about programming,” Banay said. “Our foundation invests in research as a critical way to increase awareness of what’s most effective when it comes to supporting children, families and educators. We believe that rigorous, high-quality research can help strengthen evidence-based decision-making and practice, which is particularly important in out-of-school-time settings. That’s why the Hall of Fame’s commitment to evidence-building is such an important part of our partnership.”

Seeing the Impact of Invention Education

Over the summer of 2025, Overdeck Family Foundation staff members took the time to see the impact of their support firsthand as they visited a Camp Invention program site in Connecticut.

“We talked with students who had designed and created arcade claws to grab toys, launching devices for penguins and custom navigation systems — all inspired by or connected to the work of National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees,” Banay said. “Seeing young kids excited about an authentic design challenge, empowered to pursue potential solutions, and confident enough to share their ideas was extremely inspiring. We love that summer break can be a time of enrichment and exploration that encourages a love of STEM for campers across the country!”

When asked about the importance of providing children access to invention education, Banay responded, “We see invention education as a powerful entry point to STEM learning: it sparks curiosity, invites hands-on problem-solving, and gives students a chance to see themselves as creators of knowledge and solutions. These experiences are meaningful not only for fostering and maintaining that initial spark of STEM interest, but also for cultivating broader life skills such as persistence, collaboration and creativity that prepare young people for future success.”

Learn More About Overdeck Family Foundation

The entire National Inventors Hall of Fame team is grateful for the continued, generous support of Overdeck Family Foundation. To learn more about how the Foundation is enriching children’s lives, visit the website.