Frito-Lay Variety Packs Back-To-School Program Inspires 1 Million More Girls To Pursue STEM Careers By 2025

The iconic snack brand teams up with science-fiction star Sonequa Martin-Green and STEM Next's Million Girls Moonshot to send aspiring space explorers to Space Camp

PLANO, Texas, Aug. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Girls around the world have gazed into the night sky wondering what's out there and dreaming of what they can achieve. Frito-Lay Variety Packs is committed to fueling those dreams of exploration, discovery and achievement by teaming up with actress and science-fiction star Sonequa Martin-Green for the return of its Back-to-School Blast Off program. This year, the iconic snack brand also partnered with STEM Next's Million Girls Moonshot, an initiative that seeks to engage one million more girls in STEM learning opportunities through afterschool and summer programs by 2025. The snack brand will donate $100,000 to further the program's mission and send the organization's inaugural Flight Crew of aspiring space explorers to Space Camp®.  

"Representation matters and sometimes, all it takes to inspire us to achieve something is to see someone we can relate to doing it first," said Martin-Green. "I'm honored for the opportunity to join Frito-Lay Variety Packs in their mission to inspire talented young girls everywhere to develop their passions for STEM and pursue their dreams."

At FritoLayVarietyPacks.com/BlastOff, families can find STEM activities created by NASA Scientists using everyday household items, such as designing a heat shield or building a moon lander. Plus, when consumers share a picture of their family's Back-to-School Blast Off activity with #SpaceForHer and #Entry on Instagram and/or Twitter they will be entered for a chance to have a ceremonial star named after a girl they know who is passionate about STEM. And for every photo shared on Instagram and/or Twitter, Frito-Lay Variety Packs will make a $20 donation to Million Girls Moonshot (up to a maximum of $50,000) in addition to the brand's original $100,000 donation. See here for more details on how to participate.

Frito-Lay Variety Packs has also launched an interactive map on the website with a constellation of the ceremonial stars, noting their coordinates and names.  The map will continue to grow through the duration of the program and serve as a place where girls can see their galaxy-sized dreams come to life – no telescope necessary.

"Frito-Lay Variety Packs has always been an important staple of the back-to-school season, and we're thrilled to celebrate young girls in STEM alongside Sonequa Martin-Green and Million Girls Moonshot," said Danielle O'Keefe, senior director of brand marketing for Frito-Lay Variety Packs. "While we aspire to deliver joy through our snacks, we also seek to use our position to do more. This year we want to make our impact even more meaningful as we continue to support the dreams of young girls everywhere."

Frito-Lay Variety Packs first launched the Back-to-School Blast Off campaign in 2021 through a $150,000 donation to establish the "Space for Her" Scholarship Fund, which gave girls from under-represented communities the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to Space Camp®. As part of the scholarship, the brand also created the "Space for Her-os" mentorship program, which connected scholarship winners to mentors within the science and technology sectors.

For official rules and more details on the interactive map, STEM activities and the overall Back to School Blast Off campaign, please visit FritoLayVarietyPacks.com/BlastOff. You can also stay connected to the campaign by following Frito-Lay Variety Packs on Instagram and Facebook.

Frito-Lay North America is the $19 billion convenient foods division of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. Frito-Lay snacks include Lay's and Ruffles potato chips, Doritos tortilla chips, Cheetos snacks, Tostitos tortilla chips and branded dips, SunChips multigrain snacks and Fritos corn chips. The company operates 30+ manufacturing facilities across the U.S. and Canada, more than 200 distribution centers and services 315,000 retail customers per week through its direct-store-delivery model. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate website, www.fritolay.com, on Twitter (@fritolay), on Instagram (@fritolay) and on Facebook (Frito-Lay).

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $79 billion in net revenue in 2021, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive (pep+). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability at the center of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.

STEM Next is playing a critical role in bringing in- and out-of-school STEM learning opportunities to millions of children and closing the gender gap in STEM careers. In September 2020, STEM Next launched The Million Girls Moonshot, which seeks to re-imagine who can engineer, who can build, who can make. It will inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators by engaging one million more girls in STEM learning opportunities through afterschool and summer programs over the next 5 years. It is joined by over 50 partners that have quickly turned Moonshot into a powerful movement for STEM equity. Twitter: @STEMNext; @girlsmoonshot

The U.S. Space & Rocket Center, a Smithsonian Affiliate, is home to Space Camp®, Space Camp® Robotics, Aviation Challenge® and U.S. Cyber Camp®, as well as the Apollo 16 capsule, the National Historic Landmark Saturn V rocket and the world-class INTUITIVE® Planetarium. The USSRC is the Official Visitor Center for NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and is a showcase for national defense technologies developed at the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal.

To learn more about the exciting programs and activities at the USSRC, visit  www.rocketcenter.com. www.facebook.com/rocketcenterusa, or  https://www.twitter.com/RocketCenterUSA.

SOURCE Frito-Lay North America