For many years, The Orphaned Starfish Foundation has partnered with Johnson & Johnson to make an impact in the lives of so many children around the world. Last week, the students from Orphanage Niños y Niñas de Cristo in the Dominican Republic became part of the inspiring STEM LEA workshop where they had the opportunity to connect with professionals from the medical field, listen to their stories, and learn how they worked to make their dreams come true.

The Operation Smile LEA (Latinoamérica En Acción) STEM workshop is an international event created for Latin American youth interested in learning about career options they can pursue within the science, technology, engineering, and math fields. The main goal is to provide the students with information and mentors to help them get a better scope of how the field that they are interested in works and how they can connect with institutions that are involved in the community with the goal of making an impact and helping those in need.

The future demands good leadership skills. Thus, Operation Smile’s conference was built to create an environment where leadership skills can be developed and honed. The panel had doctors in the different areas of medicine that provided educational information on how to get a good mentor and how the students could find out if they were on the right path in their careers. Subjects like adaptability, time management, teamwork and career selection were presented by the Johnson & Johnson team in a dynamic setting.

Orphaned Starfish Students Testimonials

The honorees of the LEA workshop were 12 promising young girls from the OSF program Niños y Niñas de Cristo. For some of them, it was their first time ever attending a conference, especially one as important as this where they had the opportunity to connect with students from all Latin America and share their experiences.

Yesica Rodriguez

On behalf of all the girls here present I want to thank J&J for this amazing opportunity. I felt so inspired. After today I will be thinking more about my career and what are the things that I enjoy doing and learning. I was one of the people that always thought that there was only evil in the world, but after listening to the panelist and how they give back to society, I decided to change my mind and prepare myself to give back and help others.



Angela Peña

After today, I will be working harder toward my goals and dreams. All the panelists inspired me to do better and to stay focused on the important things. I'm very grateful for this opportunity.

The partnership among The Orphaned Starfish Foundation and Johnson & Johnson is looking to create more opportunities among those that are underserved and need an opportunity in life. The 2025 goal is to strengthen this bond and find resources that benefit the communities in need. Together we can inspire young leaders and create a brighter future.

Join our movement and learn how you can get involved with OSF at www.osf.org