Created in 2014 by faculty at the University of California, Irvine, with support from NSF and UCI Advance, UCI Math CEO is an Educational program designed to increase the number of talented students who pursue higher education in STEM careers.
How we have developed
The UC Irvine Math CEO program has been on a growing trajectory since its inception in 2014 and has quickly grown over the years.
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Math CEO started in Fall 2014 as a successful pilot program, with support from NSF (EMSW21-RTG: PI Foreman) and from UCI Advance (Spirit Grant: PI Pantano). During the school year, the program ran 16 Math Circle meetings for about 30+ students from Lathrop Intermediate, a middle school in nearby Santa Ana. During the meetings, middle school students explored various math topics (such as algebra, counting, number theory and geometry) with faculty and students from UCI. The youth also took part in a day-long field trip to UC Irvine to learn, first-hand, about the diverse activities taking place on a college campus. During the field trip, Math CEO hosted a parallel event for parents on preparation for college education.
In Fall 2015 Math CEO welcomed another Santa Ana middle school: Villa Fundamental. In each of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years, Math CEO hosted 24 weekly Math Circle meetings on the campus of UC Irvine for over 100 students from Lathrop Intermediate and Villa Fundamental, on Wednesday afternoons after-school. Each year, the program also organized a STEM-focused day-long field trip to UC Irvine for each school as well as an evening bilingual college workshop for students and parents at the school site.
In the 2017-2018 academic year, Math CEO continued to serve middle school students from Lathrop Intermediate and Villa Fundamental but decided to offer separate math enrichment meetings for each school, almost doubling its reach.
Fall 2018, Math CEO partnered with two additional middle schools (Carr Intermediate, in Santa Ana, and Marco Forster Intermediate, in San Juan Capistrano) and significantly expanded its program offering. During the 2018-2019 academic year, the program hosted afterschool math enrichment meetings at UCI for each of the four partnering schools, reaching 275+ students in 96 meetings. Family nights were held at Lathrop Intermediate, Villa Fundamental and Marco Forster to inform parents about college entrance. Moreover, students from each school visited UC Irvine on a field trip to experience a day in the life of a college campus.
In Fall 2019, Math CEO broadened its reach even further and welcomed two new schools: El Sol Science and Arts Academy of Santa Ana (Fall) and Century High School (Fall and Winter), also in Santa Ana. During the first two quarters of the 2019-2020 academic year, Math CEO provided free afterschool enrichment in mathematics to nearly 350 middle school and high school students in Santa Ana and San Juan Capistrano (in a total of almost 90 meetings).
With the hit of the COVID-19 pandemic, hosting in-person afterschool meetings for youth became impossible, but Math CEO’s commitment to support underserved youth in Southern California remained stronger than ever. The program offered a total of 18 online math circle meetings for students from Lathrop Intermediate, Villa Fundamental and Marco Forster.
In the 2020-2021 academic year, Math CEO offered weekly virtual math enrichment for students in 4 middle schools in Santa Ana: Lathrop Intermediate, Villa Fundamental, Carr Intermediate and McFadden. Moreover, Math CEO partnered with Cal State Fullerton to deliver online math enrichment for students from Valley High School (Santa Ana) and Fallbrook High School (San Diego). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all meetings were online.
In 2021, we returned to in person afterschool meetings with great success. During the 2021-2023 academic period, we engaged more than 450 school students, as well as more than 300 mentors participating in teaching, and hosting 22+ meetings every academic year, including a field trip. We also started incorporating CRT (Culturally Responsive Teaching) into our curriculum activities and pedagogical practices.
During the 2023-2025 academic period, we engaged more than 480 school students, and more than 250 mentors participating in teaching, and hosting 22+ meetings every academic year, including a field trip. We continued bringing CRT (Culturally Responsive Teaching) in our curriculum and practices, and started developing a 6-dimension CRT pedagogical Framework to guide mentors and afterschool programs.
During 2025-2026, we continued our Middle School and High School programs. We are excited to keep our activities strong in 2026-2027!
Schools
Our students, their families

Our Amazing Students
Year after year, we continue to be amazed by the talent, the energy and the generosity of the students we work with. They have a strong desire to acquire a college education, and we at Math CEO are committed to help them reach their educational dreams.
Every time I participate in MathCEO I have a great time! The teaching experience is amazing, the kids are amazing, the the MathCEO team is amazing! It is so great to do something fun and rewarding. I love working with MathCEO because I know the students are learning math and that they are all capable of such greatness! I can’t wait to participate this coming quarter!
– Mentor
Insights from MATH CEO Parents
What do you think of Math CEO?
“I like Math CEO because they give students the opportunity to have a goal and know that math is fun and math helps them a lot in everything, in any doctorate, any masters they want. Even to eat and count their food. They learn a lot and I have always told my daughter to ask questions because if they do not ask questions they never learn. It has opened many doors for her, she likes math now. Even now she will compete in the math club at the district level.”
Have you seen a change in your daughter’s grades or study habits?
“She liked mathematics but did not fascinate her. Now she is fascinated by math. She is also a source of motivation for my youngest daughter, she is in 5th grade going into 6th. She is in all honor classes and has all A’s.”
In the time that your daughter has been in Math CEO have you seen a change in her personality?
“Yes, she has grown. She is going to turn 14 but she is much more mature. She is sure of what she wants to study. Her goal is to become a lawyer and get her doctorate. Her objective is to be a graduate because no one in the family of her dad has graduated. She says she wants a house, and to travel and that she will have me in a very nice house, seeing that I did not have the opportunity to get an education. She wants more. She wants to be a motivation for her younger sister so that she sees her like a mentor and so that she’ll focus on her studies.”
