Building STEPS, originally an internship program, was founded in 1995 in Washington, D.C., by Matthew Weinberg, CEO of The Weinberg Group.

To better fulfill his vision to help minority high school students become science and technology professionals, he relocated the organization to Baltimore in 2000. For six years, Building STEPS was operated from CEO Debra Hettleman’s home. The earliest cohorts had no more than 20 students.

In 2006, while the first cohort was graduating from college, Building STEPS was gearing up for expansion. One year later, it moved headquarters to Towson University and launched programming in three new schools, with a cohort of 34 students. Since 2008, programming at Building STEPS has evolved to ensure college completion for significantly more students.

For more than two decades, Building STEPS has been empowering students to realize their potential and achieve success. Building STEPS has grown from serving just 16 students at three schools to providing a continuum of innovative programming to over 200 Baltimore City high school juniors and seniors from fifteen high schools and 250 college students and alumni each year.