Brown Toy Box Aims to Inspire Black Kids to Pursue STEAM Careers
Terri-Nichelle Bradley wants her company’s educational play kits—which center around science, technology, engineering, arts, and math—to help reduce America’s racial wealth gap.
The Dadisi Crew is an eclectic bunch. Dre is athletic and passionate about astronomy, Maya is adventurous and loves to code, and Amara is a budding environmental scientist who encourages her friends to recycle. A couple of things bind the group together: Each member is fascinated with a cutting-edge discipline, and they’re all Black characters.
The fictional clique and its circle of friends are the creation of Terri-Nichelle Bradley, a Black mom of four who is determined to inspire Black kids to pursue well-paying careers in STEAM—science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. The characters are at the heart of her company, Brown Toy Box, which makes educational play kits featuring fields such as chemistry, museum arts, and robotics.