Taylor Richardson
Taylor Richardson also known as “Astronaut Starbright” is an advocate, activist, philanthropist and speaker. She wants to be a physician, scientist and an astronaut. Her focus is on shining a light on inclusion and diversity in STEM through advocacy and philanthropy work. And through that work, the legacy she wants to leave behind is to bring a sisterhood of warriors with her all the way to the stars by disrupting the status quo where girls who look her like her and girls who don’t have equal representation at all tables!
Taylor’s service and advocacy work continues to have an incredible trajectory that began when she was nine and attended Space Camp in Alabama. Her first fundraiser lead to her own book drive Taylor’s Take Flight with a Book that has collected and donated over 10,000 books within and outside of the US. Since then Taylor has sponsored several full scholarships to send girls to STEM and empowerment camps across the US.
She is an internationally known advocate for girls in STEM. She is the youngest recipient for the Florida Times-Union Eve Award’s first-time “Aspiring EVE” winner in June 2019. She is a 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 mentee with the nationally recognized Black Girls Rock, Black Girls LEAD conference. In July 2019 she helped fund fees for other Black girls to attend this conference as well. She is two year delegate for Eighteenx18 delegate along with 39 other youth leaders across the US in their bid to register young people to vote. In the summer of 2019 Taylor registered over 150 youth to vote in Jacksonville, Florida. She has co-sponsored in 2018, 2019 and 2020 with Alpha STARZ a Back-to-School Jamborees where she helped raise funds for 3,000 local children to receive backpacks and school supplies in Northwest Jacksonville.
Taylor has been a pacesetter for youth philanthropy and STEM advocacy for the past seven years. With the help of big-time names like mogul Oprah Winfrey, film/tv producer JJ Abrams and actor Chis Pine, and Venture Capitalists Arlan Hamilton and Monique Mosley. Taylor has raised over $250,000 to help girls interested in STEM including sponsoring movie screenings across the US for movies Hidden Figures, A Wrinkle in Time and Captain Marvel.
In May, she raised via GoFundMe over $4000 to aid in childcare for frontline workers for COVID relief. In June 2020, she crowdfunded again via GoFundMe for her Freedom Fund
that raised over $17,000 to aid in Black Lives Matter movements across the nation. And in 2020 partnered with Bonfire to create tees for ADHD and Black While ___________! to aid in advocacy work against racism and oppression and learning disabilities raising over $5000.
Most recently she has raised over $22,000 to help get the book The Black Friend to aid in anti racism and build dialogue in middle and high school libraries across the US. As of February 2021 she has donated almost 2000 books locally, nationally and internationally reaching 30+ states, 40 US embassies and reaching as far as Ghana, Australia and Ireland. She has even gotten the local Jacksonville Public library to join and she has donated 21 books for all its libraries.
Taylor also continues to use her platform with corporations and has spoken at many STEM and women empowerment conferences around the world to push #RepresentationMatters in places like Washington, DC, for March for Science 2016, Ohio for Congresswoman Marcia Fudge’s NEOSTREAM Conference 2018, Ireland’s InspirefestHQ 2018, IBM Think in San Francisco 2019, and Ellevate Network in New York 2019. She has graced covers of two Scholastic Science magazines in 2017, 2018 and was 2017 Girl of the Year for Women in Aviation being the first African American girl to do so.
Taylor is an alum of the 2019-2020 Class for Youth Leadership JACKSONVILLE, a co founding/officer of The STEAM Squad, an online organization that gets kids involved
in science, technology, engineering, math and the arts, a founding member of GoFundMe Community and board member of two non profits Alpha Starz and Girls Rights Org where serves as its Director of STEAM initiatives. She also is a Generation WOW ambassador and Boys and Girls Club of Northeast FLORIDA member since 6th grade.
Taylor has been in local, national and international publications and media outlets, including Good Morning JACKSONVILLE, Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, and the feature cover of New Moon Girls magazine as it’s 2019 Girl of the Year.
Taylor is the youngest 2020 Girls Inc. of Jacksonville Champion of Girls honoree, Jason Taylor Foundation 2020/2021 Youth Community Hall of Fame, Arts and Action Census Jr Ambassador 2020, 2020 One to Watch Jacksonville NAACP Image Award recipient, 2020 Folio Jax 18u18, co creator of 2020 #verifiedsowhite challenging social media outlets to have more verification of those of color, a three time recipient of The Bolles School Presidential Medal, 2019 advisory council for Girls Who Code, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Clean and Clear campaigns, 2018 BEST (Black Entrepreneur SisTer Society) Teen of the Year, 2018 Do Something Grab the Mic ambassador, 2017 TeenVogue 21u21, GoFundMe Hero 2017, 2018 The Roots 25 Young Futurist, and an 2019 Ebony Power 100 Finalist.
Taylor is featured in the documentary about advocacy work titled, “ASTRONAUTSTARBRIGHT: Story of a STEM Advocate,” where it has earned numerous awards and in 2019 she was featured in another documentary “Fly Like A Girl,” about girls and women in aviation and STEM fields. Both doing very well in film festivals across the U.S.
Taylor has also written op-ed’s for Teen Vogue, New Moon Girls and Florida Times Union. She is also featured in several books that promote STEM, representation and girls empowerment.
When she is not advocating for representation, equality and equity, you can usually find her watching YouTube videos, playing soccer and being just a typical teenager with her friends. Next stop college and then Mars!
You can find Taylor on all social media outlets under @astrostarbright for Twitter/Facebook and @astronautstarbright for Instagram.
|| ORGANIZING EXPERIENCE & COMMUNITY SERVICE WORK ||
• Back-to-School Supply Drive: Annual partnership with nonprofit The Alpha Starz that has raised over $15k to provide school supplies and backpacks to underserved youth in Jacksonville, Florida (2016-2021)
o Role: Lead Organizer and Lead Fundraiser
• Community Book & Movie Screenings: Provided free movie screenings, title books and comic books for movies Hidden Figures, A Wrinkle of Time and Captain Marvel to youth locally, nationally and internationally that raised over $150k (2017, 2018 & 2019)
o Role: Host | Lead Organizer and Lead Fundraiser
• Taylor’s Take Flight with a Book Drive: Collect and distribute over 15,000 books to youth to ensure home libraries locally, nationally and internationally (2016-2021)
o Role: Lead Organizer and Lead Philanthropist
• Eighteenx18 Rock the Vote: Registered 150 youth 16 and up to vote in Jacksonville, Florida, as state delegate for organization(2018-2020)
o Role: Organizer
• COVID Relief Fund: Created crowdfund that raised over $4K funds for local YMCA to aid in childcare for frontline workers (May 2020)
o Role: Lead Organizer | Lead Fundraiser
• ADHD T-Shirt Drive: Designed T-shirt via partnership with Bonfire that raised over $5k to advocate for ADHD awareness where proceeds were donated to ADHD association and STEM initiatives (2020-2021)
o Role: Lead Organizer | Lead Fundraiser
• The Black Friend Book Challenge: Created crowdfund that raised over $29k to aid in antiracism book distribution to schools and businesses to combat racism; Distributed book in 40 states and 40 U.S. Embassies (2021)
o Role: Lead Organizer | Head fundraiser
• Freedom Fund: Created crowdfund that raised over $17k to aid in bailouts for youth and families during Black Lives Matter peaceful protests
o Role: Lead Fundraiser
• Community Service: over 5000 Hours
|| SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS ||
• March for Science- April 22, 2017 (Washington, DC)
o Was a featured speaker for inaugural march alongside speakers like Bill Nye, Denis Hayes and Leland Melvin.
o Spoke about how representation matters in STEM for Black and brown girls in audience for over 100k.
• NEOSTREAM- October 25, 2018 (Cleveland, OH)
o Was invited by then Ohio Congresswoman, now Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge as speaker for over 900 teens to talk about science and space exploration.
• INSPIREFEST (now known as Future Human HQ)- June 2018 (Dublin, Ireland)
o Was a panelist at Silicon Republic with over 3000 attendees in Dublin, Ireland.
• IBM THINK Conference-February 12-15, 2019 (San Francisco, CA)
o Was a panelist and speaker at Moscone Center for over 500 IBM in person attendees and 1000 livestream attendees.
• ELLEVATE Mobilize Women Summit- June 2019 (New York, NY)
o Was a panelist to talk about girls empowering girls and how to create spaces to discuss the pressing issues facing our world today to over 652 in person attendees and over 2000 livestream attendees.
• MY BROTHER’S KEEPER-SPARTANBURG June 2021 (Virtual)
o Role: Speaker
o Was invited by MBK, to keynote speak at a virtual event about activism and selfcare for Black youth.
• The Black Friend Literary Chat- March 2021 (Virtual)
o Role: Panelist
• BARBIE You Can Be Anything Series- March 2021 (Virtual)
o Role: Panelist
• BORN THIS WAY Foundation- May 2021 (Virtual) “Kindness Is Action”
o Role: Panelist
• Citizen Education- June 2021 (Virtual) “Zooming in w/ Gen Z”
o Role: Panelist
• History Made By Us- June-July 2021 (Virtual) “Civic Season” to promote and amplify more engagement in civics
o Role: Panelist
• Girl Scouts of USA - September 2021 (Virtual) “Digital Leadership” to promote and amplify safe spaces on social media and internet
o Role: Panelist
|| SUMMER INTERNSHIPS ||
• Assistant to Vice President for Tom Bush Motors (paid) Jacksonville, Florida (2020)
• Medical Shadow under Dr Chandra Adams Full Circle Women’s Care (unpaid) Jacksonville, Florida (2021)
|| APPEARANCES ||
• Astronaut Starbright: Story of a STEM Advocate (Film)
• Fly Like a Girl (Film)
• Good Morning America (TV)
• NBC Nightly News (TV)
• Good Morning Jacksonville (TV)
• Essence (Publication)
• Forbes (Publication)
• The Root (Publication)
• New Moon Girls (Publication)
• Scholastic (Publication)
• Teen Vogue (Op-Ed)
|| AWARDS ||
• 2017 21u21 -Teen Vogue
• 2017 GoFundMe Hero -GoFundMe
• 2017-2021 Presidential Medal -The Bolles School
• 2018 Young Futurist -The Root
• 2019 Aspiring EVE -Florida Times Union
• 2020 One to Watch -Jacksonville NAACP Image Awards
• 2020 Champion for Girls -Girls Inc Jacksonville
• 2021 Black Girl Magic -My Brother’s Keeper Spartanburg
• 2021 Youth Community Hall of Fame -Jason Taylor Foundation
*Taylor is also writing the foreword to NYT Best Seller author of The Black Friend Fred T Joseph second book Better Than We Found It and over the summer of 2021 completed co writing the picture book.
Mural of Taylor
Taylor gives talk at March of Science 2017
Girls Have Rights
Poster at Jaxsonville Public Library for the READ campaign
Taylor appeared on Good Morning America and met Oprah Winfrey and Robin Roberts 2018
Taylor named GoFundMe Hero 2019
Taylor attended Teen Vogue Summit twice
Taylor attended the IBM Think Conference in 2019
Award winning documentary about Taylor
Taylor meets Ava DuVernay 2017
Taylor on the cover of Girls in Aviation 2017
Etre Girls #BeBrave feature 2018
Taylor helped raise money for her local Boys and Girls Club 2018
Taylor meets Bill Nye in 2017
Taylor is a mentee at Black Girls Rock from 2017 thru 2020
Book drive 2016
Book drive 2016
Taylor raised money so kids can go see Disney's Wrinkle in Time 2018
Taylor interviewed by Emily Calandrelli 2017
Featured in the film Fly Like a Girl 2018
Taylor attended Generation W conference in 2019
Taylor talked at Girls Rock at University of Florida 2017
Taylor meets Florida Gov. Scott 2016
Screening of Hidden Figures 2016
Cover of Kid News Maker magazine 2017
Martin Luther King Jr King Centennials Speak speaker 2018
Taylor meets Dr. Mae Jemison 2016
Taylor meets astronaut Mark Kelly 2015
Panelist for American Family Insurance and OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) Media: Young, Gifted, and Dreaming Fearlessly 2018
Cover of Scholastic Science World 2017
Taylor attended space camp in 2014
Taylor and Julie 2018
Speaker at TEDx FSCJ 2018
Named to the Teen Vogue’s list of 21 under 21 2017
Attended THINGaMaJIG 2017
Game changer for first ever White House State of Women Summit 2016
