Community Spotlight: Meet Bryan Yee of kidSTREAM Children's Museum

Bryan Yee

Board Chair and President, kidSTREAM Children's Museum

Can you please share more about yourself and the mission of kidSTREAM? 

I was born and raised in Southern California, and moved to Ventura County 20 years ago to work at Amgen, after graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I met my wife at work, and together we’re now raising three incredible little girls. Earlier this year I stepped away from my role at Amgen as the Executive Director of R&D Knowledge and Learning, where I was responsible for the orchestration and delivery of integrated learning experiences for research & development staff members that bridged traditional training alongside modern knowledge sharing and discovery approaches. I’m now a full-time stay at home dad, spending time driving my two elementary school aged kids’ classes to field trips as well as spending time in their classrooms, and running errands with my two year old. 

For the past 3 years, I’ve had the privilege and honor of serving as the board chair and president of kidSTREAM Children’s museum, whose mission is to provide an engaging environment where kids explore, play, and discover. Our vision is to inspire and empower kids to become critical thinkers, innovators, and lifelong learners. Just until recently, this has been through outreach efforts, by bringing hands-on, play-based programs to community events or through the distribution of STREAM Kits, boxes loaded with take-home supplies that touch on science, technology, reading, engineering, art, or math (the “STREAM” in kidSTREAM), which we provided free-of-charge to members of community as part of our pre-opening access efforts. 

Core to our mission, as we worked hard to fundraise, build, and then open a children’s museum for the over 200,000 children growing up our region who had to travel over an hour or more for a similar experience, we knew that there were ways to create that environment in small and purposeful ways, knowing that it would be a large and ambitious undertaking to build a children’s museum.

Who has made a strong impact on your life and has helped you to get you where you are today?

My parents have been a constant reminder in my life of what it looks and feels like to be a consistent and selfless presence in the lives of others around them. From a young age, I remember weekends spent helping someone out with random tasks at their home. I have so many memories of packing up our gray toolbox and hopping into the car whenever someone needed help moving, or fixing something. One vivid memory is from when someone’s car broke down. That was the weekend as an 8 year old that I learned what an alternator was, and found ourselves at an auto parts store with my dad, exchanging a broken one we had somehow managed to extract from their engine bay after seeing that the wheel on the end that should have had a belt with tension on it was broken. In retrospect as an adult, I now realize my dad was not a car mechanic, but tended to have the mindset of “we’ll figure this out”, which was a common posture he and my mom demonstrated throughout my childhood, that carried over to my siblings and I. I’ve often described to others that my mind naturally likes to look at things and wonder how it works, not just in a physical/mechanical/technological sense, but also in a human/organizational sense, both of which made up a large part of my work at Amgen.

What are some recent highlights at kidSTREAM? And what events, milestones and steps are in the near future?

We recently celebrated kidSTREAM’s grand opening on May 21st, a day years in the making! For those who have followed the project since the beginning, they’ll recognize that we’ve opened with approximately 2/3 of the eventual footprint that we one day intend to occupy. A few years ago and after careful thought and advice from experts, the team made an intentional choice to pursue a phased approach to the construction of the museum, which prioritized time to impact, while not sacrificing the overall experience. This phased approach also provides the opportunity to learn and get feedback from the community as we prepare to build out new exhibits, programs, and the remaining indoor space in our second phase. While it’s too early to set a definite timeline, we encourage everyone to explore what we have to offer and share your feedback with our amazing staff. kidSTREAM was built by this community, and together we’ll shape how it positively impacts every child across our community!

What about kidSTREAM is special to you, what would you like our readers to know?

In addition to the thoughtfully designed exhibits both inside and out that reflect Ventura County, what is really special to me are the highly skilled museum educators, that you’ll find engaging with children and their caregivers throughout the museum. This intentional pairing of exhibits which draws a child in because of their familiarity, alongside with programming that highlights STREAM in a contextual way (for example, the science behind agriculture or the ocean), is powerful. Days after my kids got home from our soft opening, they were still talking about the things they did with “one of the adults”, or playing with something they made that they got to bring home, which is another powerful byproduct where the learning continues even after they leave. 

Related to that, another exciting thing has been getting to know the incredible team of museum educators and guest service associates who were recently hired. While the educational impact and how the museum is increasing access and equity to early childhood educational experiences are core, what’s also exciting to see is how many local jobs have been created as a result of us opening. There’s a very real possibility that one day, a child who was inspired by their experience at kidSTREAM grows up to design exhibits or programming for us, or even takes on the lead role and guides the museum into the future! 

Why did you think it was important to become a member of the CNL? What do you value most about your connection with CNL?

We are so lucky to be living in a region where there are so many nonprofit organizations serving the needs of our community. I’ve described my time serving on the board of kidSTREAM to others as an incredible view into a thriving ecosystem of organizations investing in the lives of children. Being a part of the CNL is an important part of understanding that ecosystem which allows us to tap into high quality advice and experience, so that we can make the best choices on behalf of our nonprofit, ensure we steward our resources well, learn from one another, realize synergies and thereby maximize mission impact. I wholeheartedly believe that our impact is amplified in part by the relationships that come from our connection to and with the CNL!

How can the community support you? Where can they find you on social media?

If you have little ones, or friends with little ones, we’d invite you to visit and experience first hand the awe and wonder that a children’s museum unlocks in a young mind! And after you’ve had that experience, don’t keep it to yourself! When you think back to that moment as a child when you decided what you wanted to be when you grew up, chances are there was a moment tied to an experience. Our hope is to create and nurture those experiences for every child growing up and around Ventura County, inclusive of all backgrounds and abilities. 

Tickets, hours, and membership can be found at www.kidstream.org, where you can also sign up for our newsletter to stay plugged in to what’s happening as well as learn more about how to support the museum through a one-time or recurring donation. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kidstream-children's-museum
Instagram: @kidstreamchildrensmuseumFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/kidSTREAMChildrensMuseum