Explora Science Center & Children's Museum Of Albuquerque

Explora Science Center & Children's Museum of Albuquerque, a tax-exempt nonprofit museum and educational center, operates as a federal grant recipient focused on STEM and STEAM program development, workforce pipeline initiatives, and informal science education for underserved youth and families in New Mexico. The organization serves as a prime recipient on 16 of its 18 recent federal awards (89%), with the remaining two as a sub-recipient under University of New Mexico grants.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is Explora's dominant customer, funding 11 of the organization's 18 awards. Recent IMLS-funded work includes a $1.168 million National Leadership Grants (CFDA 45.312) award issued September 1, 2026, to design and pilot a summer pre-service teacher residency program for elementary STEM educators in partnership with Central New Mexico Community College, University of New Mexico, Scott Family Amazeum, and Louisiana Children's Museum—producing a nationally deployable toolkit for museums partnering with colleges and pre-service teachers. A contemporaneous $1.097 million Museums for America (CFDA 45.301) grant supports STEAM learning programs for military-connected youth and families at Kirtland Air Force Base and surrounding Albuquerque communities through partnerships with Albuquerque Public Schools and the Kirtland Partnership Committee. A $488,756 IMLS Museums for America award funds health careers pathways for Hispanic and Indigenous teens through Explora's X Studio Teen Workforce Development Center, and a $382,219 IMLS Museums for America grant supports accessibility enhancements and programming for blind and low-vision visitors. The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture provided a $100,000 Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Fields (WAMS in STEM Fields) award (CFDA 10.318) for hands-on STEM engagement with rural underrepresented minorities. The Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 awarded $133,334 under the Environmental Education Grants Program (CFDA 66.951) for environmental literacy programs in the South Valley of Albuquerque, Moriarty, and Los Ranchos, with subawards to Friends of the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge and Kids Cook. Explora also acts as a sub-recipient on a University of New Mexico directed-energy internship program and on an NSF-funded Portal to the Public scientist-in-residence program focused on robotics expansion in Native communities on the Navajo Nation. Combined federal obligations across all awards total $6.6 million. Activity has remained modest and episodic—two awards in 2022, one in 2023, four in 2024, one in 2025, and two in 2026—with two awards facing completion in the next twenty-four months. Performance is headquartered and primarily conducted in Albuquerque, New Mexico (1701 Mountain Road NW), with community partnerships extending into rural New Mexico counties, the Pueblo of Zuni, and Kirtland Air Force Base.