California Invention Convention is an initiative to bring invention education into California schools and to celebrate the young inventors with a state-wide event.
Our first California Invention Convention was held April, 2017 in Santa Cruz with 55 young inventors attending and eight top inventors chosen to attend the national event. We have continued to grow the program — training new teachers and welcoming new schools into the program.
Schools from around the state have trained teachers in the program – from Mount Shasta to San Diego and points in-between. Over 33,000 K-12 students are participating in the program for school year 2024-25. Our growth in Southern California in particular has been such that there is now a Southern California Invention Convention sponsored by the Torrance Unified School District, as well as a Northern / Central California Invention Convention hosted by the California State Railroad Museum.
In 2022, we began a collaboration with the Lemelson-MIT Program (LMIT) – a national leader in efforts to prepare the next generation of inventors and entrepreneurs.
The California Invention Convention is part of the Global Affiliates program with The Henry Ford in Dearborn, MI – which provides support and resources. Winners from the California Invention Convention are eligible to attend the U.S. Nationals Invention Convention held in June at The Henry Ford.
The California Invention Convention is a registered 501(c)(3) with a tax-exempt EIN 84-3492216. We currently do not charge the schools or students for the curriculum or attendance at our annual event. We rely strictly on sponsors and donations for which we are most grateful. Please Donate Here!
