Presented at the GeoConvention 2020. Operation Minerva Calgary has been supporting STEM advocacy for over 30 years. To date, the program has paired over 3000 grade 8 girls with female STEM professionals through a 1-day job shadowing experiences. The program now has mentors who were once participants! In 2018 AWSN (The Alberta Women's Science Program) was awarded an NSERC grant to expand the program. In 2019, AWSN kicked off a pilot project for this expansion. This presentation will discuss lessons learned in 30 years and through the current NSERC grant and will include strategies that can be applied to other long-term STEM retention efforts.