Policies and practices will be explored in creating equitable teaching and learning spaces for student and teacher empowerment through the integration of culture-based STEM. Research over the past ten years has led to policy and practice implications, including becoming institutionalized as the world’s first academic program in ethnomathematics with an option to add-a-field through the state licensing body. The mission, vision, and values of the ethnomathematics program are centered on building student agency, fostering student identity, and promoting social change that impacts STEM learning.