In the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, Dr. Calvin Mackie was appointed to the 33-member board of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. In 2009, he was appointed to the Louisiana Council on the Social Status of Black Boys and Black Men. Recently, Mackie was appointed to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board. In 2014, Dr. Mackie founded STEM NOLA, a non-profit organization created to expose, inspire, and engage communities in the opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). To date, the non-profit has engaged more than 50,000 K-12 students in hands-on project-based STEM activities.