|
South Carolina Pledges 5,000 Mentors to Million Women Mentors State Efforts Announced to Advance Girls and Women in STEM
|
|
Pictured above:
MWM-SC Steering Committee
Pictured right: Iriana Molusky, State Chair, MWM-SC. Sheila Boyington, President, Learning Blade and National States Chair, MWM. Molly Spearman, SC Superintendent of Education
This week, MWM-SC held their kickoff event to announce 5,000 new commitments to mentor a girl or young woman in STEM skills.
MWM-SC hosted its first STEM Symposium on May 17 at River Bluff High School in Lexington, SC. Speakers included Molly Spearman, South Carolina Secretary of Education, Sheila Boyington, President, Learning Blade and State Chair for MWM and a student panel who shared their motivating mentoring experiences. A mentor/mentee team from SCANA corporation shared an inspiring story about their mentoring relationship built around sharing appetizers and advice. There was strong attendance from state level education, corporations, and many others.
The MWM-SC team is being led by the first student leader nationally, Iriana Molusky, a 2017 graduate of River Bluff High School in Lexington, SC who will be pursuing engineering at University of Alabama. Iriana commented, “As a high school student, I realized the challenges that exist for girls and young women pursue mentoring relationships to support their interest in STEM.”
Pictured above: Iriana Molusky, State Chair, MWM-SC. Sheila Boyington, President, Learning Blade and National States Chair, MWM. Molly Spearman, SC Superintendent of Education
The MWM-SC Steering committee is represented by:
- Dr. Ashley Daugherty, Nephron Pharmaceuticals
- Dr. Donna Foster, Piedmont Technical College
- Latia Gary, Westinghouse
- Carmelina Livingston, S2TEM Centers SC
- Iriana Molusky, State Chair, River Bluff High School Student
- Mary Molusky, Community Volunteer
- Dr. Kaye Shaw, SC Department of Commerce
- Chris Brady Wolfe, SCANA
- Ebony Young, Unique Interventions for Youth
- Justice Young, Anderson University, Student
Click here to read more.
|
|
|
MWM-TN Hosts STEM Event at IMax Theatre
|
|
MWM-TN was excited to host STEM event at the IMax Theater in Chattanooga, TN. The event kicked-off at 5:00p.m. and opened its doors to girls interested in STEM and STEM careers. Several area companies including Volkswagen, TVA, BASF, Chattem and organizations like Chattanooga State, University of TN at Chattanooga, CWLI set up tables and staffed those with women in a variety of positions to provide mentoring to the young women who attended. The Movie Dream BIG was shown during the event. The event had a great turn-out of students and parents in the Chattanooga area and everyone was able to view the movie free of charge due to the generous support from the Tennessee Aquarium.
If you have not seen the movie Dream BIG, we highly encourage you to find time to see it. The film explores the human ingenuity behind engineering marvels and reveals the heart that drives engineers to create better lives for people around the world and was created by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
|
|
|
MWM-CA Hosts Successful Town Hall Meetings
|
MWM-CA team hosted a series of very successful town halls. There were over 300 people in attendance of several of them. MWM-CA partnered with the California Commission and the California Department of Education to produce these.
The Los Angeles County Town Hall
was held in Arcadia at the Los Angeles County Botanical Gardens on February 22, 2017. The hall was packed with over 100 students, their families and teachers. The students had the opportunity to ask questions about the educational and career journeys of women professionals in STEM fields, called STEM ambassadors. Commissioner Katie Buckland gave opening remarks at the event. At the request of the MWM-CA, Michelle Flowers Taylor, Ed.D., Director of the Institute of Engineering Community and Cultural Competence at the University of Southern California, volunteered at the event as a STEM ambassador. Anthony Quan, STEM Consultant for LA County Office of Education, was the lead coordinator for the program and has expressed an interest in making the town hall an annual event.
The Riverside Town Hall
was held on April 20th, 4 pm, at the Riverside County Office of Education with over 300 attending the event featured a panel discussion of STEM professionals from a range of disciplines, and a student voice. The panel was moderated by Dr. Kenneth Wesson, an Educational Consultant and Neuroscientist. Representing MWM-CA was Sharon Walker, Interim Dean of Bourns College of Engineering at UC Riverside. Commissioner Alisha Wilkins provided opening remarks and introduced the Commission. Executive Director Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez was also a member of the panel. Communications and Outreach Adviser staff the Commission booth at the exhibitor’s fair which included project posters from the Riverside County Science Fair presented by the students.
The San Joaquin Town Hall
was held on April 27th at 4 pm in Stockton at the San Joaquin County Office of Education Conference building with over 300 attending. The event included a panel discussion of STEM professionals with a question and answer period for students, teachers, and parents to engage the presenters. The invitees include students from 6th through 12th grade. Over 200 students, families and teachers attended the event. Commission Chair Lupita Cortez Alcalá provided opening remarks and participated in the panel discussion. MWM-CA co-founder and Steering Committee member Venita Sivamani participated in the panel as the MWM-CA representative.
Their plan is to replicate those town halls and to ensure that all of the mentoring relationships that come out of them are counted in the Be Counted! campaign.
|
|
|
MWM-FL Hosts Recognition Celebration on May 18
|
MWM-FL held a Recognition Celebration event in partnership with Hillsborough County Public Schools and the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) this week. The Hillsborough County Public School system holds the event every year to mark yet another successful school year and to honor all of their STEM mentors who participate in the year long MWM school mentoring project. The efforts are coordinated by Joleen Clark MWM-FL chair and supported by Larry Plank, Director of STEM for the district. During the event, teachers from various different schools in the county were celebrated for their mentoring contributions. As this is the third year of this effort, over 1000 girls have participated.
|
|
Corporate Sponsor,
Cisco
Participates in Girls in ICT Day with Girls Power Tech Program
|
MWM Corporate Partner, Cisco held the Cisco global Mentoring Initiative; Girls Power Tech, that is aligned with the 6th annual United Nations International Girls in ICT Day. Every year, Cisco opens their doors to young women in hopes of inspiring them to pursue a career in information and communications technology (ICT) through hands-on exposure to the latest technology and engagement with industry professionals! The most recent Girls Power Tech event was on May 16 in Dubai!
Cisco’s Girls Power Tech aims to expose young women to tech opportunities. In 2016 alone, the Girls Power Tech event hosted over 5,000 students and 1,500 volunteers from 61 countries. There were over 14,000 mentoring hours completed across 104 sites over the course of 1 life-changing day. Cisco’s participation in this event demonstrates just how powerful the movement can be! This full-day event featured engaging activities like speed mentoring, guest speakers and employee panel.
This is a phenomenal story from Cisco and we want to hear about all of the events you have going on, big or small! Email
states@millionwomenmentors.org
to share your stories.
|
|
|
Million Women Mentors Partners with Hollywood!
|
We at MWM/STEMConnector are excited to join forces with some of Hollywood's most influential women in PR, Marketing and Production who focus on the advancement of women and girls through mentoring, Denise O'Brian and Tess Cacciatore.
"I would not be where I am today without the many female mentors who encouraged me along my journey. After decades of being mentored by some of the best in the business world, I am honored to also share my expertise in many areas as a mentor to girls and women of all ages. As DOME joins forces with MWM as a media partner, along with the Global Women's Empowerment Network (GWEN), we look forward to a powerful and explosive partnership, utilizing all facets of media to bring the MWM message to the world," - Denise O'Brien, CEO, Denise O'Brien Movies & Entertainment (DOME).
"Mentorship and entrepreneurship are two of the cornerstones of GWEN and I am honored to partner with this ground breaking movement with MWM and DOME to ensure that young women have the support they need to further their life goals and have their voices heard.” - Tess Cacciatore, Co- Founder and COO, GWEN. For more information visit www.GWENNetwork.org.
|
|
|
Why Women Dominate Statistics, Botany, and Healthcare Industries
|
|
"Women are filling the ranks of statisticians in greater numbers recently, thanks in part to the surge of jobs and the allure of working with big data. Over 40% of statistics degrees are awarded to women as well as the number of faculty in statistics departments that will move to tenured positions.
Women represent nearly 80% of the health care workforce in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, yet women’s participation in leadership positions in health care is low.
Beyond health care, 46% of those in the biological sciences overall are women. Among them, botany has drawn women into its ranks as far back as the Victorian era, when working outside the home in any occupation wasn’t considered socially acceptable."
“Only about 21% of health care executives and board members are female, and only about one third of doctors are women” - Katherine Rider, CEO, Maven
*excerpt from www.FastCompany.com*
READ FULL STORY HERE
|
|
|
Engineering Our Food - Genetically Modified Crops
|
|
Pamela Ronald, Professor at the Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center at UC Davis and also serves as Director of Grass Genetics at the Joint Bioenergy Institute in Emeryville, California and Faculty Director of the UC Davis Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy; studies the genes that make plants more resistant to disease and stress. In an eye-opening talk, she describes her decade-long quest to isolate a gene that allows rice to survive prolonged flooding. She shows how the genetic improvement of seeds saved the Hawaiian papaya crop in the 1990s — and makes the case that modern genetics is sometimes the most effective method to advance sustainable agriculture and enhance food security for our planet’s growing population.
|
|
|
SAP and ASUG hosted their largest global business technology event, Sapphire Now. The conference was held for the purpose of connecting with the community that uses SAP software every day. It was also an informational conference to teach how to enable your digital business strategy and get more from your technology investment. Attendees were also able to meet the entire ecosystem of SAP Partners.
For more information on the Sapphire Now conference CLICK HERE.
Pictured- Edie Fraser, CEO, STEMconnector/MWM and Dr. Ritu Anana, Deputy Head, Global HR, and Head, Talent Management, Tata Consultancy Services
|
|
|
MWM/STEMconnector visited BP in Houston to review MWM efforts and find ways to support their sponsorship.
Pictured:
Dr. Dane Boyington, MWM
Cindy Berkman, BP
Kathleen Martinez, BP
Sheila Boyington, MWM
Dr. Asha Vaidya, MWM-TX
Ted Wells, STEMconnector/MWM
|
|
 |
“The pace at which technology is changing requires businesses to be nimble and to leverage talent and technology to continuously innovate and remain relevant. We are seeing a changing workforce with as many as four generations in any one company driving a new way of working. Globalization and digitalization has opened new markets and new opportunities. Today, skilled, diverse talent is needed not only to support running our businesses but to help drive business transformation. We are proud and thankful to be a part of Million Women Mentors."
- Nelly Pitocco, Regional President, Enterprise, Sprint
|
|
|
|
|
The Million Women Mentors Summit & Awards
October 23rd - 24th
|
|
In a recent Gallup study, only 11 percent of corporate executives perceived that college graduates had the skills they were looking for. How can we better prepare the next generation for the jobs of tomorrow?
In her new book, Teach to Work: How a Mentor, a Mentee and a Project Can Close the Skills Gap in America (Taylor and Francis: March 28, 2017) mentoring expert Patty empowers professionals – whether they are bankers, lawyers, architects, accountants, engineers, IT specialists or artists – to bring their real-world experience and her project based mentoring model into the classroom.
Compelling and insightful, the book reveals how professionals can embark on a journey to transform lives, mentoring one student at a time.
“You have made a difference in the lives of these kids, and most likely you have made a difference in the lives of their kids as well. They have grabbed hold of your light, because they feel your encouragement and kindness, and maybe because they had no other. Thank you for your important leadership in this role.”
— Chris Gardener, Author of The Pursuit of Happyness, 2010 NFTE Dare to Dream speech
For more information visit www.teachtowork.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
