Last month, STEM Academy alumnae Kennedy Cheek and Maya Savoy had a unique opportunity to join Steve Solomon, President of the Exelon Foundation, for a panel discussion about the STEM Innovation Leadership Academy they attended in summer 2019 at the University of Maryland. Here they are pictured on the right with Steve Solomon and Mary Spruill, Executive Director of The NEED Project.The panel was part of a larger meeting in Washington, DC of all the United Nations Women HeForShe partners from around the world.

Chicago STEM Academy alumnae from this summer will recognize our newest STEM Star of the Month - Bridget Coughlin PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer at the Shedd Aquarium. Dr. Coughlin was a panel speaker at the Academy and shared both her personal and career stories, as well as some sound advice for rising young women in STEM.

She was recently selected as one of the 125 AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) IF/THEN® Ambassadors who show girls different career pathways they can pursue and how STEM impacts their lives every day. “If you support a woman in STEM, she will gain confidence to sit in the front row of class and in life,” said Dr. Coughlin. “But, if you support a woman in STEM, who in turn supports another woman, who in turn supports another, you will create an amplifier of good that will change the world. I’m honored to have been selected to serve in this important capacity and initiative.”