Highlighted Event: Education Black Girls and Women in STEM Fields Panel
In September of 2019 I participated in a panel at the OSU African American and African Studies Community Extension Center to discuss STEM and empowering black women in the mathematical sciences to members of the Columbus community.
Highlighted Event: Hidden Figures Revealed
Speaking at the Hidden Figures Panel at the DuSable Museum of African American History on March 23, 2017.
I was honored to be a part of a three day event titled Hidden Figures Revealed: A Celebration of African-American women in STEM--past, present, and future. It was hosted by the Addler Planetarium and the DuSable Museum of African History in Chicago, Illinois and was inspired by the novel and Oscar Nominated Film, Hidden Figures. I participated in a panel on Thursday evening, March 23, 2017.
The panel featured clips from the movie Hidden Figures to help generate discussions about our experiences in STEM. We shared our challenges and triumphs with the audience and they were able to ask insightful questions at the end of the event.
Other STEM professionals on the panel included Dr. Jedidah Isler, an award-winning speaker who was the first black woman to receive a PhD from Yale University in Astrophyics; Camille Eddy, a mechanical engineering graduate from Boise State University with significant experience in the Robot Development Lab at Hewlet Packard; Michole Washington, the 9th woman to graduate from Georgia Tech with a Bachelors in Applied Math and the CEO and Founder of Afrithmetic, and Ruqiah Muhummad, a PhD Candidate in Applied Mathematics at the University of Iowa working on Mathematical Biology research. Excellence abound!
2016 MLK Day of Service at Ronald McDonald House in Iowa City.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (AKA) is the oldest Greek-letter organization established in the United States by Black college women in 1908 at Howard University. Since then it has grown to be a diverse sisterhood with both domestic and international chapters. Noteworthy members include Maya Angelou, Coretta Scott King, and Eleanor Roosevelt.
I became an AKA on December 6, 2009 through the Iota Sigma Chapter (undergraduate) at the University of Kentucky. There I organized events by partnering with UKPD and UK's Office of Sustainability and served as the Sergeant of Arms. I participated in and helped organize a 3 on 3 basketball tournament called "Hoop-for-a-Cause" where we raised $500 to buy wigs for donation to the American Cancer Society. As a chapter we also organized a "Hope for Haiti" concert with local artists to raise over $1200 in response to the devastating earthquake that occurred there in 2010. From 2011 to 2013 I was a member of the Beta Gamma Omega Chapter (graduate) in Lexington, Kentucky where I was part of the Scholarship Committee.
I was a member of the Tau Psi Omega Chapter (graduate) in Iowa City, Iowa from 2013-2016. As a part of that chapter I organized our 2016 MLK Day of Service at the Ronald McDonald House in Iowa City where we cooked a meal for families whose loved ones are hospitalized nearby. I also served briefly as the Corresponding Secretary.
Tau Psi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated at Founders Day Celebration