Talk about out-of-this-world advice! Astronaut and mom Kellie Gerardi is on a mission to encourage young girls to feel confident and change the face of STEM. "For Gerardi, an astronaut and dedicated science communicator, it's crucial that young girls, including her 5-year-old daughter Delta, understand that space is for everyone."

Cheshire High School student Suchita Srinivasan shows a medical device she invented, called Cura, for people with a rare neck condition called torticollis, at her home in Cheshire, Conn., on Thursday July 11, 2024. Suchita hopes to eventually have the device made into something the size of a hearing aid that can slipped into one's ear.

Automation and AI are business buzzwords these days. Agility Robotics CEO Peggy Johnson—along with her cohort of “over 50” inventors, scientists and STEM superstars - are leading the charge in advancing these technologies for good.

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Elaine Nkwocha’s love of teaching and STEM began as a child growing up in Nigeria. She shares the journey that led her to teach science, provide mentorship, and advocate for girls and women in STEM.

Who else is so inspired by the BlackAtNASA trend? Recently, Black employees have gone viral for posting their headshots at NASA. Black people are extremely underrepresented in STEM making up only 9% of the STEM workers in the US. At Girls Who Code, they’ve seen firsthand the impact positive representation can have on our students. However, these Black employees are shining a light on diverse representation in STEM using the viral hashtag BlackAtNASA. Learn more about these out-of-this-world Black women making waves in space.

For all intents and purposes, Briana Williams is a professional gamer. The 28-year-old California native goes by Storymode Bae, a callback to her affinity for story-based video games, which she started playing at age 5. A '90s kid at heart, she's got a bubbly personality which she puts on full display on Twitch, alongside nostalgic paraphernalia like an OutKast Stankonia microphone cover, and rap-artist graphic tees. Williams was introduced to Twitch, the live-streaming platform popular among DJs and gamers, after a short stint on YouTube. Once there, she found a larger presence and constant engagement with her 20K-plus followers in real time. And as that engagement grew, so did Storymode Bae's income. Now, she broadcasts live four days a week, allowing followers to watch her game and interact with her. And though the stats will tell you nearly half of all gamers in the U.S. are women, the $159 billion industry's female creators hover around 20% - and we don't have to point out why Storymode Bae stands out in the Twitch crowd.

Vanessa Wyche is leading the way at NASA and made history in the process. Since 1989, the South Carolina native, with a Bachelor of Science in materials engineering and a Master of Science in bioengineering from Clemson University, has worked at the U.S. government agency. Her first role was as a project engineer managing several space shuttle missions, as previously reported by AFROTECH™. Wyche was fueled by her interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and has continued to rise in the ranks with her titles having included director, CX program operations and test integration (2010-2011); director, exploration integration and science (2016-2018); and deputy director, NASA’s Johnson Space Center (2018-2021), according to her LinkedIn profile. In 2021, she was appointed as director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center and has maintained that title since. Her responsibilities include leading human spaceflight missions, the nation’s astronaut corps, International Space Station mission operations, and the Orion Program, Texas Public Radio mentions.

Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein could not have a first name more perfect for who she is and what she does. Chanda, a Sanskrit word in The Yoga Sutra (the authoritative text on yoga), means “moon” and the idea that if one concentrates on the moon, one obtains knowledge of the stars. Fittingly, Dr. Prescod-Weinstein is an associate professor of physics and astronomy, as well as a core faculty member in women’s and gender studies at the University of New Hampshire. Her name aptly reflects her research in cosmology and particle physics. More specifically, her research in theoretical physics focuses on cosmology, neutron stars, and dark matter (DM). She is also a researcher in Black-feminist science, technology, and society studies. Among her recent roles, Dr. Prescod-Weinstein was a co-convener of Dark Matter: Cosmic Probes in the Snowmass 2021 particle-physics community-planning process and a National Academies Elementary Particles: Progress and Promise decadal committee member. She created the Cite Black Women+ in Physics and Astronomy Bibliography. In addition, this talented scientist has gotten attention for her advocacy work. Nature recognized Dr. Prescod-Weinstein as one of 10 people who shaped science in 2020, and Essence magazine has recognized her as one of “15 Black Women Who Are Paving the Way in STEM and Breaking Barriers.” A co-creator of the Particles for Justice letter against sexism in particle physics and of the 2020 Strike for Black Lives, she received the 2017 LGBT+ Physicists Acknowledgement of Excellence Award for her contributions to improving conditions for marginalized people in physics, as well as the 2021 American Physical Society Edward A. Bouchet Award for her contributions to particle cosmology.

Not many chief executives in tech are the daughter of a mechanic and a cleaner.
But Lidiane Jones, the boss of the online dating app, Bumble, says that is not what really marks her out: it is the fact she is not a man. "It's still not an equitable journey for women today", she tells me of her path from her modest upbringing in São Paulo, in Brazil, to the boardroom. If anyone wants to follow in her footsteps, she says, they need to turn the obstacles in business and tech that women continue to face to their advantage. "My biggest advice is use this resilience that we have to build, especially as women, because opportunities are harder," she says. "It's not necessarily an easy or linear journey. I've had to really be resourceful."Ms Jones brings more than 20 years of technical expertise in software engineering and product management to the role. But despite having already been vice-president at Sonos and chief executive of Slack, she says the path to success for women in the technology sector is often riddled with hurdles and setbacks - not least the lack of representation.