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Wes Hall to lead STEMx

Jan 09, 2018

From Aimee Kennedy Ph.D., Senior Vice-President of Education, STEM Learning and Philanthropy at Battelle

Based on his extensive achievements in Tennessee and an in-depth consideration of the needs of STEMx, I am pleased to announce Wesley Hall as the new director of the STEMx network.

I will share a few thoughts about why we are confident that this is the best direction for the network, but first, let me express my deep gratitude to the Honorable Regina Schofield for ably serving as the interim director over the last few months. She took on this role on top of her regular responsibilities here at Battelle; we couldn’t have asked for anyone better.

During her short tenure, Regina collected your feedback about the qualities and priorities needed for the next chapter of STEMx. We worked together to craft a new path for the growth of this important organization.

In the end, it became clear to me that the best move forward was to double-down on the core idea of the STEMx network: by working as a group, we can deliver more attention and resources to quality STEM education than any state in isolation.

Based on that conviction, I am devoting some of Battelle’s key minds to STEMx. Wes brings two key aspects to the network. He is a proven community organizer, having taken the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network from funding a handful of schools to having statewide impact through support from the legislature. All in just a few short years.

Moreover, Wes has a clear sense of Battelle. From the organization’s scope to its defining mission of “profit for a purpose,” he can provide a clear line of strategy and visibility to our organization.

I am also formalizing new roles for both Regina and David Burns. Each will now serve as Senior Advisors for STEMx. These two senior leaders will work directly with Wes to advise and connect him to their own broad networks in the STEM education world.

From Wes Hall, director of STEMx: Looking ahead to 2018

Dear STEMx Members,

I am excited to lead STEMx and join you in expanding access to STEM for all students across the nation! As the former Director of the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network, I know firsthand how valuable STEMx can be in exchanging fresh ideas and strategies that can be applied locally.

When the state network was launched in Tennessee, STEMx members provided us with valuable insights into ideas and practices. This support helped achieve more, faster. When states collaborate, we all win.

Over the coming weeks, my priorities for STEMx will be threefold. First, I’m going to support members in New York and West Virginia as they complete their Challenge Grant collaborations. The Challenge Grants are incredibly important to generating new strategies to tackling common barriers across states and I am looking forward to New York, South Carolina, and West Virginia sharing their findings at STEMxChange in May.

Second, I’ll be working to plan an inspiring and engaging STEMxChange that will take place in Nashville on May 8-9 in collaboration with our colleagues in Tennessee.

I will be asking for your help in leading sessions to share your state’s best programs and strategies with others.

Finally, I’m most excited to get to know each of you better and the incredible work that you are doing to make differences in the lives of students so that we can expand our sharing and collaborations across states.

The coming weeks will be an exciting time for STEMx and I look forward to working with each of you!

Sincerely,
Wes Hall
HALLJ@battelle.org

By Rob Evans 01 Nov, 2023
by Heather Sherman, Director of STEMx The 2023 STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce was a success! Through our collaboration with STEMconnector and Million Women Mentors, we convened 160 leaders from industry, government, non-profit organizations, and education institutions from all over the United States to discuss strategies and best practices to support the STEM workforce. We were honored to host a variety of dynamic speakers including: Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado Brynt Parmeter, Chief Talent Management Officer, U.S. Department of Defense Dr. Athina Kanioura, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, PepsiCo and Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, Founder and CEO of Ruling Our eXperiences (RoX). We extend our gratitude to our panelists, Learning Session speakers, and participants who joined us in Denver. Broadening participation We set out share information on trends in STEM education and workforce development, with an emphasis on broadening participation in STEM careers. Resources from sessions highlighting strategies for broadening participation are linked below: DoD STEM: Developing a STEM Workforce to Support the National Security Mission Priming the Pump for High Demand STEM Careers STEM Workforce Readiness for Teen Girls: “If She Can See It, She Can Be It” Driving change Another goal of the forum was to feature high impact strategies, programs and solutions that are driving change, and STEMx members from LASTEM , the PAST Foundation and MBRT showed how they are engaging youth and building career awareness through their workforce programs. Emerging technologies We looked towards the future to better understand how emerging technologies will change the world and the ways we must prepare STEM talent for jobs in logistics, artificial intelligence, research safety , bioenergy , and renewable technologies. Chevron‘s sponsored panel, “Cultivating the Talent to Drive the Innovation and Technologies for Ever-Cleaner Energy” was a rich discussion featuring experts from Chevron, Project Lead the Way and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Dr. Jamie Vernon, Executive Director, and CEO, Sigma Xi Society was a fantastic moderator for this discussion. Next steps We have linked event resources including videos, slide decks and collateral on the event landing page . The event photo gallery is located there as well. If you attended, please complete our 30 second event survey . Five lucky winners will be selected at random to receive a Forum water bottle! More importantly, your feedback matters to us. If you did not attend, mark your calendar for next fall - we’re looking to make next year even bigger! If you are interested in hosting in your state, or have thoughts about compelling content that we should include, please reach out to Heather Sherman .
By Rob Evans 03 Oct, 2023
Join us for The STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce
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