Watch this important exchange between three women who’ve spent years working in schools, in the university environment and in local and global communities on growing gender equity through broadening participation in STEAM education.
Dr. Koshi Dhingra is the Founder and Director of talkSTEM a non-profit organization that promotes STEM and STEAM education with a focus on broadening participation by underrepresented groups (girls and low income students). Previously, she was Assistant Director of the Science and Engineering Education Center at the University of Texas at Dallas where she launched Contact Science, an outreach program designed to engage the community in STEM activities. She has about 30 years experience in the field of science education as teacher, researcher, teacher educator, and administrator in New York, New Jersey and Texas.
Dr. Leanne Ketterlin Geller is a Professor and Texas Instruments Endowed Chair in Education, Director of Research in Mathematics Education and Faculty Fellow K-12 STEM Initiatives, Caruth Institute for Engineering Education. She is engaged in research and scholarship focused on supporting all students in mathematics education through application of instructional leadership principles and practices.
Dr. Nancy Bernardino is the founder of Solar Preparatory School for Girls and she served as the founding principal from 2016-2020. Due to her success with Solar Prep for Girls, Dr. Bernardino is now Executive Director for Single Gender Schools in Dallas ISD. In her new role, she continues to support Solar Girls along with the other five single gender schools in the district. Dr. Bernardino is also charged with creating additional single gender schools in the DFW area and across the state. Dr. Bernardino’s success as a campus principal was instrumental in helping her gain approval to open Solar in August 2016, making it the first all-girls public elementary school in Texas. Since the opening of Solar, Dr. Bernardino has mentored leaders across the country in opening their own girls school as well as helped open Solar Preparatory School for Boys, the first all-boys elementary school in Texas.
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