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New STEMx director announced

Oct 20, 2021

Note from Wes Hall, Vice President of Philanthropy and Education at Battelle: While leading the Ohio STEM Learning Network, Heather fostered a diverse community of voices to help drive STEM education in the state to a new level. I'm very excited for the passion, experience, and talent she'll bring to STEMx.

heather headshot

Over the past year I’ve had the opportunity to engage more deeply with the work of the STEMx network – getting to know members and their priorities and diving into some of the issues affecting STEM across the country. 


Together with other members of the Battelle team, we have established a vision for STEMx:  To advance quality STEM education for all by increasing the capacity of state STEM networks, advocating for STEM as a national priority, and amplifying effective education practices nationwide. 


Today, I’m pleased to share that this work will become my priority as I transition from leading to the Ohio STEM Learning Network to focus on STEMx full time. 


I’ve been at Battelle for the last seven years working directly with school administrators and teachers to create and scale innovative practices in classrooms and communities across Ohio. I led the Ohio STEM Learning Network for the last three years - growing the number of STEM designated schools from 55 to 82 and collaborating with the Ohio Department of Education to revamp the state’s STEM school designation process. I’ve been involved in workforce and career exploration programs through our Manufacturing and Engineering Externship grant through the Office of Naval Research and funding from the United States Department of Agriculture to help science teachers teach their standards through the lens of agriculture and problem-based learning. I will take what I have learned to advance STEM nationally. 


STEMx was the first national network designed to amplify the voices of state STEM leaders. I aim for it to become the strongest STEM network in the country and make a difference for students everywhere. 


We look to recruit STEM leaders from every state. Together, we have an unprecedented opportunity to lift our collective voice and advocate for STEM as a national priority while creating a professional learning community to close gaps in access, talent, and skills across the nation. There is more work than any one of us can do alone. We can embrace the spirit of collaboration over competition and help each other do what’s best for students. I’m so excited to begin this journey with all of you.


Sincerely, 

Heather Sherman

Director, STEMx national network

Celebrating the 2023 STEM Innovation Forum

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 .

STEM Innovation Forum: Agenda and New Sponsors

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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