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As I read the stories of the women highlighted in this edition of “Grown from STEM,” I am reminded of two very important lessons I’ve learned during my professional and personal journey. The first is, we are not alone. We are in it together. In difficult times, when trying to navigate a new situation or when we need guidance or a word of encouragement, all we need to do is be brave enough to raise our hand for a bit of help. There are endless numbers of women and men standing by, ready, and willing to help and support us.

The second, is the gift we each have to positively impact the lives of others by being willing to share our stories. Your story could be the one that encourages a young girl to go after that big dream to work at NASA, or it could be the story that provides the confidence a professional woman needs to nail her big presentation. Women & Hi Tech offers women and men in STEM many opportunities to raise our hand for help, to share our stories, and to learn from and support one another through networking, professional development, mentoring, and K-12 or collegiate outreach programs.

In this ninth edition of “Grown from STEM,” Women & Hi Tech would like to share the stories of two board members leading the way in their respective engineering disciplines. Former Women & Hi Tech President and current Active Emeritus member, Tiffany White, is the Head of Engineering Operations for all of Defense at Rolls Royce. Linda Hicks, Executive Women’s Forum Director, spent 33 years working in the field of chemical engineering and is currently the VP of Midwest Operations at ECC Horizon, an environmental consulting firm focused on cleanup and investigations. Both of these women have openly shared some of the challenges they’ve faced being in male-dominated fields and why they are so passionate about organizations like Women & Hi Tech that fill a need to support, inspire, and encourage women and girls in STEM.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tiffany White and Linda Hicks, and all the women in the past editions of “Grown from STEM,” for being willing to share their stories!  As told by our own outstanding ladies of Women & Hi Tech, these stories consistently inspire and encourage me as I hope they do you as well. Please read more about Tiffany and Linda and how their STEM backgrounds and passion for helping other women and girls fuel their involvement in Women & Hi Tech.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Bormann
Women & Hi Tech President-Elect

Tiffany White has served many roles at Women & Hi Tech. She’s been committee chair, Director of K-12 Programs, Vice President, President, and Past President. But when White, now serving as Emeritus Board Member, speaks about her introduction to the group, she admits it started with some apprehension.

“A girlfriend of mine was on the board and she was putting together an event. At the time the event was to do something with kids, and she wanted me to help her out in fleshing out the program,” said White. “Initially, I resisted. I said, ‘I don’t know I don’t want to be part of a girl group.’ But she eventually convinced me to join the committee as a one-time deal. Unfortunately, she had to leave quickly for a family emergency, leaving me in charge of the event. That turned into Passport to Hi Tech. Next thing you knew, I was part of Women & Hi Tech.”

Where she once worried that setting herself apart as a woman in the STEM world might be a negative impact, White now says the organization has been nothing short of a godsend.

“It shows you the power of the group. It shows you the power of women supporting women. You can still be known for your abilities and accomplishments but having that network of other women backing me up has done a lot for my career and my personal development.”

Throughout her career in STEM, White has always been one to push back against naysayers or barriers. Even now as a role model for young girls, she’s taken a big shine to providing encouragement in places where there may be a lack of it. As a high-schooler, White said she had a great experience in her biology and chemistry classes, but there was pushback to the notion of her continuing into a science field.

“I ended up choosing to take physics next in high school. My mom, while she wasn’t being mean, expressed concerns that it would be too hard for me. But I’m one of those people who will set out to prove anyone wrong who says I can’t do something,” said White. “In the end I really loved it, the way that physics explained and quantified the world. When I decided I wanted to pursue STEM as an engineer, I was again told that it would be too hard for me as a girl. But, obviously I wasn’t going to let that stop me.”

Starting off at Purdue University in 1988, White explained that the negativity toward women in the STEM space was evident. She recalled one incident in which she had missed a class, and asked a friendly male classmate for his notes.

He said, “Oh sure, I can give you my notes. I’ll photocopy them for you. He did and later slipped them under my dorm room door. But when I got the notes, I saw that he had taken a black Sharpie to all the equations, meaning I couldn’t do the homework. It was an attempt to prevent me from moving forward.”

While pursuing her degree in aerospace, White was like many other students who dreamed of working at NASA. However, after the recession of 1992, there was a dramatic rollback of jobs in the aerospace fields, as well as space travel. White eventually put her name up for any contract job she could find, and eventually found a spot at Rolls Royce in Indianapolis.

“I kept saying just get me in the job and I’ll prove myself. I started as a parts expediter and eventually made my way into a proper engineer role.”

But White had no intention of stopping there, and she didn’t. Since then, she’s worked on and headed up nearly every department one could imagine when it comes to aircrafts and defense technology, including electronics, control systems, engines, and even turbines. In fact, White is now the Head of Engineering Operations for all of Defense at Rolls Royce.

White looks to organizations like Women & Hi Tech for providing support and leadership to women and girls in the STEM field. But she also knows that the next 20 years for Women & Hi Tech means opportunities to serve a greater population of individuals.

"Passport to Hi Tech is wonderful, but it’s a paid event. I felt that we weren’t spending enough time with disadvantaged youth and people of color. That’s why I developed Ignite Your Superpower, which has been concentrated on exposing minority girls to STEM. It’s a free event where we partner with schools so that girls with more limited exposure opportunities get a STEM day on a college campus."

“I want to make sure that going forward, everyone has access to the fantastic programs and resources we provide. For me, that’s great progress.”

LinkedIn Profile

To say that Linda Hicks’ tenure with Women & Hi Tech started off with a bang is a bit of an understatement. After years of being a leader and mentor in the chemical industries as a chemical engineer, Hicks was awarded the “Mentor Me” Leading Light Award in 2014. Since then, she has been a steady contributor to the organization, continuing to pursue her two loves: STEM and guiding young women.

“I was drawn to the organization because I like the way they nurture these young ladies. It provides a way for female STEM professionals to feel confident in themselves. Part of it comes from networking and being around other like-minded women, especially ones who are quite accomplished. But it’s also a personal development thing. It gives you the chance to zero in on what you really love to do, what you’re good at, and how to get yourself to that next level.”

As the Director of the Executive Women’s Forum, Hicks has done just that by building programming that is relevant not only to many STEM fields, but on an individual level.

“I want to make sure the programming is relevant and helpful to people, and that’s only done through communication and listening to other members and attendees. I hear about what they’re struggling with, as well as the possible solutions, and I go out and target the right relationships to find the right speakers,” said Hicks. “I leverage my own relationships, but I also leverage the relationships that other board members have, as well as ideas that I hear from our members. I try to meld all those ideas together, so that I can put something on that’s meaningful to our community.”

Hicks had an interest in STEM from a young age. Her father was an electrical engineer, and she grew up in a family that stressed self-confidence and self-discipline. Hicks said that, “He had a vision that me and my sisters would be independent, both financially and in our careers. He saw the possibilities in his own field, and he encouraged me to do something technical.”

Hicks would eventually pursue engineering, however she chose not to follow in her father’s electrical footsteps. Instead, she decided on a chemical engineering program. When asked what prompted her to study chemical engineering, she explained with a laugh that while she was already interested in chemistry, another factor solidified the decision.

“Frankly, the only reason why I chose chemical engineering is that I went to a class in high school at Carnegie Mellon where they introduced female students to a variety of engineering types. I saw that chemical engineers made the most. I figured if I’m going to be an engineer, that’s the route I should go.”

When she enrolled in classes at Grove City College, she was pleased to see that over a quarter of the individuals in the chemical engineering program were women. However, she’s first to admit that the sample size was perhaps a bit too small.

“Out of 11 of us, five were women. It was weird, we thought that the demographic would be the same when we entered the professional world. But those numbers dropped drastically once I started working. I immediately recognized that there were fewer and fewer women as peers.”

As Hicks entered the professional world at Reilly Industries (now Vertellus Specialties), she found not only was there a lack of women in her field, but also a lack of respect for women. While working her way up through maintenance engineer, process/project engineer, and eventually on the executive team leading global technology, she encountered unfair and unprofessional treatment from male counterparts.

“I started my engineering career at a time when there were very few female engineers in the workforce, and quickly learned that the work was anything but 'glamorous'  I got a big dose of “educated women” not being welcome or as good as the educated men. The dynamics were not friendly, to say the least.  There were Playboy pin-ups proudly displayed in male colleague workspaces, trade shows with “Miss Snap-On Tool” parading around, no female bathrooms to be found at plants, constant tests to see if I would climb a ladder to the top of a 120’ tower or crawl inside a boiler because I was the “tiny one,” the pipe grease in my hard hat, and secret meetings that I wasn’t invited to.  It’s amazing I could do my job given all this 'stuff' going on, but I did.  And I did it well.  I persevered and made it clear that not only was I not leaving (there would be a price to pay for touching my pink hard hat) and more importantly that I was a great engineer.  With this, the constant harassment diminished to a low hum and I was given a seat at the table more often than not.”

After a round of buyouts at her company in 2017, Hicks said she was ready to retire after 33 years. However, she was soon contacted by ECC Horizon, an environmental consulting firm focused on cleanup and investigations. Though most of her experience came from chemical manufacturing, Hicks said her commitment to lifelong learning on the job has helped her to become a leader in a very different industry than her primary one.

“I slugged it out for years and became obsessed with learning every single facet of chemical engineering. That included some levels of environmental work. When we started discussing me coming aboard as VP of Midwest Operations, it all came flooding back. This process of learning on the job and of being a life-long learner, have made me a more well-rounded engineer and leader.”

When Hicks reflects on her journey through STEM, as well as her time with Women & Hi Tech, she said she’s grateful for the chances given to young women by organizations like this one,” said Hicks. “I think number one, there are more women engaged in STEM and there are better ways to get women in STEM connected with each other. I love that. I wouldn’t have even known how to connect with other women when I was first starting out. There are so many ways that a young woman can get support that I never had.”

When asked what she thinks of the next 20 years of Women & Hi Tech, Hicks paused and did a little self-reflecting.

“I think it’s always good to mentor and to be open to mentoring and helping others. I think…I hope, that I’m seen as someone who is approachable, eager, and willing to help another woman looking to advance to the next level,” she said. “I hope the organization continues to grow. I hope the organization continues to find great pathways in the city so that the influence and impact multiplies. I hope we  continue to stress diversity, and prove to others that the best teams are teams that respect and leverage differences.”

LinkedIn Profile      

Women & Hi Tech has been positively impacting girls and women in STEM in Indiana for twenty years. In this milestone year, Women & Hi Tech is seeking candidates for five committees to help continue fulfilling our mission of changing the landscape of women represented in STEM to be equally inclusive to all.

Women & Hi Tech is run by an all-volunteer, working Board of Directors and we don't take the term "working board" lightly. As such, Women & Hi Tech is seeking committee member candidates who are actively engaged with the organization or would like an opportunity to become more actively engaged with the organization. Ideal candidates will also bring wisdom, experience, effectiveness, candor and creative thinking to the organization via their committee role.

The Nomination Committee for Women & Hi Tech will elect one or more candidates for the following committees:

• Communications Committee
• Community Outreach Committee
• Corporate Engagement Committee
• Finance & Budget Committee
• Salesforce Implementation Committee

Multiple committee role applications by a single candidate are permitted. Qualified male and female candidates, including diverse candidates, are highly encouraged to apply. All applications will be reviewed by the Nomination Committee. Applicants must be Women & Hi Tech members in good standing at the time of initial voting and must remain in good standing throughout their committee tenure.

Once selected, new committee members will begin their positions on or about November 15, 2019 and most committee roles will last for about 1 year. If a committee role is extended by the Committee Chair, high performing committee members may be asked to extend their tenure on the committee. To assist you with applying for one or more committee roles, please click the links above for descriptions of the open committee positions.  

To apply for one or more committee roles, please complete this form by October 15, 2019.

About Women & Hi Tech
Women & Hi Tech exists to change the landscape of women represented in STEM to be equally inclusive to all. To achieve our goal, we work to advance, promote, support, recognize, and connect female STEM professionals in our community in Indiana.

On August 22, 2019, Women & Hi Tech partnered with Conner Prairie and Indy Women in Tech to host the 3rd annual Ignite Your Superpower (IYS) STEM day on the campus of IUPUI.  Around 700 middle school students from central Indiana schools participated in IYS for a day full of fun-filled STEM activities and events featuring more than 30 different corporate, academic, and non-profit exhibitors.

Studies have shown that girls lose interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) as they get older.¹ This was a trend that the founders of Women & Hi Tech recognized 20 years ago, which has increasingly mobilized the organization to provide programs, events, and scholarships that cater to K-12 girls.

“Many girls, particularly diverse young ladies, not only receive a message that they aren’t good at math and science, they also do not have an opportunity to see STEM professionals that look like them or with whom they share common experiences. So STEM is never presented in a way that intrigues or inspires them to pursue it,” said Angela B. Freeman, President of Women & Hi Tech.

“This same dilemma is perpetuated in rural communities where there are also limited opportunities, for boys and girls alike, to be exposed to the breadth of STEM careers and female STEM professionals that are available. For many of the attendees, IYS is also the first time they have ever set foot on a college campus or been exposed to what is required to go to college. It’s a very empowering and inspiring day for us all,” Angela noted.

During IYS, groups of students were teamed with one or more of the 50 teachers and chaperones and over 150 volunteer "Superheroes" from the Indianapolis STEM community. These adults led the students through the exhibits and activities, providing the students with time to explore interactive presentations, watch live demos, eat lunch, and work with some of the coolest tools and gadgets available in STEM.

“With our K-12 outreach we are trying to reach every corner of Indiana and make diverse students aware of the opportunities in STEM,” said Amanda McCammon, Women & Hi-Tech’s K-12 Outreach Director. “That means calling on our local STEM community partners to serve as exhibitors and presenters to help us inspire the talent of the future to stay focused and interested in STEM, and ideally to stay in Indiana.”

Ignite Your Superpower is an annual event achieved with the support of a coalition of community partners. Women & Hi Tech is very grateful for all of our friends and allies that continually and loyally support our mission by inspiring the next generation of STEM innovators through programs like IYS.

Pictures from the 2019 event are available online at: https://womenandhitech.org/2019-Ignite-Your-Superpower

For more information about IYS, please contact us at WHTInfo@Womenandhitech.org

About Women & Hi Tech
Women & Hi Tech exists to change the landscape of women represented in STEM to be equally inclusive to all. To achieve our goal, we work to advance, promote, support, recognize, and connect female STEM professionals in our community in Indiana.

¹Choney, Suzanne  (2018, March 13). Why do girls lose interest in STEM? New research has some answers — and what we can do about it https://news.microsoft.com/features/why-do-girls-lose-interest-in-stem-new-research-has-some-answers-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/

Dear Women & Hi Tech Members, Sponsors, Partners, and Friends:

With the close of August and the dawn of fall comes a long Labor Day weekend, and the final flickers and glows of the spotlight we have had shining on The Women & Hi Tech 20th Anniversary Celebration throughout this year. Proclaimed to be “Women & Hi Tech Day” and “Women in STEM Day” in the city of Indianapolis and the state of Indiana, respectively, on August 16, 2019, Women & Hi Tech celebrated its 20th year of successfully effecting change to advance women in STEM in Indiana with the theme of "Celebrating Our Past and Investing in Our Future." Women & Hi Tech was also presented with an entry made into the U.S. House of Representatives Congressional Record, our nation’s history, to honor the 20th Anniversary of Women & Hi Tech by Congresswoman Susan Brooks of Indiana's 5th District.

To "Celebrate Our Past” at the event, the co-founders and the founding member were honored with awards, while all past and present board members were recognized. To “Invest in Our Future,” the organization exceeded its goal of awarding $20,000 in scholarships and grants via its #WHT20for20 campaign, and with the help of key partners, Women & Hi Tech awarded over $30,000 to 17 deserving and diverse women and girls pursuing STEM fields in Indiana. The evening was capped by dancing and music from the band, Liquid Groove, along with custom 20th Anniversary and STEM cupcakes, a candy table, and live 20th Anniversary “Grown from STEM” plant party favors. Click here to see photographs by Faith Blackwell Photography of The Women & Hi Tech 20th Anniversary Celebration - a truly historic occasion.

As a final conclusion of our theme “Celebrating Our Past” in honor of our 20th Anniversary and to continue to highlight so many women who have provided significant contributions to this organization through their service on the Board of Directors (as shown to left), Women & Hi Tech would like to focus on our women in science. More specifically, this month, we are featuring women of our past and present board who are biologists, chemists, geneticists, neuroscientists, meteorologists, physicists, and more. As a former molecular biologist turned patent attorney, I am particularly excited about this feature since I know and represent so many female scientific practitioners in academia and industry, including both of these ladies with whom I worked at Eli Lilly & Co.

In this eighth edition of “Grown from STEM,” Women & Hi Tech would like to show special appreciation to co-founder, Past President, and the “passion behind the progress,” Joyce Gustafson. By training, Joyce is a biologist who now directs business processes, strategies, and quality control within the life sciences industry. Networking Director for Women & Hi Tech, Maria Alvim-Gaston, Ph.D., is a pharmacist, an organic chemist, and now a pharmaceutical chemist. Please read more about Joyce and Maria and how their STEM backgrounds, business acumen, and passion for helping other women drives their support and involvement in Women & Hi Tech.

Sincerely,

Angela B. Freeman, M.S., J.D.
Women & Hi Tech President
President@womenandhitech.org

If there is one word that you could use to describe Maria Alvim-Gaston, it’s passionate. She has passion for her work as a pharmaceutical chemist, but even more for the work she does to help young women get into a STEM field. Right now, Alvim-Gaston is in her second year as the Networking Director for Women & Hi Tech, but her journey to this position started when she was a child.

Raised in Brazil, she knew that she wanted to be a pharmacist, but that had different connotations where she grew up. “In the culture that I am from, as a woman, my father and my family had some ideas of what they wanted me to be. They thought a pharmacist was just someone that worked behind the counter at a drugstore. I had to break a lot of barriers to educate my parents because they weren't educated, they didn't go to college.” Alvim-Gaston’s parents worked at a manufacturing plant and strove to give each of their children a better life through college education. “But there was still this stigma growing up in Latin communities that there are jobs for girls and there are jobs for boys.”

This perspective didn’t stop her though. In fact, it motivated her to help change the landscape for women who wanted to pursue careers in the STEM field. “I wanted to make sure that the new generations to come don't go through that. There is no such thing as a ‘girl’ job and a ‘boy’ job–there are just jobs. Whatever you're passionate about and you have a talent for it, you should do it independent of your gender, ethnicity, or background.”

Alvim-Gaston had a drive to succeed as a woman in the STEM field that followed her throughout her education at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, where she received a BS in Pharmacy and a degree in Industrial Pharmacy and eventually a Masters in Organic Chemistry. She continued to University of Mississippi where she was part of the Medicinal Chemistry PhD program. The completion of that program brought her to Eli Lilly in Indianapolis where she has worked in Computational Chemistry and Operations Discovery. She is now the Principal Research Scientist in the External Innovation group, where she lends her scientific expertise to expand access of scientific discoveries to scientists working outside of the pharmaceutical industry.

It was during her time in Discovery Operations at Eli Lilly that she met Joyce Gustafson, co-founder of Women & Hi Tech. Joyce introduced her to Women & Hi Tech, so that she was able to really focus her passion for gender equality in the STEM field. “Joyce was part of my group. We were colleagues and Joyce invited me to some of the Women & Hi Tech events. I liked the STEM field and I liked to volunteer to give back to the community–especially to help minorities. I wanted to see more Latino women get involved and see that it's okay to be in STEM. That is my main passion and motivates me to give back.” Before becoming a board member, Alvim-Gaston spent five years volunteering for the organization, where she spent a lot of time mentoring young women.

Through that time as a volunteer, she noticed the dedication of those who volunteered beside her. “I realized that organizations like Women & Hi Tech do important work because devoted full-time employees, full-time mothers, and full-time academics find time to make other generations understand the importance of STEM. Groups like Women & Hi Tech help young women reach the same levels of success as the women they meet at our events and see as role models. This is done through scholarships, through mentorships, through leading by example in order to give back to younger generations.”

After seeing how much the organization impacted the lives of others, she took on the role of networking director. As the networking director, Alvin-Gaston realized something very quickly, “For an organization to be powerful, have members, and make an impact, you need to make sure that the members are engaged. As networking director, I am able to bring in others and create opportunities for women to interact with other women in STEM. Sometimes, if you are an engineer, you are with engineers. If you are a scientist, you are with other scientists. So, networking gives people the opportunity to bring different parts of STEM together. Once you create those opportunities you can then bring in young talent to be part of it. We don't want an organization full of one generation.”

Age isn’t the only thing she is concerned with, as diversity within the organization is also important to her. “We bring in a diverse group of people. We try to reach out to Latinos, African-Americans, Asian Americans, etc.… in order to expand opportunities in STEM to these communities. As networking director, I wanted to use my background to focus on creating more diversity and make the organization reflect the community that we live in.”

Alvim-Gaston remains optimistic and looks forward to continuing to work with Women & Hi Tech as the organization sets its sights on even newer generations and older ones as well. “We are trying to reach kids from kindergarten through STEM days at Connor Prairie. We provide scholarships for women to go back to school in order to create career opportunities , not just for young people, but also for women who are already in science but need a certification to further their careers. We mentor these people to help them navigate the STEM field, because we have already been through that.”

Through her vast experience in STEM and passion to invoke change, Alvim-Gaston knows the importance of continuing to see more women succeed in STEM while making strides towards more diversity within the Indianapolis community. “The goal of our organization is to empower women to reach the highest positions within the STEM field. We are, through our work at Women & Hi Tech, changing the landscape of Indiana one woman at a time.”

LinkedIn Profile

Joyce Gustafson has a lot of experience being a woman in a STEM field. In her current role for the Jackson Laboratory as the Director of Process Development and Improvement on the East Coast, Gustafson helps ensure that laboratories around the world get the testing components they need so that they can fight diseases. To achieve this role, she originally trained as a cellular biologist and then moved into recruiting with a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt at Eli Lilly.

Throughout her career there has been one organization that has really helped her grow as a professional woman working in the sciences. “Being involved in this organization helped me feel confident in my leadership abilities so that I could create, grow, and lead an organization that would be successful. It gave me the confidence to pursue those types of leadership opportunities in my professional career and hopefully it’s done the same for others.”

The organization that she is talking about is Women & Hi Tech, and she knows a lot about the impact it has made on not only herself but the Indianapolis community at large, because she is one of two co-founders of the organization.

The foundation of Women & Hi Tech was laid when Gustafson struck up a conversation with Georgia Miller in 1994, while Gustafson worked for Eli Lilly. “Georgia and I met at a local conference in Indianapolis about Business Development. We were trying to develop more of a culture for tech companies to come to Indianapolis.” They knew that if Indianapolis wanted to become a tech hub, that the companies that already existed needed to think a lot about diversity. “There's this huge room with lots of people and only a handful of women and very little representation outside of middle-aged white guys.”

Miller and Gustafson bonded over their shared experiences of what it’s been like to be a woman working in STEM. However, this conversation never stopped but grew into what we know as Women & Hi Tech today. But it didn’t happen all in one day. In fact, the organization sprang from humble beginnings. “I knew quite a few women who felt the same way, so we just started to bring women together to say, ‘Hey is there room for an organization for professional women in the Sciences and Technology?’” The answer to that question was a resounding yes.

As they started this endeavor, they found that there was a welcome place for it within the Indianapolis community. Gustafson elaborated, “Not only were we accepted, we had a lot of interest from the start. I think that the time was right for quite a few companies who came on board fairly early. They saw the importance and the need to get more women involved and interested in STEM careers as we started out.”

As they dove in, they discovered that the lack of involvement of women in STEM was no coincidence. It was actually deeply rooted in the culture and affected girls at a very young age. “We realized that our recruiting process shouldn’t stop at women who are currently in the field. We needed to go back as far as we could by getting young girls interested in math and science.”

Gustafson saw a way to not only get these young girls interested in STEM but inspire them as well. “One of the studies show that one of the main reasons that girls weren’t getting into STEM was that they didn't have role models. They didn't see women in anything except for traditional careers. If you looked at the media and even in the schools, there wasn’t a lot of exposure to women who were in science or technology.” This was why it was important for Gustafson to start recruiting the people who would be the mentors for the next generation. But, this proved to be a bit more difficult than she thought.

“Recruitment was kind of difficult because women weren't staying around in careers where they felt like they had very limited opportunities for advancement. Our goal was also to make companies aware that they were missing out on talented employees by excluding 50% of the population.” She has seen more women take on leadership roles at many major companies in the area. A lot of these same women take time out of their day to help at Women & Hi Tech.

Gustafson has been thrilled to see the number of talented women who have stepped up to fill key roles within Women & Hi Tech, “One of the things that gives me the greatest degree of satisfaction about what we’ve done is that it's 20 years later and the organization is still there and to realize how many incredibly talented women have stepped up taking a role.” Gustafson knows that each one of these women are making a big impact, which comes with the sacrifice of their own precious time and energy which is, as she puts it, “amazing.”

When asked what she wanted to see happen with the organization in the next 20 years Gustafson hopes that true equality can be achieved and that there won’t be the need for organizations like Women & Hi Tech at all. However, Gustafson recognizes that this is still something we need to fight for. In the meantime, “I would just like to see the organization grow and continue to support women at every stage of their STEM journey–whether they're in grade school, graduate school, entering their first job, moving to their first leadership position, or running their own company.” Thanks to the efforts of Joyce and her fellow co-founder, charter members, and founding members, girls and women have the opportunity to start on all those paths when they get involved with Women & Hi Tech.

LinkedIn Profile

The Women & Hi Tech 20th Anniversary Celebration was held on August 16, 2019 at The Willows on Westfield. The organization celebrated its 20th year of successfully effecting change to advance women in STEM in Indiana, with the theme of "Celebrating Our Past and Investing in Our Future."

Darlene Quashie Henry, Associate General Counsel and Head of Securities and Corporate Transactions, Legal at Elanco Animal Health opened the evening by welcoming all to celebrate the history and legacy of Women & Hi Tech.

Next, Angela B. Freeman, President of Women & Hi Tech, also welcomed the sold-out crowd to the celebration. "Tonight, is a very special evening where we are 'Celebrating our Past and Investing in our Future'," stated Angela. "We will be recognizing our founders, charter members, and founding members who planted a seed in Indianapolis two decades ago to elevate women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math or STEM fields. That seed has continued to be cultivated by our Women & Hi Tech Boards of Directors, sponsors, and members over the past 20 years. This nurturing has 'grown from STEM' one of the most influential non-profit organizations in Indiana for uplifting and advancing professional women and encouraging young girls to pursue their passions and opportunities in STEM."

The evening featured a video vignette showcasing the 20-year history of the organization, including a look at technology from 1999; Women & Hi Tech's Spotlight awards, which has evolved into the highly prestigious Leading Light Awards; and the organizations extremely popular Passport to Hi-Tech and Ignite Your Superpower (IYS) STEM days.

Women & Hi Tech was presented with several honors during the celebration to commemorate it's 20 years of helping women in Indiana claim their share of STEM opportunities.

To honor the past 20 years and the receipt of the amazing honors from our city, state, and federal government, Dr. Allison Barber, President and COO of the Indiana Fever, then led the crowd in a two-part champagne toast acknowledging standard gifts to celebrate a 20th Anniversary, such as platinum, representing strength and endurance, and emerald, representing vitality of spirit. “Cheers to Women & Hi Tech, an organization that is strong and enduring and has vitality of spirit,” exclaimed Dr. Barber.

In "Celebrating our Past," Women & Hi Tech presented Founders awards to Georgia Miller and Joyce Gustafson for having the wherewithal to establish a network of like-minded and similarly positioned women. That network has ‘grown from STEM’ over the last 20 years to what Women & Hi Tech is today, an organization comprising of almost 2000 members, 50 sponsors, and multiple partners. Georgia was present to accept the award, while Women & Hi Tech President, Angela B. Freeman, accepted the award on Joyce Gustafson's behalf. Jo Basey was also recognized as the organization’s first treasurer and most senior emeritus board member. Notably, Jo is the only founding member that has remained involved with the organization over its full 20 year history.

"Investing in our Future" is a Women & Hi Tech tradition. The organization exceeded its goal of awarding $20,000 in scholarships and grants, and with the help of key partners (i.e., SIM Indy, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Pondurance, CDM Smith, and Startup Ladies), awarded over $30,000 to women and girls pursuing STEM fields in Indiana to 17 recipients as follows.

Women & Hi Tech Scholarship & Grant Recipients

(1) $2,000 Women & Hi Tech Undergraduate Scholarship

(1) $2,000 Women & Hi Tech Graduate Scholarship

(1) $2,000 Women & Hi Tech Undergraduate Scholarship

(2) $2,000 Women & Hi Tech Professional Development Grants

(1) $2,500 Women & Hi Tech Graduate Scholarship

(1) $2,500 Women & Hi Tech Undergraduate Scholarship

(1) $5,000 Women & Hi Tech Graduate or Undergraduate Scholarship - Dual winners awarded $2,500 each

Women & Hi Tech Partner Scholarship & Grant Recipients

(1) $2500 SIM Indy/Women & Hi Tech Undergraduate Scholarship

*Madelyn Sturgeon, University of Southern Indiana, Civil Engineering

(1) $2500 SIM Indy/Women & Hi Tech Graduate Scholarship

(1) $2500 SIM Indy/Women & Hi Tech Undergraduate Scholarship

(1) $2000 Barnes & Thornburg/Women & Hi Tech Patent or Corporate Law Scholarship

(1) $1000 Pondurance/Women & Hi Tech Cybersecurity Scholarship

(1) $1000 CDM Smith/Women & Hi Tech Civil Engineering Scholarship

(2) Startup Ladies Memberships for Entrepreneurship (valued at $600 each)

About Women & Hi Tech

Women & Hi Tech exists to change the landscape of women represented in STEM to be equally inclusive to all. To achieve our goal, we work to advance, promote, support, recognize, and connect female STEM professionals in our community in Indiana. 

Contact
Women & Hi Tech
133 West Market Street, #220
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2801
WHTInfo@womenandhitech.org

Dear Women & Hi Tech Members, Sponsors, Partners, and Friends:

Welcome to a new year of Women & Hi Tech, as we continue our mission of promoting, supporting, and recognizing women in STEM in Indiana! As many of you know, 2019 represents Women & Hi Tech’s 20th year as a non-profit organization successfully effecting change to advance women in STEM in Indiana. Founded in 1999, Women & Hi Tech exists to change the landscape of women represented in STEM to be equally inclusive to all.

In honor of our 20th Anniversary, our signature programs and events throughout this year have focused on our theme of "Celebrating our Past and Investing in our Future.” In fact, this very newsletter was launched earlier this year to “celebrate our past,” and recognize so many of the talented female leaders that drive Women & Hi Tech as the all-volunteer working Board of Directors and Emeritus members. We have also strived to highlight a broad spectrum of leadership opportunities, careers, and industries within which women with STEM expertise in Indiana may excel.

In further recognition of our 20th Anniversary, Women & Hi Tech pledged to “invest in our future” STEM leaders by providing $20,000 of scholarships and grants to women and girls pursuing STEM in Indiana (#WHT20for20). We exceeded that goal and will be awarding over $30,000 of scholarships and grants to women in Indiana who plan to remain in Indiana! We are simply thrilled and excited to provide this level of impact to our statewide STEM community, and thank you all for supporting our efforts. These scholarships and grants will be presented to the outstanding award recipients at The Women & Hi Tech 20th Anniversary Celebration Event, Friday, August 16, 2019 from 6-11pm at The Willows on Westfield (6729 Westfield Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46220). Ticket Information Here.

In recognizing past and future female STEM leadership in Indiana, we would be remiss to not highlight present leaders that champion networking and mentorship for the advancement of women in STEM. Notably, the Harvard Business Review recently released an article titled “Women Need a Different Kind of Network Than Men Do.” The article was based on “Research: Men and Women Need Different Kinds of Networks to Succeed ” (Uzzi, Harvard Business Review, 2019) and “A Network’s Gender Composition and Communication Pattern Predict Women’s Leadership Success” (Yang et al., PNAS, 2019). The article states that “[w]omen in the top quartile of centrality who had a female-dominated inner circle found jobs that were 2.5 times as high in authority and pay as those found by peers who lacked that combination…” Id. The article further emphasizes the importance of professional organizations, such as Women & Hi Tech, to help women develop quality networks with limited interconnectivity as necessary to identify and successfully pursue career leadership opportunities.

In this seventh edition of “Grown from STEM,” Women & Hi Tech recognizes two female STEM experts in senior leadership roles at prominent local corporations. Gail Farnsley is a Board Emeritus and Past President of Women & Hi Tech, and is the Vice President and Executive Partner at Gartner. Karen Harris is the Volunteers Director of Women & Hi Tech, as well as the Vice President and Information Officer of Manufacturing and Quality at Eli Lilly & Company. Please read more about Gail and Karen and how their technical expertise, business acumen, and leadership skills focused on mentoring, networking, and inclusion have contributed to successful business outcomes and thriving corporate cultures.

Sincerely,

Angela B. Freeman
Women & Hi Tech President
President@womenandhitech.org