Meet the 2022 STEMMy Award Honorees

FROM HER NOMINATORS:

“Amanda Pierce is deserving of the WiSTEMM Student Achiever award because she is a model of upcoming, female leadership in the field of environmental sciences. She is passionate about the science of planetary change, articulate, intelligent, and enthusiastic about being a scientist and researcher that impacts future generations.”

AMANDA IN THREE WORDS:

Dynamic. Determined. Committed.

FROM HER NOMINATORS:

“Not only is Zdenka Guadarrama a great professor and an innovative leader who has transformed how math is taught at Rockhurst University, but she has taken her passion to the wider community in what she calls Mathapalooza under her program umbrella of Math through Play for the last 10 years.  She is a STEMM force to be reckoned with!”

ZDENKA IN THREE WORDS:

Passionate. Adventurous. Creative.

FROM HER NOMINATORS:

“As an epidemiologist teaching during the pandemic, Dr. Frances Yang is able to engage students in learning concepts that are directly relevant and applicable in their areas of interest and work. Her flexibility and translational pedagogy is what sets her apart and above other faculty. She is very passionate about teaching and research with groundbreaking publications and a textbook on developing valid health measures.”

FRANCES IN THREE WORDS:

Passionate. Productive. Humble.

FROM THEIR NOMINATORS:

“Catalent is a STEMM company with a location in Kansas City that employs 50% women, which is very unusual for a STEMM organization. Throughout Catalent you will see women within all levels of leadership in KC and there are women in higher executive levels within the company as a whole. Catalent recognizes women are essential to the diversity of their workforce and works to develop and retain female talent. One way they do this is through the Catalent Women’s Network, CWN. The CWN is the oldest Employee Resource Group, within Catalent and operates at the global and local level. The CWN’s mission is to provide a meaningful forum and resource for the promotion of Catalent women through three key pillars: Connection, Sponsorship, and Growth.”

FROM HER NOMINATORS:

“The vision of Top Rail began with Kellie Bartley’s desire to create jobs that hard working people could have until they retire, and is the driving force behind her leadership and the company’s success. Creating Long-Term Sustainable Jobs For Our People By Continually Finding The “YES” For Our Customers. Kellie has been in the male dominated industry for 30 years now and believes woman are still an untapped strength that can shape the rail industry by influencing more and more woman to take part.”

KELLIE IN THREE WORDS:

Aware. Ambitious. Compassionate.

FROM HER NOMINATORS:

“Karen Dietze is a rising leader within Black & Veatch, the water industry, and the Kansas City community. She has sought opportunities to promote the inclusion and advancement of girls in STEMM through collaboration with the Girls Scouts of Greater Kansas City and Explorer’s Post. Through her work with the Missouri Section of AWWA, she improved access to educational opportunities for water and wastewater operators across the state. In her career at Black & Veatch, she has led initiatives focused on promoting a healthier work-life balance, improving access to career advancement opportunities, and enhancing business tools.”

KAREN IN THREE WORDS:

Dedicated. Leader. Passionate.

FROM HER NOMINATORS:

“Pooja Shah is an emerging leader in the energy industry – a new kind of leader that is creative, collaborative, compassionate and competent. It is difficult to “briefly” summarize everything that Pooja has achieved so far and the impact she’s made in the community, relatively early in her career. She is one of those people who wakes up every day with a purpose and drive to make a difference. Pooja is a powerhouse in her field. In everything that she does, she takes an immense amount of pride in her work, and dedicates 100% of her energy to whatever she is working on.”

POOJA IN THREE WORDS:

Brilliant. Inspiring. Empathetic.

FROM HER NOMINATORS:

“Dr. Pamela Tran is an outstanding faculty member who embodies the criteria of the Rising Trendsetter award having achieved success as a scientist and educator at KUSOM with significant contributions to the local and national community in the STEMM field. Dr. Tran is a nationally renowned scientist working on molecular and cell biological approaches to polycystic kidney disease, a devastating chronic health problem. In addition to her impactful research, she is committed to excellence in the training of graduate students in the PhD program and teaching medical students in a variety of educational venues.”

PAMELA IN THREE WORDS:

Innovative. Committed. Mentor.

FROM HER NOMINATORS:

“Tiffany Coleman has demonstrated throughout her career of more than 25 years that she is a strong female groundbreaking leader in a male-dominated engineering industry. After graduating from the United States Merchant Marine Academy she served as a Navy Officer responsible for the Chemistry and Radiological Controls of two reactors aboard the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). Since joining Black & Veatch in 2007, Tiffany has progressed through multiple leadership roles, most recently taking on a dual role as the global Resource Optimization and Administrative Services Leader responsible for the entire company workforce planning as well as serving as the Government & Environment Sector Operations & Project Services leader.”

TIFFANY IN THREE WORDS:

Brilliant. Courageous. Collaborator.

FROM HER NOMINATORS:

“Elise Kirchhofer’s leadership has been fundamental in driving innovation and success within the architecture, design and engineering firm, Hoefer Welker. As a Partner and Chief Operations Officer, Elise oversees strategy for the company and spearheads their educational and business development initiatives. Backed by a long history of industry experience, Elise brings technical expertise and a passion for mentorship to her leadership roles, driving educational and professional development initiatives within the company.”

ELISE IN THREE WORDS:

Empowering. Authentic. Strategic.

FROM HER NOMINATORS:

“Anita Ranhotra’s contributions to the success of Hallmark over her 20 years are numerous and in her current role she has led the justification and building of our newest facility. With all her professional success I believe that the work she does within our engineering recruitment and internship programs brings even more value. Her passion for coaching, mentoring, and engaging our STEMM professionals plays a key role in our recruiting and retention success.”

ANITA IN THREE WORDS:

Passionate. Intentional. Driven.

FROM HER NOMINATORS:

“Sharita Lurks is one of three African American female project controls specialist at Burns & McDonnell, a company of 10,000 employees, and she most senior of the three women. She is the only African American female who as served in the role as a project controls specialist team lead for 3 offices, Kansas City, Chicago and Atlanta. Because of Sharita’s experience she is committed to exposing young women to those supporting engineering roles and positions.”

SHARITA IN THREE WORDS:

Innovative. Convergent Thinker. Analytical.

FROM HER NOMINATORS:

“Fiona Nowling has been a leader at every company she has worked for in more than 20 years, establishing equity for women in STEMM. Starting from an experience at British Telecom, where she found women computer programmers were paid less than male computer programmers by actual written policy, she protested and was instrumental in forcing cultural change. She has since sat on and led advisory boards, employee resource groups, and peer-to-peer counseling in the corporate world to bring equity and positive change.”

FIONA IN THREE WORDS:

Courageous. Innovative. Kind.