Meet The Graduate

Read what Anne Bezwada has to say

After enduring many sleepless nights of studying, I graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, in May 2023 with a degree in Information Science. Next I plan to pursue my Master’s degree in Data Science.  

I joined the Nvolve program in January 2022. I was so excited to be part of a community where women can learn important skills, such as answering interview questions and speaking up for themselves. As a woman of color, I was excited to discover a program where women of all different backgrounds, all pursuing STEM programs in college, can join together and learn from each other.  

I am so grateful for Nvolve because it led me to my ultimate career goal. During my time at Nvolve, I created a dashboard using a visualization tool called Tableau. I was able to illustrate the relationship between Covid-19 cases and mental health illnesses on a dashboard called “Effect of Covid-19 on Mental Health and Substance Abuse by Race/Ethnicity”. This project ignited my interest in data analysis, data visualization, and data science, which led me to change my career path and pursue a career in data science after graduation. I struggled a lot with this project, but the struggle only made me push harder to complete it. I am grateful for the workshops on Tableau held by Hermioni Zouridis. I believe that having experience with Tableau and having complex projects in my portfolio give me an edge that other students may not have.  

Over the last year and a half, my mentor Evelyn and I have bonded and developed a close relationship. She helped me reflect on my professional goals and figure out how to pursue them. She also provided great advice that I know I will carry with me for the rest of my career.  

As I finish my time at Nvolve, my best advice to those in STEM is to not compare your timeline to others and know that you will end up where you need to be.  

Meet the Mentor: Evelyn Osmond

I’m the Vice President of the Customer Learning Experience team for Deltek, a global technology company based in Herndon, VA. I chair the Women@Deltek employee resource group, dedicated to promoting opportunity and equity for our women employees, and serve on the company’s Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council. 

My participation in Nvolve grew naturally from my commitment to helping women develop their careers, especially in fields that are traditionally male dominated. I have many years of experience as a leader in the software development world, where I’ve often been the only woman at the table. 

I feel at home with Nvolve because many of the program’s participants are first-generation college students, immigrants to the US, non-traditional students, or have economic challenges. I’m a first-generation college grad from a working-class family myself, so I understand what it’s like to not have the inside track, or even the vocabulary, that others take for granted. 

My primary role at Nvolve is to mentor one college student at a time, through graduation. I’m delighted that my most recent mentee, Anne Bezwada, has earned her Bachelor’s degree in Information Sciences from the University of Maryland. Her next stop is a Master’s program in Data Science.  

Anne has taken advantage of all that Nvolve offers – from opportunities to work on challenging technical projects to practice interviewing for jobs. Her career goals have changed and sharpened as a direct result of her experiences in Nvolve, particularly her exposure to data analytics and visualization. 

Personally, I’ve very much appreciated Anne’s work ethic, sense of humor, and openness to new experiences. We’ve had a lot of fun together and I hope we stay connected in the future.