Fostering More Women in STEM. Let’s Get Involved! 

Nvolve Newsletter Issue 2

Building Mentor-Mentee Relationships

By Tolu Okegbenro

At Nvolve, we value the intimate connections formed between mentors and scholars. One of our treasured mentors, Dr. Siobhan Day Grady, holds a PhD in Computer Science from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (she became the first woman to achieve this honor at NCAT). In an interview, she cited learning as a “lifelong process” as technology is constantly evolving and new advancements are created. Currently, Dr. Grady serves as an assistant professor of Information Science at NCCU.

Dr. Grady steps into every mentorship role with an open mind and heart to adequately pour wisdom into her mentees. Mentoring others has taught her that it is a collaborative effort and partnership where she is given a chance to share her experiences and act as a tool of guidance. Although she has acted as a mentor in various capacities prior to Nvolve, she has fostered a special bond with one of our scholars, Devan Stoeling.

Devan is a Junior at Spelman College pursuing a B.S. in Health Science (Pre-Med track). Devan first heard of Nvolve through a friend and decided to apply to gain support in seeking professional opportunities. During her scout for a mentor, she wanted someone that was inspirational, reliable, empathetic, and work driven: all of which fit the description of Dr. Grady. When they had their first conversation, it was established that they were the perfect match.

Through their mentorship, Devan earned her first internship at the Computational Biomedical Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates at the University of Iowa. Despite being out of her comfort zone, Dr. Grady speaking confidence into Devan motivated her to finish strongly.

Aside from their academic and professional interactions, Dr. Grady and Devan have real-life conversations. They both agreed that this has allowed their relationship to grow on a more personal level outside of Nvolve, something especially important to maintaining a comfortable mentor-mentee relationship.

While there are many aspects that contribute to the overall success of our scholars, companionship is a cornerstone of mentoring relationships in our program.

Nvolve Welcomes New Board Member

By Ashley Pattammady

Meet Maggie Rougier-Chapman! Maggie is an accomplished commercial executive for diagnostics and genomics companies. Her passion for STEM is rooted back in her high school biology class, which inspired her career to advance human health through unlocking information from the human genome. Throughout Maggie’s career, she has benefitted from the wise words and expertise of personal mentors and coaches. These relationships influenced her to be available whenever possible to share her talent and time by fostering students and young professionals to succeed in their desired careers. True to her words, Maggie joined Nvolve in August ‘21 as a mentor for young women in STEM. Nvolve has aligned not only with her core values in giving back to the community but also with her mission to advocate for young women to succeed in STEM. In addition to being a mentor, Maggie has joined Nvolve’s Board of Directors and hopes to expand the organization's network and resources to support more high achieving young women.

Life is Full Circle: Motivation to Mentor

By Jenna Mehls

Jeneé Schrule joined Nvolve in August 2021 to be a mentor in someone else’s life, just as her role model did for her. She heard about Nvolve in her workplace and decided to apply for the mentor position to share her knowledge and guidance. After the background checks, meetings, and information packets, she finally became a mentor with Nvolve and met me, her mentee! We have built a strong relationship, and I am so lucky and proud to have Jeneé as my mentor. I am grateful for the advice and wisdom that she shares with me. We had many months of biweekly calls for our mentoring sessions when Nvolve began a fundraiser. Jeneé immediately sent our mentor-mentee story to her contacts on all platforms to support the initiatives of Nvolve and me. She very quickly raised almost $2000 in donations for Nvolve! Her passion for Nvolve and her care for my future drove her desire to raise this money which greatly benefited all of us Nvolve scholars. Jeneé has such a kind heart, and she left me with this quote, “If I can help someone or make a difference, then I will do it. Life is full circle.”

TechTok: A STEM Micropodcast

By Najmah Abdur-Rahman

When presented with the opportunity to create a STEM micro-podcast for Nvolve, I was ecstatic about the idea. Listening to podcasts is my favorite hobby, and I have always wanted to try creating my own. I am also deeply passionate about STEM and knew from an early age that I wanted to have a career as an engineer. My fascination for engineering evolves as I continue to gain unique experiences and exposure to different sub-fields of engineering. Recently, I gained a new interest in mechanical engineering, as I love the design, analysis, and math involved in the field. This technical project was then a perfect chance to further explore my new interest while also practicing my management skills, as I created and produced this podcast on my own. When planning out my podcast, I broke the project into smaller steps: brainstorm, plan episodes, research, record, and edit. Throughout those steps, I had multiple check-ins with Dr. Hermioni Zouridis, the technical project advisor, who gave me great advice on my podcast topic ideas. I settled on a podcast exploring emerging technology around the world and researched innovations that greatly impacted the economy of culturally rich countries. Reflecting on my podcast episodes, I gained an appreciation and respect for others who create podcasts. I realized a lot of time and effort goes into planning and writing a script! Plus, technical difficulties are bound to happen, but you must be patient and push through those obstacles. Overall, it was a pleasure creating my podcast, and I cannot wait to add more episodes soon!