Texas Stand Up For STEM Awards

TxGCP annually awards the Stand Up for STEM Awards to recognize and elevate the work of incredible mentors, companies and organizations within Texas. Award nominations have closed for this year. Awardees and nominees are recognized during the TxGCP Texas Women and Girls in STEM Summit. The nomination period is September 1 through September 30.


Texas Girls Collaborative Project Announces 2023 “Stand Up for STEM” Award Winners

The awards recognize individuals and organizations in Texas advancing women and girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

 AUSTIN, TX, November 30, 2023 - The Texas Girls Collaborative Project announces the 2023 Stand Up for STEM Awards that recognize and elevate the work of incredible individuals and organizations in Texas advancing women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

 The 2023 Stand Up for STEM High School Individual Awards are presented to:
·       Zoe Chandler, High School Junior, Midlothian Heritage High School, Midlothian ISD, Midlothian, TX
·       Julianna Hernandez, High School Senior, Austin Achieve, Austin, TX
·       Leah Lukose, High School Junior, St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School, Austin, TX
·       Chinualumogu Nwosu, High School Junior, Bridgeland High School, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Cypress, TX
·       Amarachi Uche Eboh, High School Junior, Talkington School for Young Women Leaders, Lubbock ISD, Lubbock, TX

The 2023 Stand Up for STEM High School Organization Award is presented to:
·       The STEMinist Collaborative Project, Harmony School of Innovation – Waco, Waco, TX

The 2023 Stand Up for STEM Collegiate Award is presented to:
·       Association for Women in Mathematics – UT Chapter, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

The 2023 Stand Up for STEM Mentor Awards are presented to:
·       Kara Branch, Founder and CEO, Black Girls Do Engineer Corporation
·       Alyson Freeman, Global Lead, Women in Action, Dell Technologies

The 2023 Stand Up for STEM Educator Awards are presented to:
·       Amanda Chacon, Librarian/STEM Mentor, Sheldon ISD, Houston, TX
·       Tiffani Cortez, Engineering Teacher, Harmony School of Innovation – Waco, Waco, TX
·       Cynthia Hopkins, Kaffie Middle School, Corpus Christi ISD, Corpus Christi, TX
·       Jenn Makins, Executive Director of the STEM Center of Excellence at Camp Whispering Cedars, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, Dallas, TX
·       Cynthia Nyvall, Curriculum Specialist II, Texas Education Agency Region 7 Education Service Center, Kilgore, TX

The 2023 Stand Up for STEM Educational Organization Award is presented to:
·       Austin Urban Technology Movement

The 2023 Stand Up for STEM Corporate Award is presented to:
·       Applied Materials

The awards will be presented on Friday, December 1, 2023, at the 7th annual Texas Women and Girls in STEM Summit hosted virtually by the Texas Girls Collaborative Project. The video of the awards recognition can be found on YouTube. 

About the Texas Girls Collaborative Project:
The Texas Girls Collaborative Project (TxGCP) is a statewide network of advocates and educators from non-profits, K-12 schools, universities and colleges, and companies across Texas and beyond who are committed to motivating and supporting women and girls to pursue and thrive in careers in STEM. TxGCP leads the annual Texas Women & Girls in STEM Summit, disseminates curriculum and effective practices, and supports a network of collaborators, resource sharing and STEM communications throughout the state. TxGCP is a state collaborative of the National Girls Collaborative Project. 

Contact:
Tricia Berry
Collaborative Lead, Texas Girls Collaborative Project, www.txgcp.org
CEO, STEMwise Connections, https://stemwiseconnections.com/



Stand Up for STEM Award Categories

Categories are below. Click on each category to see nomination requirements. All nominees must reside in Texas. Previous awardees are not eligible to be nominated within the same category until 5 years post-award.

Stand Up for STEM Mentor Award for a STEM Professional engaged in mentoring women and/or girls in STEM

Nominees for the Mentor category shall possess the following attributes:

  • Demonstrated passion for encouraging girls and women to pursue a STEM career.
  • Develops others via formal and informal mentoring relationships, invests self in the success of the mentee. Possesses the knowledge, compassion, and attributes of a teacher/ trainer/ coach. Ability to provide constructive feedback to empowers mentees to develop their own strengths, beliefs, and person attributes to find success in their chosen profession.
  • Demonstrates willingness to share skills, knowledge, and expertise with others and develops networks.
  • Inspires others as role models with a STEM degree or profession by showing what it takes to succeed in their chosen profession.

Stand Up for STEM Educator Award for a STEM Educator engaged in mentoring women and/or girls in STEM

Nominations for the Educator category recognize individual educators or educational teams from K-12 schools, preK schools or non-profits, educational non-profits and similar organizations. Nominees shall demonstrate a commitment to engaging STEM mentors and role models in programs encouraging women and girls to pursue STEM careers, increasing the diversity of those pursuing STEM careers, and retaining women and girls who enter the STEM education pipeline. Nominees should possess many or all of the following attributes:

  • Demonstrated passion for encouraging girls to pursue a STEM career.
  • Educates parents, other educators, and/or the community to encourage girls in STEM careers.
  • Designs, supports or offers programs for students, parents, educators, etc. that actively and thoroughly incorporate STEM mentors and role models.
  • Engages in mentoring or leads STEM mentoring programs that address aspects of STEM student success including sharing/exploration of academic and career pathways, encouraging a growth mindset, emotional and social support, self-confidence and self-efficacy, and career-related skills.
  • Demonstrates willingness to share skills, knowledge, and expertise with others and develops networks.

Stand Up for STEM Collegiate Award for a STEM College Student or Student Group/Organization engaged in mentoring women and/or girls in STEM

Nominations for the Collegiate category recognize students currently attending or registered student organizations of an institution of higher learning or military training program. The focus of this award is to recognize collegiate students or collegiate student organizations that possess the following attributes:

  • Demonstrated passion for STEM and associated careers.
  • Participates in STEM curriculum and encourages others to develop STEM skills and capabilities.
  • Embraces available STEM activities and demonstrates leadership in these activities.
  • Demonstrates willingness to share skills and knowledge through role modeling and mentoring others.
  • Inspires others by showing enthusiasm and commitment to pursuing a STEM career.

Stand Up for STEM High School Award for a STEM High School Student or Student Group/Organization engaged in mentoring women and/or girls in STEM

Nominations for the High School category recognize students currently attending high school or high school student groups/organizations. The focus of this award is to recognize high school students or student groups/organizations that possess the following attributes:

  • Demonstrated passion for STEM and associated careers.
  • Actively engages in building STEM skills and capabilities.
  • Embraces available STEM activities and demonstrates leadership in these activities.
  • Demonstrates willingness to share skills and knowledge through role modeling and mentoring others.
  • Inspires others by showing enthusiasm and commitment to pursuing a STEM career.

Stand Up for STEM Corporate Award for a Company engaged in mentoring women and/or girls in STEM

Nominees for the corporate category shall demonstrate a commitment to mentoring women and girls, increasing the diversity of those pursuing STEM careers, and retaining women who enter the STEM workforce. Nominees should possess many or all of the following attributes:

  • Demonstrated corporate objectives/ goals for diversity initiatives.
  • Demonstrated passion for encouraging girls and women to pursue a STEM career.
  • Demonstrated support via resource allocation (people, products, or funding) for community mentoring, educational, or other programs to encourage or empower diversity.
  • Demonstrated external activities to encourage women and girls to enter STEM fields. (i.e. classroom volunteering/mentoring, job shadow hosting, high school internships, etc.)
  • Demonstrated internal activities to encourage women to enter and remain in the workforce. (i.e. Resource groups, alternate work schedules, women in management roles, re-entry education, job sharing, etc.)
  • Has formal and informal internal mentoring programs
  • Innovative mentoring methods (i.e. reverse mentoring with millennials, unique engagement opportunities, etc.)

Stand Up for STEM Educational Organization Award for an Educational Organization or Program engaged in mentoring women and/or girls in STEM

Nominations for the Educational Organization category recognize K-12 schools, preK schools or non-profits, educational non-profits and similar organizations. Nominees shall demonstrate a commitment to engaging STEM mentors and role models in programs encouraging women and girls to pursue STEM careers, increasing the diversity of those pursuing STEM careers, and retaining women and girls who enter the STEM education pipeline. Nominees should possess many or all of the following attributes:

  • Demonstrated diversity objectives/ goals for STEM educational initiatives.
  • Demonstrated passion for encouraging girls to pursue a STEM career.
  • Educates parents, other educators, and/or the community to encourage girls to pursue STEM careers.
  • Designs, supports or offers programs for students, parents, educators, etc. that actively and thoroughly incorporate STEM mentors and role models.
  • Demonstrated activities to encourage girls to pursue STEM pathways and careers.
  • Engages students in mentoring or leads STEM mentoring programs that address aspects of STEM student success including sharing/exploration of academic and career pathways, encouraging a growth mindset, emotional and social support, self-confidence and self-efficacy, and career-related skills.

Past Awardees