Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity

From Friday to Saturday, November 2-3, about 50 high- and middle-school girls and their chaperones from local public high schools will participate in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) Girls Night In, to be hosted by various Centers across NASA.

At Goddard Space Flight Center, each girl will have at least one woman as their mentor throughout the event who is a NASA employee plus a university engineering/science student, as a near-to-peer mentor.

The purpose of this event is to invigorate, inspire, and engage high school girls who may be struggling with, or are not fully engaged in, STEM education. STEM Girls Night In will provide the girls an opportunity to completely immerse themselves in NASA activities that challenge and promote knowledge and discovery, such as by designing and testing a Mars rover.

STEM Girls Nigh In allows NASA women to share and demonstrate the STEM work they do and to connect all participating Centers through an inspiring interactive activity.

For more information, contact Amy Grigg, amy.grigg@nasa.gov.

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) 2018 Conference’s theme, “Let’s Break Boundaries,” is based on the idea that women engineers are breaking personal and professional boundaries across the globe. SWE is the largest annual conference of women engineers.

NASA attended SWE again this year, with about 40 employees representing the Agency from various Centers. Attendees participated in panel discussions (with standing room only!) and a very large career fair – communicating NASA’s mission and commitment to STEM education and internship and employment possibilities to countless women.

Thank you – to the NASA employees who made this year’s event a tremendous success!

The Stennis Space Center (SSE) and the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) are hosting several events in October to celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM).

The first event is a lunch-and-learn to educate NASA employees about disability etiquette. Secondly, SSC and NSSC have planned a panel event on October 25 at 11 a.m. CST, to educate the NASA community on disability awareness. Scott Howell, NASA OCHCO, will be speaking along with other individuals with disabilities. Participants plan to talk about the work they perform at NASA and why they like working for NASA.

Ten NASA employees, representing various Centers, attended the Out and Equal Workplace Summit for LGBTQ+ in Seattle on October 1-3.

The 2018 Summit (20th annual!) featured 3 days of educational opportunities including over 135 workshops, featured panels, community advisory roundtables, special networking mixers, receptions and events, and inspirational plenaries featuring prominent LGBTQ/ally leaders.

In addition to NASA folks, there were 6000 attendees from 48 states and 32 countries, with 700 of the Fortune 100 companies represented.

Please join the NASA Headquarters Pride Alliance Employee Resource Group in Conference Room 3D42 on October 24 for a lunch-and-learn discussion of LGBTQ history. October is National LGBTQ History Month and the members of the HQ Pride Alliance would like to invite anyone interested to participate in this open discussion.

In recognition of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) for 2018, the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Disability Awareness and Action Working Group (DAA WG) Employee Resource Group is sponsoring an informational fair with the theme “Talent Has No Boundaries.” It will be held on Wednesday, October 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Headquarters Building front lobby, elevator area, and cafeteria. Twenty different vendors from both on- and off-Center will showcase resources and services they have available to KSC employees and family members. This fair is open for everyone to attend.

The DAA WG will also be sponsoring Disability Mentoring Day for area students and job seekers with disabilities on Thursday, November 8. If you are interested in being a mentor for the day, please reach Nicole Delvesco, 321-222-9307, or Annie Williams, telephone 321-867-8720.

The Women of Color (WOC) National Conference and STEM Career Fair is a premier conference and career fair for women of color in the United States. This year is the 23rd WOC Conference and Fair.

Women of Color is a three-day national conference with students and professionals – with representation from more than 3,000 thought leaders in engineering, computer science, and business.
WOC features a variety of educational and professional opportunities including workshops, expert panels, networking mixers, and prominent keynote speakers.

NASA was a sponsor at the Women of Color STEM Conference again this year, and participated in a pre-college seminar for secondary students. Students worked with NASA representatives on hands-on, competitive activities that engage and challenge them to consider STEM careers as real options. NASA employees also held a seminar where participants learned about a broad range of career opportunities at the Agency.

NASA was well-represented, with participants from Ames Research Center, Glenn Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Langley Research Center, and Headquarters. Eleven NASA employees won awards this year at WOC for their spectacular career accomplishments.