Takoi Hamrita

University of Georgia College of Engineering among major summit partners

Women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – STEM – will gather in Atlanta this fall for a unique leadership development summit that’s supported by the University of Georgia.

Organized by College of Engineering professor Takoi Hamrita, the Global Women in STEM Leadership Summit will be held Nov. 2-4 at the Lowes Atlanta Hotel. The event is supported by the Women in Engineering (WIE) organization of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as well as the Office of the President, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and the College of Engineering at UGA. In addition, several corporate, economic development, nonprofit and higher education partners such as AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Baldor, Southernco, and the Georgia Institute of Techology are helping sponsor the event.

“This is the first time a summit of this type has been held in the Southeast,” said Takoi Hamrita, a professor of electrical engineering at UGA and the summit chair. “Our goal is to give women in STEM access to powerful tools, strategies and networks to help them realize their full potential and shatter the glass ceiling in traditionally male dominated fields.”

While women make up nearly half the U.S. workforce, they are much less represented in many science and engineering occupations. According to the National Science Foundation, only 13% of engineers are women and only 25% of professionals in the computer and mathematical sciences are women.

The summit will bring together 400 women with diverse backgrounds in entrepreneurship, academia and business, according to Hamrita. More than 60 influential thought leaders – primarily women – from academia, business, industry and nonprofits are scheduled to speak.

The summit, designed for women in all career paths and stages, will cover topics including personal and professional growth, leadership development, team building, STEM outreach and innovation. The detailed agenda for the summit is available at www.wielead.org/summit-agenda.

The summit’s keynote speakers include:

• Jennifer Van Buskirk, Regional President, AT&T Mobility Northeast Region.
• Valerie Montgomery Rice, President and Dean, Morehouse School of Medicine.
• Parisa Khosravi, former Senior Vice President, CNN Worldwide, and CEO, Payam Global Strategies.
• Alicia Philipp, President, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.
• Jill S. Tietjen, Past President, Society of Women Engineers (SWE).
• Jeff Hoffman, Co-founder of priceline.com.
• Rachel Schutt, Senior Vice President and Senior Chief Data Scientist, News Corp.

Additional information about the summit and online registration is available at the summit website, www.weilead.org. Those with questions may also contact Hamrita at [email protected]