STEMinist
News & updates for young women interested in STEM

Imagine. Invent. Inspire.
Hello there, get inspired by the amazing women and stories featured in this week's STEMinist. Let the stories and opportunities featured below motivate you for this summer and beyond!
Savoya Taylor, Overhead Electrician Specialist, ComEd
Savoya Taylor was our STEM Star of the Month in February, and she’s still making headlines as a linewoman and mom during the pandemic! Savoya is the first woman overhead electrician specialist at ComEd, one of Exelon's operating utility companies that powers Chicago and Northern Illinois. 💡 PBS News Hour featured Savoya and her amazing story this past week . Savoya is empowering her family and her community during this time, like many other essential energy workers. Sit back, relax, and get inspired watching this video where Savoya talks about being a woman electrician, a mother, and leader for girls to follow in her foot steps.
Looking to dive into career exploration this summer? The organization If/Then has released a collection called #ThisIsWhatAScientistLooksLike. This collection is the largest library of women in STEM profiles to help young women and g irls see themselves as the next STEM pioneers. ⚛️ Take some time to browse through the categories of careers listed, including space & aviation, wildlife conservation, climate science, and many more! If you are interested in a category or career, you can explore it further and watch video profiles of real women to learn how they got to where they are in their careers. Take a look through the collection and discover careers in STEM that you never knew existed!
Have you been wanting to learn how to code? This summer is your time to shine! ✨
Girls Who Code usually hosts summer programs to encourage more women to go into computer science and tech careers, but this year it's gone virtual! Girls Who Code has a ton of at home coding activities, and each activity features a woman in tech who pioneered innovative technology! 💻 Activities range from building an activist toolkit through code, to coding a game to play with friends. Activities span beginner to expert levels, so there is something for everyone to learn no matter what your skill level is.

In addition to at home coding activities, Girls Who Code also has a summer speaker series that brings leaders and activists together with Girls Who Code CEO and Founder Reshma Saujani to have conversations about bravery, activism, and tech. Past guests for the series have included Yara Shahidi and Hillary Clinton ! You can register to tune in for the next speaker series on Thursday, July 30th, with Christina Koch, American engineer and NASA Astronaut! ⚙️🚀
Learn more about Exelon's Climate Change Investment Initiative in the video above
If you want to make a significant impact to help combat climate change, look no further than the amazing and inspirational start ups featured this week by Exelon's Climate Change Investment Initiative (2c2i). Exelon Foundation and Exelon have selected 10 startups to receive a combined total of $1 million in direct funding to develop new technologies to mitigate & build resiliency to the impacts of climate change. 🌎 This year, 50% of the start ups are minority or women-owned businesses! Read through the descriptions of these extraordinary projects here to get an idea of great organizations Exelon is working with to fight climate change.
Comet NEOWISE as seen over Duluth, Minnesota. Image by Bob King
It's not too late to see Comet NEOWISE! This comet is the most impressive in nearly 25 years and once it's gone it won't be back for another 6,800 years, so make sure you see it while you have the chance! You can see it unaided without a telescope on a clear night, but it is also great if you have a telescope to get a better view. To see the comet, NASA advises looking in the northwest sky below the Big Dipper after sunset . The comet will be a little higher in the sky as the month progresses. NASA notes: “Observers at lower latitudes will see the comet lower in the sky, while it will appear higher for observers farther north.” See helpful maps and videos on how to view the comet here. Happy stargazing! 🌠 🌟
Check out what the girls have been up to at the Chicago STEM Innovation Leadership Academy last week!
Congratulations to all of the 2020 participants of the Chicago STEM Academy last week! 🎉These girls participated in online educational seminars and discussions, hands-on workshops using tools and other items sent to them beforehand as part of a STEM Supply Kit, and even virtual field trips to noteworthy STEM-related landmarks in the Chicago area. This Academy placed a special focus on addressing the growing impacts of climate change and the disproportionate ways it is affecting the most under-resourced populations. The Academy ended with students designing their own energy-efficient product prototypes with a panel of judges selecting a winning project! Tune in for the next STEMinist to see what participants are up to in the Philadelphia Academy and D.C & Maryland Academy!
Exelon and our operating companies are sharing fun updates on social media! Be sure to keep in touch and follow us:

Exelon Foundation STEM Innovation Leadership Academy www.exelonstemacademy.org