Moderator: Dr Travis York (Director of Inclusive STEMM Ecosystems for Equity & Diversity at AAAS)
Panellists: Dr Kimberly Griffin (Associate Dean of Graduate Studies & Faculty Affairs at University of Maryland); Dr Hayaatun Sillem (CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation)
Dr Travis T York is the Director of Inclusive STEM Ecosystems for Equity & Diversity (ISEED) at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). York’s research and work focus on catalysing and sustaining systemic change and transformation to achieve inclusive and equitable access and progress through STEM pathways into the STEM workforce. Within AAAS, York provides leadership to a talented team who collaborate to create change in over 20 grant-funded projects and initiatives spanning all STEMM fields and the entire educational pathway including AAAS’s SEA Change Initiative, Science in the Classroom, S-STEM Initiative, L’Oreal USA Women in Science Fellowships, and HBCU Making & Innovation Showcase. York serves as PI of the AAAS Noyce/ARISE (Advancing Research and Innovation in the STEM Education of Preservice Teachers in High-Need School Districts), and AAAS Improving Undergraduate STEM Education initiatives, and Co-PI of the US Department of Education IES Grant, Affording Degree Completion: A Study of Completion Grants at Accessible Public Universities in collaboration with the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities and Temple University’s Hope Centre for College, Community and Justice. York has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, is active within several professional associations, and serves on the editorial review board of the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.
Dr Kimberly Griffin is a Professor and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Faculty Affairs in the College of Education at the University of Maryland. Her work aims to promote access, equity and justice in higher education, and Griffin’s scholarship focuses on diversity within the Black community; mentoring and professional development; and equity and inclusion in graduate and faculty communities. Much of her current research focuses on increasing racial diversity in college and university faculty, particularly in science. Her research has been funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, National Institutes of Health, and National Science Foundation, and she currently serves as co-PI on two NSF-funded projects. In addition, she is the current editor for The Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.
Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE is CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation. She chairs the government’s Business Innovation Forum and St. Andrews Prize for the Environment and co-chaired with Sir Lewis Hamilton his Commission on Black representation in UK motorsport. She is NXD at Laing O’Rourke and the UNBOXED festival; trustee of Mission 44, EngineeringUK and Foundation for Science & Technology; member of the Levelling Up Advisory Council; and advisor to EQL:HER and Lloyd’s Register Foundation. She has been named as one of the ten most influential women in both UK engineering and UK tech. She has a PhD in Biochemistry and was made CBE for services to International Engineering in 2019.
This is the second session in this series of fireside chats, the first on Catalysing Change can be found here.