e-Newsletter: April 2006
IDEAL Scholars Working Around the Country, Around the Globe
Ijeoma Okeiwge, a graduate student at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, will travel to her family’s home country of Nigeria this summer with a team of researchers to do health education and training related to the generic drug misoprostol. Misoprostol is used to prevent and treat post-partum hemorrhaging (PPH), the bleeding experienced by 15-20% of Nigerian women after childbirth that is the leading cause of post-partum maternal mortality. Receiving funding from UC Berkeley's Bixby Program in Population, Family Planning and Maternal Health to work on this project, Ijeoma will be part of bringing this effective life-saving drug to the greater Nigerian population for the first time.
"It’s not everyday that people get to work on a project that they’re passionate about, so I’m excited by this opportunity… that I know will have such a positive impact on women's lives."- Ijeoma Okeiwge, IDEAL Alum
Tracey Ross is one of only six graduating seniors (three chosen from UC Berkeley) to participate in the John Gardner Fellowship program, a leadership development program for those interested in careers in public service and government. She will spend ten months in Washington, DC., working and “shadowing” a distinguished mentor. This will expose Tracey to unique opportunities, like attending high-level meetings, conferences, and other events to which non-fellows would not otherwise have access.
"I am very thankful that I have been given the opportunity to be able to work in Washington, DC right out of college, and that someone is willing to take the time to be my mentor. It is very exciting and scary to know I am about to embark on something that will change my life, but I think my internships have helped to prepare me." – Tracey Ross
Anthony Ndichu Muiru will spend this summer in Nigeria in the Minority Health International Research Training (MHIRT) program, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities. Anthony will work at the University of Benin in Benin City, Nigeria participating in ongoing biomedical research in natural products and environmental health. The primary objective is to provide students and faculty an opportunity to live and conduct scientific research abroad, integrating scientific with social/cultural training.
"As I continue to pursue my goals, I believe that participating in the MHIRT program will be the capstone of my undergraduate experience. This will be a very significant experience because it will mark the end of my undergraduate career, and the commencement of the next stage in my educational pursuits. There is no better arena to apply what I have learned so far in college while acquiring the necessary tools to guide me in my graduate studies than in Africa, where my life journey began. It is my hope that after participating in the MHIRT program, I will return to the United States ready to take the next step in my journey toward a career in medicine." - Anthony Ndicho Muiru
Remi Ajiboye has received a generous two-year fellowship at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. After graduation, he will begin a Master’s program focusing on infectious disease. Upon completion of his Master’s degree, Remi plans to attend medical school.
Jackie Hawkins was selected as a Ronald E. McNair Scholar at UC Berkeley. The McNair Scholars program, which prepares select undergraduates from underrepresented populations for doctoral studies, is a national program sponsored by the US Department of Education.
IDEAL (Initiative for Diversity in Education and Leadership) provides resources and support to outstanding underrepresented students so they may maximize their academic and leadership opportunities in college and beyond.
Top Silicon Valley Companies Participate in Corporate Leavers Project
"The perception is that if you are African American, you won’t be the best and brightest when it comes to engineering." – Corporate Leaver with Ph.D. in engineering from Stanford
Executive diversity leaders from more than a dozen major Silicon Valley firms gathered in Palo Alto in February for an in-depth discussion with Level Playing Field Institute’s Corporate Leavers Project Team. Attendees talked about a broad range of topics that impact satisfaction and retention of diverse employees. Participating firms included Apple, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo, and others. Key presenters at the gathering were Level Playing Field Institute’s founder, Dr. Freada Kapor Klein, and Essence Magazine’s personal finance and careers editor, Kimbery Allers.
Level Playing Field Institute’s Corporate Leavers Project is examining why talented and driven women, people of color, and LGBT individuals choose to voluntarily leave their corporate/professional positions to pursue new careers in an entirely different sector or the non-profit world, or to become entrepreneurs.
Through candid and open conversation, the Silicon Valley executive diversity leaders shared their “wish lists” for new approaches/strategies and tools to bolster retention and top-down commitment to employee diversity from company leadership. Level Playing Field Institute is grateful for their candor and input, and will maintain contact with these and other diversity leaders throughout the Corporate Leavers research project.
The Corporate Leavers Team also held a Silicon Valley focus group with African American Engineers in April. Some of these attendees were members of the National Society of Black Engineers. The stories shared by the participants highlight the types of barriers that many minority professionals still face today.
One Corporate Leaver, an African American man with a Ph.D. in engineering from Stanford, described his early career in start-ups. Although he had the talent to start a company, complete graduate training at a top university, and raise $2 million from investors, the venture capitalists would not allow him to become the CEO of his own company. He said:
There are people who come out of Stanford and get great funding and start companies that become worth billions of dollars, but none of those people are African American... The perception is that if you are African American, you won’t be the best and brightest when it comes to engineering. You have to prove that you earned your degree and that you are at least as good as anybody else. You have to prove yourself first.
If you know of other professional organizations whose members have faced barriers to full participation and fulfillment in their chosen careers, prompting them to become “leavers,” please contact Mary Kate Stimmler at: [mkstimmler AT lpfi DOT org]. Other organizations participating in the Corporate Leavers Project include: National Society of Hispanic MBAs, Lawyers for One America, Filipina Women's Network, Out and Equal, Human Rights Campaign, and Robert Toigo Foundation.
Additional information about the National Society of Black Engineers--whose mission is to “increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community”--is available at: www.nsbe.org.
SMASH Student's Thoughts on Cosmology Internship at UC Berkeley
SMASH student, Stephanie Becerra, writes about her experience working in the UC Berkeley Cosmology Department:
For the past few months, I have been participating in an internship through the Cosmology Department at UC Berkeley. I have been working in a research lab and learning about dark matter, working in particular with those that carry liquid helium and liquid nitrogen. I was accepted into this internship program by filling out an application, writing an essay and going through the interview process.
Once a week, I go to the UC Berkeley campus for two hours on Wednesdays from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. I am enjoying working in the lab because I am able to see first hand how a research lab operates. In addition, I believe I have been given the opportunity to see if working in the sciences will be my future occupation. The researchers started out slow with me, but now, over the past few weeks, the subject matter has become more and more challenging. I have begun to do a little research on my own time in order to better understand the dewar refrigerator system.
I am very grateful to Miguel, Dennis, Jeff, Kyle and Dan (the researchers that I work with) for taking the time to work with me. I am also glad that I was given the opportunity to participate in this internship because I have been able to learn things that I would not have learned in a sophomore science class.
I also believe that, thanks to the SMASH Academy, I was given the opportunity to be part of this program. I am looking forward to participating in any other internships that may be offered in the science or math fields. So, if you have a love for science and math, I fully recommend participating in the internship program at UC Berkeley.
The ultimate goal of the SMASH Academy is to encourage high school students from underrepresented communities (Hispanic/Latino, African American and Native American) to pursue studies and excel in math, technology, engineering, or science at top colleges and graduate schools.
SMASH Receives $25,000 from Amgen Foundation
Level Playing Field Institute's Summer Math and Science Honors (SMASH) Academy is proud to announce a $25,000 grant from Amgen Foundation. This grant will benefit 80 Bay Area high school students, who will pursue and develop their interest in math, science, technology, and engineering, including our newest class of 36 students. This year’s Summer Academy will begin on the UC Berkeley campus on June 26, 2006, where students will live in the dorms for five weeks—for many of our students, this will be their first time away from home.
The Amgen Foundation seeks to advance science education, improve patient access to quality care, and strengthen the communities where Amgen staff members live and work. Since 1991, the Foundation has made $70 million in grants to local, regional, and national non-profit organizations that impact society in inspiring and innovative ways. It has also supported disaster relief efforts both domestically and internationally.
Additional information about the Summer Math & Science Honors Academy is available at: www.lpfi.org/education/smash.html
Level Playing Field Institute Board Welcomes New Member Marsha Simms
The Level Playing Field Institute Board of Directors is pleased to welcome its newest member, Marsha Simms, J.D. Marsha is a partner in the Corporate Department of Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York, where she practices in the areas of debt financing and restructuring. She was named one of the world's leading lawyers in the area of banking and finance by Chambers Global for the years 2001-2004. Beyond banking and finance law, Marsha is also interested in improving the opportunities available to women and minorities in corporate law practice.
Marsha is involved in a number of groups within the legal profession, including: American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers, American Law Institute, and Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
In addition to her work in the legal field, Marsha is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Educational Broadcasting Corporation (Channel 13/WNET). She is a member of the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School and a former trustee of the Stanford Alumni Association.
