On March 23, Girls Inc. of Worcester presented their 2023 Outstanding Community Partner Award to Dr. Kathy Chen in recognition of her advocating for girls to be strong, smart and bold. Girls Inc. acknowledged Kathy's efforts to support PreK-12 educators, improve STEM education, broaden the participation of underrepresented students in STEM, advance equity in education, lead the Central MA STEM Network Ecosystem, and help WPI faculty advance their research impacts in society. Kathy has been the Executive Director of the STEM Education Center at WPI since 2017.
An NSF conference kept Kathy from accepting the award herself. However, a table full of supportive WPI colleagues happily attended the Girls Celebration 2023, held at Holy Cross. These WPI attendees also have a relationship and work with Girls Inc. Katie Bilotta accepted the award on Kathy's behalf.
Thank you to Katie Bilotta, Nicole Anterni, Lyubov Titova, Laura Roberts, Alesia LeSane, Noemi Robertson, Jillian DiBonaventura, and Ceren Yilmaz Akkaya for attending the festivities. And thank you, Girls Inc. of Worcester, for recognizing Kathy's superb work with the greater Worcester Community!
