Episode 17: SPECIAL: Black In STEM

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For this special episode, we are taking a pause from our usual programming to think about what it means to be Black in STEM, in 2020. This year served us a global pandemic and then an uprising, and it’s only July. The movement for racial justice, with new momentum, and a new (overdue) focus on “All Black Lives Matter” is a conversation not only relevant to STEM, but essential, if it wants to do better. On this special episode, we talk to Dr. Shawntel Okonkwo about her experiences as a black woman in STEM, and how she turned her frustrations into action.

Guest

Shawntel Okonkwo_Headshot 062020.png — Dr. Shawntel Okonkwo

Award winning Molecular Biologist, passionate truth teller and transdisciplinary creative Shawntel Okonkwo, will be talking about het experience of being Black in academia and what it means to be radically authentic.

Dr. Shawntel Okonkwo is a Nigerian-American, UCLA-trained Ph.D. Molecular Biologist. She is also a sought-after keynote speaker, scientific R&D consultant, advisor and creative science communicator. From giving a TEDx talk on intersectionality and STEM, to doing SciComm in Tokyo to being sponsored by the National Science Foundation to work with the Smithsonian's newest National Museum of African American History and Culture, Shawntel is passionate about ideating, designing, advising and communicating intersectional solutions that creatively engage science and technology for a better world. She is also the Founder and creative director of wokeSTEM, a creative and afro-futuristic space that intersects Black joy, social consciousness and science communication, while uniquely centering people of color.

As a scientist with a background in the creative arts, her empathy-centered yet analytical approach reinforces emotional intelligence throughout her scientific expertise and allows her to provide maximum value for multiple stakeholder and audience types. Throughout her career, her guiding principles have harped on the idea of radical authenticity, joy, resistance and re-conceptualizing what we think of as strikes to be true strengths and excellence. These have equipped her to be the creative problem solver bringing unique impact to multiple spaces within and across STEM.

Special Show Notes

wokeSTEM

Intersectionality will save the future of science | Shawntel Okonkwo | TEDxUCLA

Shawntel’s Ph.D. Thesis

#ShutDownAcademia #ShutDownSTEM

What Black scientists want from colleagues and their institutions

Resources to support the movement for Black liberation and racial justice

Here is a list to a fantastic list of resources supporting the lives of black trans folks, Grassroots Orgs in Los Angeles and Grassroots Orgs in Minnesota Doing Black Liberation / Abolition / Anti-Racism Work created by our friends at NAVEL Los Angeles, a non-profit cultural organization and multipurpose community space with a central location in downtown Los Angeles.