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March 8th, 2021

Stephanie Espy — Women In STEM

Stephanie Espy Headshot

Stephanie Espy

Stephanie Espy is the Founder and CEO of Math SP, a non-profit located in Atlanta, providing academic and test prep coaching to students in middle school and beyond. Stephanie’s mission is to motivate, inspire, and prepare students to excel in STEM academic subjects and on college and graduate admissions exams.

Inspiring student in STEM

At an early age Stephanie found math exciting, and she has fond memories from elementary school and described having amazing teachers that helped her develop a strong foundation in math. Along with amazing teachers, Stephanie’s parents were both engineers, and her uncle was the 2nd African American man to graduate from Georgia Tech. Stephanie noted that she was lucky to be surrounded by engineers and developed an unspoken affinity for engineering.

To pay the STEM love forward, now Stephanie works with many middle school girls through Math SP. She says “One thing that would help girls stick with STEM is for adults to encourage and empower them to ask questions when they are having difficulty. Struggles, questions, and collaboration are part of the process we should all actively embrace. Adults should be modeling and encouraging this behavior. This is how we ALL learn. It’s important to have role models and mentors that welcome questions so that young girls feel comfortable asking for help when they hit a rough patch. That’s how girls will build a solid foundation in math and science from which to grow.”

Stephanie says “It is important to continue to diversify the STEM career pipeline so the products developed in STEM fields end up serving the consumers using them. Without diversified talent in the STEM field, technology will not represent the changing needs of our society. We can no longer sit on the sidelines and allow a small group of people to represent our world.”

To help get students everywhere inspired to pursue STEM careers, Stephanie authored a book that highlights women in extremely diverse STEM fields. “STEM Gems: How 44 Women Shine in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, and How you Can Too!” includes vast and diverse stories of women in unfamiliar STEM careers, how they got there, and who inspired them. She is excited about her upcoming STEM GEMS Summit: Women Empowering Girls, which will take place virtually on March 20th. The summit is open to all parents, educators, and students, who will have the opportunity to meet leading STEM women, learn about their unique career journeys, and understand what it takes to pursue similar careers.