16 Oct Advancing women in STEM is worldwide

Pinnacle Director of Technical Services & Operations and OKWIT President, Brandy Semore, shares her experience with women in STEM while working in India.

The mission of Oklahoma Women in Technology (OKWIT) is to bridge the gap between genders in STEM fields.  They do this by promoting, advocating, and providing leadership for women in tech. OKWIT demonstrates that advancing women in STEM-related fields brings different perspectives and relationships that are invaluable to any company by building mentorships and peer-relationships amongst women working in similar fields.

Pictured left to right: Brandy Semore, Yamini Krishnan, Ravindra Talwadker, Naveena Swamy, Katie Roberts, Anna Vakulick, Jeff Moore, Zee Nawaz.

Of course, they aren’t alone in their drive for change. There are many other non-profit organizations and companies striving for the same end goal – not just here in the United States, but worldwide!

Recently, Pinnacle’s Director of Technical Services & Operations and President of OKWIT, Brandy Semore, had the opportunity to travel abroad to India as a U.S. delegate for the United States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. While she was in India for two weeks, her job was to travel around and meet the many entrepreneurs from India who had previously come to Oklahoma for a chance to learn about our businesses and our culture – and to see how that experience had impacted them long term both personally and professionally.

One of the many inspiring woman Brandy met, Naveena Swamy, is the Chief Innovation Officer of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) which is comparable to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Brandy shared the mission and goals of OKWIT with her and she enthusiastically asked Brandy to extend her congratulations to all of OKWIT on a job well done of impacting our community. Naveena was very interested to learn how OKWIT started and what their initial hurdles were, in order to possibly replicate something similar on campus.

Priyanka Chauhan working at her office in New Delhi, India

Yamini Krishnan is another amazing woman that Brandy met. She is a working mother who started her own company to provide graphic design and web development while staying home to raise her children as a “mompreneur.”  She has been so successful in her venture that she now employs a handful of others.

Another impressive woman leading the way in IT is Priyanka Chauhan, who came to Pinnacle through the Entrepreneur Exchange Program in partnership with the U.S. State Department, the Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth (CCEW), and the University of Oklahoma. To read about her experience with us, view here! Priyanka also started her own IT consulting company and now contracts with the Indian Government on social media and data analytics projects.

Kahini Sheth and Brandy Semore at iCreate.

Kahini Sheth is also a Mompreneur who serves as the Associate in Digital Marketing for iCreate, a technology business incubation center where some of the most ingenious inventions are underway, including a heartbeat monitor that may one day predict cancers, such as Pancreatic Cancer, as early as stage one.

All of these amazing women show that the desire for women in STEM to have more opportunities and career development through support and advocacy is worldwide! Pinnacle seeks to encourage and support women in tech and we are thrilled to have someone as passionate about #WomenInTech as Brandy on our team.

Visit okwomenintech.org to learn more about the organization and ways you could get involved.