STEMblazers 2020-21 Chapter Facilitators
Get inspired with the bios of our chapter leaders, a group of talented women in STEM who mentor the young women at our middle school and high school. These STEMblazers provide guidance, inspiration while facilitating our sessions and field trips. Interested in becoming a volunteer mentor? Fill out our form here.
Vanessa Martin-Wegryn graduated from Marquette University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Her inspiration for pursuing a career in STEM was her love of working on her car in high school, which sparked interest in learning how things tick. Currently she works at a consulting firm in Denver where she consults for large scale utility projects. Her day to day consists of reviewing utility projects and assisting in writing reports to assist in the sale or financing of the projects. Vanessa’s favorite part of working with Girls in STEM is getting to work closely with the high school chapter. “The girls continuously impress me. They are extremely bright and I am always astounded by the ideas they come up with. They are going to do great things and feel honored to mentor them at the monthly chapter meetings.”
Lilian Garcia is am a Civil Engineer working for Black & Veatch in the Water Department. She works on projects for Water and Wastewater Treatment, infrastructure, and more. She has been in this industry for over 2 years and loving it. She graduated with a Bachelors' Degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. Lili grew up in Aurora, CO, and loves that she can give back to her community now. She is a proud first-generation Latina and loves being a mentor to other PoC/minorites, especially girls, to encourage them to pursue a high education or a STEM field.
Julia Comedaca is a Civil Engineer at Burns & McDonnell in the Transmission & Distribution Division working on high-voltage transmission line designs.
Sara Davenport is a Program Manager at Guild Education, working with developers and cross-functional teams to build internal systems. She earned her Bachelors of Science from Colorado State University (go Rams!) and her startup cred from companies across Denver like Galvanize and Conga. She has a passion for ed-tech and solving complex puzzles that unlock potential for others. She is excited to participate in STEMblazers and looks forward to cheering for the next generation of female rockstars!
Maddy Ryerson, a market researcher turned software engineer, with a background in evolutionary psychology is a long time volunteer at STEMblazers. She is also a big-picture thinker with a detail oriented approach to software development, and care deeply about the experience of the end user.
Libby is a Senior Product Manager at Guild Education, focusing on data services and academic partner integrations. Her prior experience focused on data analytics across a variety of industries. Libby graduated from Colorado School of Mines with a Bachelor of Science, Economics in 2011. She is a Colorado native and loving mother to a her dog, Linus.
Sara Persily is a D.C. area native who moved to Colorado a few years ago. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia and is now working as a Mechanical Engineer in Denver. Sara has always had a deep love of math and became interested in science in high school thanks to some great teachers and role models, most of whom were women. She believes that providing girls with mentors and role models they can relate to is invaluable in encouraging them to pursue their interests, especially in STEM fields. Sara is very excited to volunteer with Girls in STEM and to engage with the next generation of STEM professionals!
Sheila is a Colorado native and grew up in the Arvada area. She graduated from Colorado School of Mines with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and is now working as a design engineer for BCER Engineering in Arvada. Sheila has always been a problem solver which is why she decided to pursue a career in engineering (a.k.a. problem solving with math). Growing up, she was always encouraged to engage in activities she was truly passionate about and is excited to donate the same encouragement, especially to girls who want to dive farther into STEM.
Growing up, Kat’s dad (a civil engineer) often brought home large rolled up paper plans to finish working on. Since she loved art, the paper and linework all fascinated her (a lot of things were still done by hand in the 90’s!). After loving math and science in high school, she ended up following in her dad’s footsteps and went on to major in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. After graduation, she worked at a geotechnical engineering firm for a year in Virginia before switching to land development. She has stuck with land development since then where she worked in Chicago, DC, and now Denver. She is currently a project manager for CenterPoint Integrated Solutions, a development and civil engineering company, located in Lakewood. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, practicing yoga, exploring farmers markets and cooking, and hanging out with her greyhound Winston.
Annie is a former costume technician and sewing instructor turned Software Engineer. She works now at Quizlet, an education technology company that helps learners across the world, and still knits and sews some of her wardrobe!
Anika Hammond grew up in Germany, moved across the pond at age 15, and finished high school in Texas. Anika has a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX – Home of Buddy Holly.
Anika is a project engineer at Cascade Energy. She helps an extensive array of customers (from breweries and water treatment plants to ski resorts and mushroom farms) make their facilities more energy efficient and save money, energy, and the planet one kWh at a time. When not working Anika loves to practice yoga, read sci-fi & fantasy novels, garden, bake cakes, and hike with her family.
Kaia was born and raised in Evergreen, Colorado. She always had an interest in the built world and knew she wanted to be a part of it, whether through the design or the execution phase. Kaia attended undergrad at the University of Colorado Boulder, which then turned into completing a Master of Science Degree in Structural Engineering and Structural Mechanics. This included thesis work comprised of multiple studies investigated freeze-thaw characteristics of natural reinforced polymers exposed to varying moisture contents. Currently, Kaia is working for Mortenson Construction on the new campus expansion for National Jewish Health, building a new medical office building to help National Jewish expand their capabilities and allow them to provide their critical care to more patients in need.
Jodie grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She earned her undergraduate degree in Human Development and Family Science from Oklahoma State University – Go Pokes!
After 5 years as an elementary school teacher, she left to find a new career. She is now a Project Controls Specialist for Burns & McDonnell, an engineering consulting firm. At Burns & Mac, Jodie works mostly with public utilities in the western half of the country, working to make sure projects are completed on time and under budget.
As a former educator, Jodie enjoys volunteering with community organizations devoted to promoting STEM in schools.
Evie Tripolitis graduated from Georgia Tech in 2019 with a Civil Engineering degree. After interning with Whiting-Turner (a construction management company) for two summers then spending another at a design firm, she had not yet found the right place for her. She became interested in civil/ construction technology development and found Trimble. She has been with Trimble for about a year, working as a Product Application Engineer. It is the perfect position for utilizing by degree and being in a business environment. She works with technology testing, development, and release. Evie loves being a part of the modernization of such a dated industry.
Jamie is a Process Engineer and Development Lead at Suncor Energy, the only refinery in the state of Colorado. In her current position, she leads project teams to develop innovative and creative solutions to existing and emerging problems in the initial phases of capital projects. Before pivoting into her current engineering career, Jamie taught high school biology in the Cherry Creek School District. Jamie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from the University of Wyoming, a Master’s in Secondary Science Education from the University Of Virginia Curry School Of Education, and a Bachelor’s in Chemical & Biochemical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. Jamie is passionate about STEM education and is determined to encourage and support young women to realize their potential and pursue careers in STEM. Jamie lives in Denver with her husband and daughter, and enjoys the Colorado outdoors in her personal time.
Jackie Kingdom is a recent graduate from the University of Colorado where she studied environmental engineering. She is now working in water and wastewater treatment consulting. She is very passionate about the promotion and support of STEM in younger students and super excited to participate in STEMblazers!
Lauren McCaulley is currently a Spacecraft Design Engineer at Lockheed Martin, where she designs flight hardware and component layouts for LM2100 satellites, including GPS. She recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame with my Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, and is currently pursuing a Masters of Engineering from Penn State University. She was born and raised in Littleton, Colorado, and love all things Colorado (especially the mountains), sports, and space! She is a STEAM advocate, and encourage all girls to fearlessly pursue whatever their passions are.