Source and Photo courtesy of HCC
Houston — Houston Community College (HCC) is proud to announce that Nicole Jackson, our HCC Northeast College Entrepreneur in Residence, has been selected as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) IF/THEN® Ambassador. IF/THEN®, a national initiative of Lyda Hill Philanthropies, seeks to further women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through empowering current innovators and inspiring the next generation of pioneers.
“We firmly believe that IF we support a woman in STEM, THEN she can change the world,” said Lyda Hill, founder of Lyda Hill Philanthropies. “We’re thrilled that Nicole has been chosen as an AAAS IF/THEN® Ambassador and know that she will be a tremendous asset to the IF/THEN® Initiative.”
“There is no doubt that science is the answer to solve many of our country’s most challenging issues and we need all of our nation’s critical thinkers addressing these issues,” said Nicole Small, president and CEO of Lyda Hill Philanthropies. “Women make up nearly half of our population yet only a fraction are entering STEM-related fields. This is why we’ve committed more than $25 million to ensure that women like Nicole are empowered to change the world and serve as high-profile role models for the next generation of STEM pioneers.”
The goal of the IF/THEN® Initiative is to shift the way our country—and the world—think about women in STEM and this requires changing the narratives about women STEM professionals and improving their visibility. To successfully change the culture and inspire more girls to consider STEM careers, IF/THEN® has developed an ambitious game plan, crucial to empowering a sustainable movement, with four key elements: IF/THEN® Ambassadors, IF/THEN® Coalition, IF/THEN® Collection and IF/THEN® Grants. For more information, visit www.ifthenshecan.org.
IF/THEN® is proud to recognize talented women STEM professionals across a variety of industries as IF/THEN® Ambassadors who will serve as high-profile role models for middle school girls. In partnership with AAAS, IF/THEN® created the AAAS IF/THEN® Ambassadors Program that brings together 100+ of these innovators for specialized media and communications training. Using a talent agency model, IF/THEN® will support the Ambassadors and their inspiring work by showcasing them on a national platform.
“We are pleased to share that Nicole Jackson has been chosen as an AAAS IF/THEN® Ambassador,” said Dr. Cesar Maldonado, chancellor of Houston Community College (HCC). “Nicole will apply her background to modernize HCC technology, STEM outreach, and the HCC student experience while making a critical impact on our community of scholars.”
“Throughout her tenure at HCC, Nicole has been a leader in her field and helped HCC to achieve our mission to provide students with an educational experience that is relevant, effective, and engaging,” said Dr. Monique Umphrey, president of HCC’s Northeast College. “We are so proud of her impressive work, and especially proud that she has received prestigious recognition as an AAAS IF/THEN® Ambassador.”
Nicole Jackson is the Director of Technical Strategy and works alongside the CIO on high impact projects, manages strategic initiatives for profitability, revenue growth and efficiencies; identifies, tracks and reports metrics that measure the successful implementation of strategic initiatives, identifies and mitigates technological gaps or issues that could impact the success of the company, creates and implements training guidelines for technical leaders and individual contributors related to processes necessary to effectually ideate, build, and iterate within IT to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving, complex Health IT landscape.
Nicole brought her experience as a manager and leader within the startup environment to Duet Health and MedData more than three years ago and has since helped to modernize and streamline technical product management, process engineering, and software delivery strategies by actively applying her education in Creativity and Innovation with Drexel University to the science of computer software engineering and product management.
An active community mentor throughout Columbus, Ohio; Nicole Jackson is has recently relocated to Houston, Texas to assume a new role as the Executive in Residence at Houston Community College Northeast Branch where she will apply her background to modernize the HCC technology, STEM outreach, and the HCC student experience.
AAAS IF/THEN® Ambassadors were selected through a rigorous selection process. Candidates were evaluated for overall excellence with a focus on the following:
• Contributions to their STEM-related field, commensurate with their career stage
• Demonstrated experience and abilities in STEM communication and public engagement via media, classroom, and public programs
• Commitment to inspiring middle school girls to be the next generation of STEM pioneers
For a complete list of Ambassadors, go to www.ifthenshecan.org/ambassadors.
