BALTIMORE - Marylandian -- The 2020 Women of Color STEM Conference, presented by national publication house Career Communications Group, hosted the first-ever virtual and live-streaming event in the conference's 25-year history. Although the experience was shifted to mobile screens, the event carried on flawlessly with an impressive list of speakers and panelists and several personalized touches that helped participants feel involved.

The conference promoted the same opportunities with new experiences by creating multiple DIM (Digital In The Moment) experiences with live interactive seminars, awards programs and live job interviews. The Women of Color STEM conferences exemplary use of technology platforms as a bridge to maintain physical distancing for attendees without sacrificing the social connection the event is known for promoting.

Participants of the event received a welcome snack package from SnackMagic, allowing attendees to enjoy an assortment of snacks and beverages from the comfort of their home while tuning into the conference event.

The 3-day virtual event, which took place October 8-10 with this years' theme being Reset to Rise, launched with seminars on opportunities in FinTech. Day-1 panel speakers featured Imee Coulson, a data scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton, Sonda Christian, Director for Talent Management, Huntington Ingalls Industries, and Robin Alexander,  Director of Corporate Systems, Information Technology at Mattel.

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Day-2 of the event included dynamic panels covering Global Health Security, innovation, skills to master growth, the next big wave in technology, types of bias that alter outcomes, and the top 10 issues for Women in STEM. Speakers included representatives from IBM Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Quicken Loans, Abbott Laboratories, the Air Force Research Laboratory, U.S. Forest Service, The MITRE Corporation, NAVAIR, EASi, Aerotek, Raytheon Technologies, NASA, Office of the Air Force Surgeon General, The Boeing Company, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Consumers Energy, General Motors, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and AT&T.

During the Global Health Security panel, the focus turned to vaccine development, vaccines, vaccination, and the importance of clear communication in communities to reduce mistrust of clinical trials. Operation Warp Speed officials said the tens of millions of COVID-19  vaccines doses soon to be made available would be affordable for every American because a large percentage of development, manufacturing, distribution, and administration costs at vaccine sites had been covered.

The third and final day of the conference launched with the Breakfast with Leaders and Legends segment, hosted by 2019 Technologist of the Year Dr. Pamela McCauley. Dr. McCauley led a lively conversation with 2020 Technologist of the Year, Sylvia Trent-Adams, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps; Rachel Hutter, Senior Vice President of International Facilities and Operations Services for The Walt Disney Company; Karen Rodriguez, Ph.D., Division Vice President, Abbott; and Cynthia Turner-Graham, MD, a psychiatry specialist with over 41 years of experience in the medical field.

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"We're delighted with the outcome of this year's conference," said CEO Tyrone Taborn at the close of the conference. "Not just the turnout, but the breadth of wisdom and information that was shared over the three days that are so critical to our workforce this year."

Feedback from sponsors and attendees resonated positively in the days following the conference.

"I wanted to let you know that I appreciated the support you and your team provided… we had a great first conference experience at WOC2020." -- Victoria Thompson, Manager of Public Sector Partners at Amazon.

The Women of Color STEM Conference

The Women of Color STEM Conference, now in its 25th year, has been the venues where women and men from diverse backgrounds have come to recognize outstanding achievements in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), celebrate excellence in STEM-related fields, and create a career learning and networking environment. www.womenofcolor.net

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