ComEd hosts Hispanic Heritage Month STEM event to Increase Diversity

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Education

On October 2, 2021, ComEd hosted its STEM Leadership Summit to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and to increase awareness of the existing gap of Hispanic representation in the STEM workforce. Over 70 Chicagoland students registered for the event. During the virtual event, students heard from Hispanic leaders in the STEM field, including Shayla Rivera, an Aerospace Engineer who worked for United States space agency, Jay Flores, a global STEM ambassador, Kat Echazarreta, an electrical engineer at United States space agency, and Esther Aldana, a senior at DePaul University studying Health Sciences. Each speaker shared their career path story and importance of representation in STEM fields. Sonia Bravo, a junior at Morton High School in Berwyn said, “It’s so important for someone my age to be able to hear from others who look like me in the STEM field. I am proud to be Latina and look forward to being part of increasing diverse representation in the STEM workforce.” According to Pew Research, Hispanic workers are significantly underrepresented in the STEM workforce, with Hispanic workers comprising 16 percent of the U.S. workforce, but only 7 percent of all STEM workers. “At ComEd, we are committed to investing in and empowering youth from diverse backgrounds to support their curiosity in STEM,” said Rich Negrin, vice president of External Affairs at ComEd. “It’s our goal to make communities in Illinois more equitable and increasing students’ access to events like the Leadership Summit is just one way to do that.”

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