DALLAS, Feb 14 – Mary Kay Inc., a global advocate for women’s empowerment and education, recently hosted a group of 25 young women from Dallas Independent School District’s Young Women’s Preparatory Network (YWPN) / Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School for an educational, inspirational exploration of Women in STEAM. The events led up to the celebration of International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11.
The high school-aged students spent the day at Mary Kay’s Richard R. Rogers Manufacturing / R&D Center (R3) in Lewisville, TX, where they toured the state-of-the-art facility and learned about the different aspects of STEAM-related manufacturing processes in a complex, global beauty company. Following the tour, students heard from a panel of female experts in their respective STEAM fields. The panel was comprised of experts in fields such as Upstream Innovation, Product Formulation, Information Technology, Product Research, Portfolio & Strategy Planning and Process Development. In the afternoon, students engaged in a mentoring lunch where they had the opportunity to discuss different career paths for women in STEAM, personal and professional aspirations, and how we can better encourage, prepare and bolster young women pursuing careers in STEAM fields.
“Mary Kay is committed to empowering and inspiring the next generation of women to pursue their passions—because the future is STEAM,” said Dr. Lucy Gildea, Chief Innovation Officer, Product and Science at Mary Kay. “Women are underrepresented in the STEAM workforce, but we can narrow that gap by providing critical early learning opportunities and exposure for young women to seek out and explore STEAM careers of interest.”
Young Women’s Preparatory Network is a nonprofit agency that partners with public school districts across the state of Texas to operate the largest network of all-girl, public, college preparatory schools in the nation. YWPN schools are located in struggling urban neighborhoods and have a proven track record of academic achievement, high school graduate and college acceptance rates. YWPN formed the first public/private partnership with the Dallas Independent School District, opening the Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School in 2004.
“We are thrilled to have our young women participate in a day filled with meaningful connections to women in STEAM, and are grateful to Mary Kay for this opportunity,” said Lynn McBee, Chief Executive Officer, Young Women’s Preparatory Network. “These future leaders are bright, talented young women. To have exposure to other successful women in STEAM fields and see the impact they can make provides them that extra motivation to reach farther, achieve more, and hopefully, one day, change the world through STEAM.”
Mary Kay celebrates and encourages young women who are taking charge of their futures through leadership, innovation, and determination to excel in STEAM fields. Women make up only 28% of the workforce in science, technology, engineering and math. [1] By offering continued support to young women in STEAM fields, the company is continuing Mary Kay’s mission, which is to improve the lives of women everywhere.
