Bolanle Busirat Azeez

I have been working in the nonprofit field for 2 years and have been in my current position as co-founder of Stembridge for going on 3 years now. We work with young girls in STEM, mentoring those in low- and medium-income countries in Africa, especially Nigeria. My role involves program management, where I oversee training programs and manage the facilitators who work directly with these young girls. I conduct weekly check-ins with facilitators to ensure the knowledge and skills they transfer are accurate and efficient. Our goal is to build an iterative chain where we train young girls and encourage them to do the same in their own local environments, creating a continuous cycle of empowerment. Before starting Stembridge, I led a pilot program at the University of Ibadan Design Studio as a graduate intern, where I was given the opportunity to lead a team of 18 on a girls' STEM program. That program is still running successfully today, now in its fourth year, which is incredibly fulfilling to see. I wanted to bridge the gender gap in STEM fields, where only 2 out of 10 people are female, and provide the guidance and support that I didn't have growing up.