Politics in the Workplace: The Relationship Between Your Career and Advocacy

Prior to working at AnitaB.org, Stephanie served as the Director of STEM Policy at the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit supporting afterschool and summer learning across the nation. An immunologist by training, Stephanie found her way to STEM education policy and advocacy through years of STEM-related community outreach, and service as a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation. While at NSF, she worked on efforts to broaden participation in computer science and other STEM fields. Stephanie completed her doctoral degree in immunology at Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied the T-cell development process and devised innovative strategies to observe this phenomenon in live animals, in real time, using advanced microscopy techniques. She received her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Stanford University, with a focus on microbes and immunity. Having personally benefited from the generosity and attention of amazing STEM mentors, and still benefiting from those relationships, she values the opportunity to support young STEM enthusiasts and the systems that encourage them.

Liz Bander is a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft where she works on Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams. She also supports a number of initiatives that center diversity, equity, and inclusion such as the Hack for Good and Microsoft DigiGirlz programs. Liz believes that it’s not enough to build a pipeline without supporting women throughout their careers, so she volunteers with nonprofits that support girls and nonbinary youth interested in tech, like IGNITE Worldwide and NCWIT, as well as chairs AnitaB.org’s Mid-Career Women Committee. Liz is also a Director/Trustee on the boards of the League of Women Voters of the United States and League of Women Voters Education Fund, where she works on programs to empower voters and defend democracy. She holds a BA from North Carolina State University in English Language and Literature and an MBA from University of Scranton.