From March 18-20, 2020 we will be in Kona, Hawaii at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel facilitating the Women of Color in STEM Entrepreneurship Conference. This event will allow industry professionals, academics, and investors to transform the field of computer science , in particular, and STEM, in general by creating strategic viable plans. During the conference we will be working together, and with the assistance of Native Hawaiian, Black, and Latina girls, to build a decade-long systems map for how to improve these numbers. We will also host a pitch competition for attendees to present strategic plans to improve diversity in STEM over the next decade. The winner will be rewarded with $4,500 in SEED money. We would be honored to have you join us. We have enclosed information related to conference registration, hotel logistics, conference agenda, speakers, and other important details for your consideration.
Click to register
2020 Conference Video
Hotel & Lodging
Rooms are still available at the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort,
be sure to reserve yours before February 17th to ensure conference pricing.
Rooms are still available at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel,
be sure to reserve yours before February 17th to ensure conference pricing.
Transportation
The conference will be held in Kona, HI (also referred to as “Big Island”). While we realize you have many options for airline travel, we respectfully note that Hawaiian Airlines is one of the biggest airline employers of Native Hawaiian peoples and a proud sponsor of Hawaiian education programs and other arts based initiatives for Indigenous artists (for more information about this, please visit them here ). This airline includes the Hawaiian language, locally inspired food, as well as culturally meaningful practices in its customer service including information about tourist points of interest as well as complimentary Koloa Rum Punch for adult passengers over the age of 21 upon arrival to your destination.
Please note the conference hotels do not offer a shuttle service. You can arrange transportation to and from the hotel by taxi, ride sharing, or rental vehicle. Transportation Network Companies are allowed at Kona Airport including Lyft and Uber. Please note, you will need to download the app for these services and data/messaging may be needed to schedule services. Taxicabs are located curbside facing baggage claim areas A and B. For more information as well as taxi fare estimates, please click here . Lastly, if you prefer to have a personal vehicle during your stay, Kona airport has a generous offering of rental car agencies. You can find more information about car rental options here.
Speakers
We are pleased to present two of our conference speakers.
Kaiulani Murphy
Born and raised in Waimea and Waipiʻo Valley on the island of Hawaiʻi, Kaʻiulani Murphy developed a passion for voyaging as a Hawaiian Studies student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Since 1998, she has served as crew with Hōkūleʻa and the Polynesian Voyaging Society, participating in voyages to Rapa Nui, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Micronesia and Japan, and the recent Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage. Kaʻiulani feels privileged to learn from extraordinary mentors and to share her experiences with students at Honolulu Community College and UH Mānoa where she teaches courses in Hawaiian astronomy, navigation, and voyaging.
Dr. Laurie Rousseau-Nepton
A resident astronomer at the Canada-France-Hawaii Observatory and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hawaii between 2017 and 2019. The first Indigenous woman in Canada to obtain a PhD in Astrophysics, she received her diploma from Université Laval by studying regions of stellar formation in spiral galaxies. Laurie Rousseau-Nepton was a FRQNT Postdoctoral Scholar, previously received the Hubert Reeves Fellowship and the Award for Native Women in Sciences of the Association des Femmes Diplômées des Universités du Québec. Dr. Rousseau-Nepton is now leading an international project called SIGNALS, aiming at observing thousands of newly born stars in galaxies close to the Milky Way to understand how their birthplace affect the rest of their life and the galaxies evolution. She is involved in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committees for the Canadian Association of Physicists and for the Mauna Kea Observatories and is devoted in promoting a community driven way to do science.
CLICK HERE GENERAL CONFERENCE AGENDA
Stay in the know
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We thank you so much for your support and interest in promoting women of color in STEM . We hope you can join us in these important conversations and invite you to tell your friends about this event. We know that achieving large scale change involves building critical capacity among advocates, mentors, peers, and friends . Without ensuring girls have equitable access to resources, classes, mentors, and educational experiences in STEM, we cannot improve the diverse landscape of STEM. As we move into the next decade, it is important to have talent in local communities to address the diverse needs of each community. This means making sure that girls have early access to opportunities that increase their knowledge and talents in computing and STEM. Your support makes a difference. We are so grateful for you and look forward to seeing you in Kona next month!
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