EcoPlum Leader Co-Chairing Inaugural NYC Mentoring Forum for High School Girls in STEM
NEW YORK, NY, April 13, 2023—EcoPlum®, a sustainable promotional products company, announces today that Gia Machlin, its President & CEO, will co-chair with Dr. Sandi Webster the first ever New York City Young
Enterprising Women Mentoring Forum for high school girls in
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and STEAM (adding the Arts). Presented
by the Enterprising Women Foundation, the event takes place on April 20, 2023 in
Harlem at Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science, and Engineering--a
public school partnered with Columbia University.
The
Enterprising Women Foundation Mentoring Program provides high school girls
across the U.S. and Canada with an opportunity to meet and connect with
outstanding women entrepreneurs in their community at a local event. These
events are designed to recognize the leadership potential of the young women
participants, inspire them to dream big, and provide a focus on opportunities
in STEM and STEAM, an
educational model that includes science-based fields, a wide-range of the arts,
and creative problem solving.
The
inaugural New York City mentoring forum at Columbia Secondary School for Math,
Science, and Engineering (CSS) will be highly interactive
and include a panel of business leaders, roundtable discussions, a financial
literacy breakout session, and a scholarship announcement. Ten diverse women
mentors and over 50 young women from the high school are expected to
participate in the three-hour event. Two of the students will win scholarships
sponsoring their attendance at this year’s Annual Enterprising Women of the Year
Awards,
May
21-22 in Clearwater, Florida. Airfare, transportation, hotel, meals, and
incidentals will be covered for each winner and an accompanying parent or adult
chaperone.
Gia
Machlin, forum Co-Chair, said:
“I am so excited
for our mentors to inspire, and be inspired by, these fabulous young women in STEM
at a New York City high school that collaborates with my alma mater, Columbia
University.”
Ms.
Machlin will open the event with a welcome to attendees and the introduction of
Dr. Sandi Webster, forum Co-Chair and CEO of Sandi Webster LLC. Then Monica
Smiley, Editor & Publisher at Enterprising Women magazine, and foundation
founder, will greet the students with CSS Principal Vikram Arora, host of the forum,
and Roxana Bosch, forum liaison for the school.
Dr.
Webster will moderate a mentor panel discussion with six successful
businesswomen. These entrepreneurs and leaders will share their unique stories,
offer advice for success in STEM/STEAM, and take questions. After the panel
discussion, there will be ten small group mentoring roundtable discussions,
each led by one of the participating mentors.
The
Mentors and Panelists are included below with their official titles:
·
Dr. Sandi
Webster, CEO Sandi Webster LLC, Co-Founder & Chief Learning Officer at
Pandi LLC, Co-Chair NYC Mentoring Forum
·
Gia
Machlin, President & CEO EcoPlum, Co-Chair NYC Mentoring Forum
·
Nisha
Balwani, CEO RCI Technologies
·
Sunita
Bajaj, Managing Director and Registered Principal at Fortis Lux Financial
·
Nadine
Cino, CEO TygaSmart, a portfolio of sustainable tech products
·
Michele
Maybaum, Outsourced Finance and Accounting Partner at EisnerAmper
·
D.
Savi Prashad, President and CEO of RISA Management Corp
·
Carol
Richards, Financial Advisor at The Richards Group Morgan Stanley
·
Bonnie
Schnitta, Ph.D., CEO Soundsense LLC
·
Maisha
Walker, President & Founder at Message Medium
Enterprising
Women is a partner in the Million Women Mentors Project and
has committed to bringing a focus on opportunities in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math (STEM) to high school girls who may not have role models
or mentors. Million Women Mentors is the premier network dedicated to
encouraging girls and women to pursue, persist, and succeed in STEM careers.
Information
on hosting a Young Enterprising Women Mentoring Forum is provided here.
About Enterprising Women Foundation
The
Enterprising Women Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization and sister organization
of Enterprising Women magazine, is hosting a series of mentoring events
around the U.S. and Canada to connect outstanding high school girls with an
interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) with outstanding
women entrepreneurs in their local community. Learn more at https://www.enterprisingwomenfoundation.org/
About EcoPlum
EcoPlum Business Gifts offers branded marketing solutions with
its Sustainable Swag® line of promotional products. EcoPlum curates
best-in-class, eco-friendly gift items and customizes them for clients with
their logos, taglines, or messages. We help companies make responsible choices
on their branded gifts – a visible symbol of their values – with a goal of reducing
plastic and harmful waste in our landfills and oceans. EcoPlum uses rigorous
standards for ecological and social sustainability. Transparency is essential.
Product sourcing criteria include USDA organic, fair trade, biodegradable, renewable,
recycled, reusable, women/minority-owned, Made-in-the-USA, handcrafted or
artisan, vegan, non-toxic, and third-party eco-labels (e.g. B Corp, FLA).
EcoPlum is a certified B Corp, WBENC (Women’s Business Enterprise National Council) women-owned business enterprise, and Green America Gold Business. The company is a member of ASBC (American Sustainable Business Council), AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education), FLA (Fair Labor Association), PPC (Plastic Pollution Coalition), and ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute).
Sustainable Swag® solutions at EcoPlum.com, https://ecoplum.com/. For more information:
info(at)ecoplum(dot)com, Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EcoPlum/, LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ecoplum, the
EcoPlum
Biz Blog, Twitter via @ecoplum, and Instagram via @ecoplum.
Contact:
Marcia Robbins
ecoplum.com
1-888-730-9990 Ext. 3
marcia@ecoplum.com
Gia Machlin
ecoplum.com
1-888-730-9990 Ext. 1
gia@ecoplum.com