February 11, 2025 • 9 mins
Today we're highlighting all of the accomplishments of Cynthia Chapple, and her organization Black Girls Do STEM.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome stuff. I
never told you a protection of iHeart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And welcome to another feminist around the world. And y'all,
it is still Black History Month here in the US,
no matter if the Google calendar has decided to bend
the need to the new administration and its foolishness, it
is still Black History Month and we acknowledge it because
it is. And with that, let's talk about some amazing
people in the STEM field and how they are working
(00:39):
to bring more marginalized people into the industry. Specifically, let's
talk about Cynthia Chapel and her organization Black Girls Do STEM.
And if you have well, I guess this is only
the second episode in February of twenty twenty five, but
that step right there. Yeah, we're focusing a lot on
people in the US who are contributing to making history
(01:01):
within the black community, and we think it's really important
during a time where they are trying to eradicate that,
so stick with us. Chapel has talked about her love
of learning in an interview with Innovation City, which is
like a YouTube and podcast I believe, so you should
go take a listen. She talks about her passion and
wanting to know more and always asking questions about how
(01:22):
things worked, and how that was so important that to
her that she wanted for children like her it's like
similar situations, specifically young girls, to be able to do
that as well. She had understood how often society hindered
young girls, especially black girls, from doing so. So this
is something that's really pushed her in her work and
(01:44):
her passion, and because of that passion, she created Black
Girls Do Stem bg DS so that those initials are
used throughout a lot of interviews, and then that's also
her site bgds dot com. I believe so with a
back ground and chemistry and experience in the field, she
understands the difficulty in the field for young black girls.
(02:07):
In an interview with Voyage stl or Voyage Saint Louis,
she talks about her childhood and education. So here's a quote.
I grew up on the South Side of Chicago as
one of eight children. Chocolate is my favorite thing to
eat all the time, for no reason at all. I
attended Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis for my undergraduate degrees
in forensic and Investigative science and chemistry. I subsequently returned
(02:31):
to school and received a master's of Science and chemistry
in twenty fifteen. I worked for a state crime lab
and also very different industries, and my most recent employer
in the manufacturing industry and electrical codings market as senior
research and development chemist. So she's done a lot in
this field. And in that same interview for Voyage, she
goes on to talk about her experiences in STEM. The
(02:53):
challenges I have faced have been around access to the
STEM program as a young black girl growing up on
the South Side of Chicago, or undergraduate student working several
jobs while going to school, juggling class and work, or
the graduate student tutoring to make ends meet all the
way to the professional who continuously felt isolated and singles
out in a space void of other minorities and often
(03:15):
other women. And in another interview she did with Saint
Louis American, she talks about having mentors herself that helped
her pursue her passions. She says, as a high school student,
I had a mentor who was an aeronautical engineer who
worked for NASA. She was young, gifted, and black, and
I was so impressed with her. I knew I would
be a scientist. I was always interested in biology, but
(03:36):
also loved math. So I decided on chemistry because it
was less reading, more math, and still very useful in
creating and improving the world. Filly, you two would have
been friends. Annie with the math. Yeah, you had someone
like her in your life. Y'all could have encouraged each
other to love math and grow on in it.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
It would have been nice.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
This is why this is important and with having such
a great mentor. She talks about how her organization came about.
So here's some information from an article for Nicky Central
westendguide dot com. While working full time, Chapel became involved
in community outreach programs that increased ginger equity in STEM.
As a researcher, she discovered that black girls in the
Saint Louis public school systems were not participating in math
(04:18):
and science programs. To target that audience, in twenty fifteen,
she started an online social awareness campaign highlighting the contribution
of black women in STEM. In twenty eighteen, Chapel reached
out to the community centers to gauge interest in hosting
pop up STEM workshops for six to eighth grade black girls.
She got the word out and was thrilled when girls
(04:39):
started showing up. The idea quickly took on a life
of its own, and by the end of that year
she had seven community centers eager to participate. I was
literally bringing supplies out of the trunk of my car,
trying to make a great experience for the girls, she says.
So I love this. I love when programs come out
of just love and passion. Yeah, it's so beautiful. And
(05:03):
with the help of some partners, in twenty nineteen, she
was able to do the first Girls Do STEM Spring
Break pilot camp with eighty girls participating, and I believe
since then like hundreds of girls have participated. Here's some
more information from their site, bgdstem dot com. Our goal
is to create a cradle sue career pathway to strengthen
and diversify the pipeline of skilled workers entering today's dynamic
(05:27):
labor market. Black Girls Do STEM specifically targets Black girls
who've been traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. We work to
advance twenty first century skills necessary to complete rigorous academic
programs and obtain family wage employment by creating a culturally
affirming learning space. We give room for cognitive and mental resilience.
(05:48):
Our programs provide a seven year continuous pathway for black girls,
beginning in sixth grade to the twelfth. We also support
them into university and workforce entry. We love mentoring, Barga
love it, I love them, and some more. From the
site from Chapel herself. My purpose of creating Black Girls
(06:08):
Do Stem is to change the face of STEM industry.
As both black and a woman, I have felt culturally
isolated in STEM workplaces. I can say I often walk
into spaces as either the only black woman or only minority.
I see very few people who look like me leading
within STEM industry. I am left to ask myself why. Then,
(06:29):
as I reflected on my college years and upbringing, I
am faced with the harsh reality that the lack of
exposure and encouragement may be the reasoning for my often
solo appearance in STEM industry. By launching Black Girls Do Stem,
I strive to provide a middle school age black girls
opportunity to learn, create, and build confidence in their abilities
to become STEM professionals. In doing this, we will be
(06:52):
closing the gap between black women's scientists and engineers and
the rest of the STEM world, opening black girl's eyes
to the possibilities in them while they are still curious
and excited to learn new things, giving black girls the
opportunity to be on the forefront of the next scientific discovery.
I believe black girls can, black girls will do STEM.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I love that, Yeah, so much.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I love that. And the program offers so much more
from programs for middle school, high schoolers and college students,
and again from their size. This is their three main goals.
Improving self confidence, they say, we have found black girls
who undergo our program show significant improvements in social and
personal growth, including overall self confidence, as well as confidence
(07:38):
in their ability to learn new STEM techniques, reasoning and
critical thinking skills. Increasing engagement. Black girls who undergo our
program have an increased overall engagement with STEM, reporting greater
access to STEM career understanding and learning. And then their third,
sparking STEM career interest. Black girls who undergo our program
(07:58):
report an overall increase in STEM interest with significant opportunities
for career exploration, leading to an improvement in overall occupational awareness.
So obviously, there's so much more to who she is,
and there are programs that they have created, but We
just wanted to highlight something that is so amazing and
that's something that we want to see more and more
(08:18):
of and why programs like these are so important.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yes, absolutely, you know you know I love it. I
love it well listeners. As always, If you have any
suggestions or any thoughts, you can contact us in many
ways that you can email us at Hello at stuff
Oneenever Told You dot com. You can find us on
blue Sky at mom Stuff podcast, or on Instagram and
TikTok at stuff when Never Told You. We're also on YouTube.
(08:43):
We have a tea public store, and we have a
book you can get wherever you get your books. Thanks
as always too our super producer Christina, executive producer Maya,
and architector Joey.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Thank you and thanks to you for listening.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Stuff Never Told You is protection by Heart Radio. For
more podcast from my heart Radio, you can check out
the heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen
to your favorite US Yeah
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome stuff. I
never told you a protection of iHeart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And welcome to another feminist around the world. And y'all,
it is still Black History Month here in the US,
no matter if the Google calendar has decided to bend
the need to the new administration and its foolishness, it
is still Black History Month and we acknowledge it because
it is. And with that, let's talk about some amazing
people in the STEM field and how they are working
(00:39):
to bring more marginalized people into the industry. Specifically, let's
talk about Cynthia Chapel and her organization Black Girls Do STEM.
And if you have well, I guess this is only
the second episode in February of twenty twenty five, but
that step right there. Yeah, we're focusing a lot on
people in the US who are contributing to making history
(01:01):
within the black community, and we think it's really important
during a time where they are trying to eradicate that,
so stick with us. Chapel has talked about her love
of learning in an interview with Innovation City, which is
like a YouTube and podcast I believe, so you should
go take a listen. She talks about her passion and
wanting to know more and always asking questions about how
(01:22):
things worked, and how that was so important that to
her that she wanted for children like her it's like
similar situations, specifically young girls, to be able to do
that as well. She had understood how often society hindered
young girls, especially black girls, from doing so. So this
is something that's really pushed her in her work and
(01:44):
her passion, and because of that passion, she created Black
Girls Do Stem bg DS so that those initials are
used throughout a lot of interviews, and then that's also
her site bgds dot com. I believe so with a
back ground and chemistry and experience in the field, she
understands the difficulty in the field for young black girls.
(02:07):
In an interview with Voyage stl or Voyage Saint Louis,
she talks about her childhood and education. So here's a quote.
I grew up on the South Side of Chicago as
one of eight children. Chocolate is my favorite thing to
eat all the time, for no reason at all. I
attended Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis for my undergraduate degrees
in forensic and Investigative science and chemistry. I subsequently returned
(02:31):
to school and received a master's of Science and chemistry
in twenty fifteen. I worked for a state crime lab
and also very different industries, and my most recent employer
in the manufacturing industry and electrical codings market as senior
research and development chemist. So she's done a lot in
this field. And in that same interview for Voyage, she
goes on to talk about her experiences in STEM. The
(02:53):
challenges I have faced have been around access to the
STEM program as a young black girl growing up on
the South Side of Chicago, or undergraduate student working several
jobs while going to school, juggling class and work, or
the graduate student tutoring to make ends meet all the
way to the professional who continuously felt isolated and singles
out in a space void of other minorities and often
(03:15):
other women. And in another interview she did with Saint
Louis American, she talks about having mentors herself that helped
her pursue her passions. She says, as a high school student,
I had a mentor who was an aeronautical engineer who
worked for NASA. She was young, gifted, and black, and
I was so impressed with her. I knew I would
be a scientist. I was always interested in biology, but
(03:36):
also loved math. So I decided on chemistry because it
was less reading, more math, and still very useful in
creating and improving the world. Filly, you two would have
been friends. Annie with the math. Yeah, you had someone
like her in your life. Y'all could have encouraged each
other to love math and grow on in it.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
It would have been nice.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
This is why this is important and with having such
a great mentor. She talks about how her organization came about.
So here's some information from an article for Nicky Central
westendguide dot com. While working full time, Chapel became involved
in community outreach programs that increased ginger equity in STEM.
As a researcher, she discovered that black girls in the
Saint Louis public school systems were not participating in math
(04:18):
and science programs. To target that audience, in twenty fifteen,
she started an online social awareness campaign highlighting the contribution
of black women in STEM. In twenty eighteen, Chapel reached
out to the community centers to gauge interest in hosting
pop up STEM workshops for six to eighth grade black girls.
She got the word out and was thrilled when girls
(04:39):
started showing up. The idea quickly took on a life
of its own, and by the end of that year
she had seven community centers eager to participate. I was
literally bringing supplies out of the trunk of my car,
trying to make a great experience for the girls, she says.
So I love this. I love when programs come out
of just love and passion. Yeah, it's so beautiful. And
(05:03):
with the help of some partners, in twenty nineteen, she
was able to do the first Girls Do STEM Spring
Break pilot camp with eighty girls participating, and I believe
since then like hundreds of girls have participated. Here's some
more information from their site, bgdstem dot com. Our goal
is to create a cradle sue career pathway to strengthen
and diversify the pipeline of skilled workers entering today's dynamic
(05:27):
labor market. Black Girls Do STEM specifically targets Black girls
who've been traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. We work to
advance twenty first century skills necessary to complete rigorous academic
programs and obtain family wage employment by creating a culturally
affirming learning space. We give room for cognitive and mental resilience.
(05:48):
Our programs provide a seven year continuous pathway for black girls,
beginning in sixth grade to the twelfth. We also support
them into university and workforce entry. We love mentoring, Barga
love it, I love them, and some more. From the
site from Chapel herself. My purpose of creating Black Girls
(06:08):
Do Stem is to change the face of STEM industry.
As both black and a woman, I have felt culturally
isolated in STEM workplaces. I can say I often walk
into spaces as either the only black woman or only minority.
I see very few people who look like me leading
within STEM industry. I am left to ask myself why. Then,
(06:29):
as I reflected on my college years and upbringing, I
am faced with the harsh reality that the lack of
exposure and encouragement may be the reasoning for my often
solo appearance in STEM industry. By launching Black Girls Do Stem,
I strive to provide a middle school age black girls
opportunity to learn, create, and build confidence in their abilities
to become STEM professionals. In doing this, we will be
(06:52):
closing the gap between black women's scientists and engineers and
the rest of the STEM world, opening black girl's eyes
to the possibilities in them while they are still curious
and excited to learn new things, giving black girls the
opportunity to be on the forefront of the next scientific discovery.
I believe black girls can, black girls will do STEM.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I love that, Yeah, so much.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I love that. And the program offers so much more
from programs for middle school, high schoolers and college students,
and again from their size. This is their three main goals.
Improving self confidence, they say, we have found black girls
who undergo our program show significant improvements in social and
personal growth, including overall self confidence, as well as confidence
(07:38):
in their ability to learn new STEM techniques, reasoning and
critical thinking skills. Increasing engagement. Black girls who undergo our
program have an increased overall engagement with STEM, reporting greater
access to STEM career understanding and learning. And then their third,
sparking STEM career interest. Black girls who undergo our program
(07:58):
report an overall increase in STEM interest with significant opportunities
for career exploration, leading to an improvement in overall occupational awareness.
So obviously, there's so much more to who she is,
and there are programs that they have created, but We
just wanted to highlight something that is so amazing and
that's something that we want to see more and more
(08:18):
of and why programs like these are so important.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yes, absolutely, you know you know I love it. I
love it well listeners. As always, If you have any
suggestions or any thoughts, you can contact us in many
ways that you can email us at Hello at stuff
Oneenever Told You dot com. You can find us on
blue Sky at mom Stuff podcast, or on Instagram and
TikTok at stuff when Never Told You. We're also on YouTube.
(08:43):
We have a tea public store, and we have a
book you can get wherever you get your books. Thanks
as always too our super producer Christina, executive producer Maya,
and architector Joey.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Thank you and thanks to you for listening.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Stuff Never Told You is protection by Heart Radio. For
more podcast from my heart Radio, you can check out
the heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen
to your favorite US Yeah
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