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Society's ambition to change the organization and the world. Among the many initiatives she has championed is NSBEs partnership with INROADS to publish a diversity, equity and inclusion corporate index, in which NSBE members who have served as interns at major com- panies rate those employers on their DEI.
Warrior for Justice
Only two months after taking NSBEs top post, Nerrise wel- comed Janeen Uzzell, engineer, veteran technology executive and self-described tech catalyst for equity and tech justice, as the Society's first-ever chief executiveicer.Uzzell,along- ime NSBE member, was chief operatingicerofWikimedia Foundation when she joined the Society's staffin July of last
Favour Nerrise
year. Before her move to the nonprofit sector, she had a 16- year tenure as an executive for GE, where her most cherished role was as director of health- care programs for GE Africa in Accra, Ghana. Another proud HBCU alum, Uzzell earned her Bachelor of Science in Me- chanical Engineering at North Carolina A&T State University then continued her education at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she earned her MBA. Throughout my career and most of my life, I have had a passion for providing people with access to critical resourc- es through technology, says Uzzell. At NSBE, the focus is expanding access to the critical ield of engineering to create
At NSBE, the focus is expanding access to the critical field of engineering to create more Black, STEM-trained problem solvers to address the worlds challenges and empower Black communities.
- NSBE CEO, Janeen Uzzell
more Black, STEM-trained problem solvers to address the worlds challenges and empow- er Black communities. Like Nerrise and Williams, Uzzell is leveraging her power within NSBE for the greater good. A longtime board mem- ber for Mercy Ships, DFree and the Engineering Advisory Board of her undergraduate alma mater, she was selected to serve on the Presidents Board of Advisors on HBCUs in March. I believe 2021-22 was the beginning of a new era for NSBE, says Nerrise, one that inspires the membership to make the greatest possible impact both on the NSBE family and society at large.
More than 5,900 Black students received engineering bachelors degrees in the U.S. in 2020.
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