The world continues to change at a rapid pace for all of us, especially since the pandemic has spread around the world. Beyond the additional safety concerns, we’ve seen the world change as it has embraced more technology for remote working and learning, as we now face new challenges with supply chains in a global market, and as we’ve seen a shortage of workers in several industries, leading to what is now called the Great Resignation.
Despite all these challenges, life goes on. To live is to change, and Her Spark continues to live and thrive.
We introduced our 10-person Advisory board at the start of 2021. This group of women and men have provided support and guidance to Her Spark on how to best grow and evolve. We also hired our first paid intern since this summer to help us grow our presence on Instagram.
Last January, we brought on a lot of new leaders in our Board of Directors. Each member of our seven-person board has gone through at least one job change (a couple folks had two!) in 2021. We had a wedding. We had a new baby be born. We’ve had other significant life changes including purchasing a new home and adopting new pets. This year has kept us all very busy.
And with all these life changes, we continued our service to Her Spark, offering an Ignite event in February on eSports and Gaming and hosting our 2021 Summer Summit virtually with the theme of Superheroines in STEM. We’ve also had one of our most successful years in fundraising to date. Thanks to the contributions and donations from many companies and individuals, Her Spark has kept the lights on and is looking to grow and expand.
As we prepare for 2022, we are preparing to invite new members to our Board of Directors. After three years as our Treasurer and two years as our Donor and Fundraising Lead, Aylin and Debby will be making way for new leadership on our board. We also recently welcomed Meagan Raviele as our new Events and Program Lead after Diane stepped down to pursue a job opportunity in Dublin. We welcome all our new members.
We’re especially excited to see what programs we can offer our students in 2022. We have plans to change our Ignite Events from single-day events to a series of one- to two-hour long sessions on specific topics. As the state of the world continues to evolve, we are hopeful that we can one day all meet again in person for live programming and events.
To all of our students and parents who’ve supported us over the years, thank you.
To all of our sponsors and donors who’ve provided for our STEM community, thank you.
To all of our board members and volunteers and vendors, we couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you.
Wishing everyone all the best as we wrap up the year. Let’s have an amazing 2022!
Ruwani Biggers
Her Spark President
