Tong is a first-generation American who immigrated from China as a small child. She attended Title I schools throughout her elementary years and credits the dedicated teachers and well-rounded education she received for shaping her career interests and fostering her academic success. Tong is passionate about expanding equitable STEM opportunities across the educational continuum in her home state of Oregon and beyond. She has 10+ years in nonprofit and education leadership and working with organizations to create meaningful and sustained social impact. She was previously the executive director of Oregon MESA, an invention based equity program serving underrepresented K-12 students, and she was also a founding staff member and COO of Thread, an organization providing wrap-around support to high school students in Baltimore city. Prior to her work in nonprofit management, she worked on developing immunotherapy approaches for gynecologic cancers. She has a Ph.D. in Immunology from The Johns Hopkins University-School of Medicine and a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Washington.

Kateri is a clinical research leader dedicated to catalyzing growth and empowerment within her professional teams and community. In her career, she focuses on elevating projects, processes, and programs through communication, collaboration, and shared strategic direction. She has a knack for translating complex data into visually compelling, actionable insights. Her research interests include social determinants of health and leveraging large datasets to investigate novel questions about underserved populations. She was a founding member of WIS Portland and is proud to serve as an Advisory Board member. Outside of work and WIS, you may find her listening or dancing to music, spending contemplative time in the forest, practicing yoga and meditation, or hanging out with her 9 year old son and Maine Coon cat. Kateri has a PhD in cellular neuroscience and currently works at Providence.

Jackie is a biochemist by training, a nonprofit executive by profession, and a passionate community advocate. Her research career spanned 15 years covering topics as varied as DNA repair to the structural properties of skin. She spent 10 years as a faculty member and dean at Oregon Health & Science University, with an emphasis on data science, workforce development, and healthcare education. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Donate Life Northwest, promoting community health through organ, eye, and tissue donation. Using her collaborative and strategic skills, Jackie helps connect people and ideas to create meaningful change. Jackie is a classically trained pianist, an avid reader, and an exceptionally bad runner. She believes that coffee is happiness and would love to meet with community members for a cup anytime.

Rachel is a member of the Diné (Navajo) Nation, a biomedical engineer, and entrepreneur with 23+ years of experience in engineering product development, consulting, startups, lab automation & robotics, DNA synthesis, 3D printing, and medical and surgical device development. As Co-Founder and CEO of a neurosurgery device company, NeuraMedica Inc., she manages all aspects of commercialization including business development, fundraising, operations, IP, engineering development, market research and sales & marketing. She has also run successful engineering consultancies since 2008 specializing in medical device design for clients such as OHSU, Bayer Healthcare, Ziba Design, and Acute Innovations (a subsidiary of Acumed). She has extensive experience in orthopedics, neurosurgery, dentistry, bioabsorbable polymers, mechanical design, prototyping, and all phases of product development in an FDA-regulated environment. She received her B.S. degree in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1999.

Astrid is a life sciences strategy consultant and utilizes her bioscience and business background to provide actionable advice for her biotech and pharma clients. Prior to this, she spent a year in Eastern Africa as part of a global team identifying promising medical technologies appropriate for low-income countries and limited resource settings. Astrid has an M.Sc. in Engineering and Entrepreneurship and a B.S in biology from the University of Notre Dame.

Astrid has served as vice-president, treasurer, and negotiation bootcamp instructor for Women in Science Portland. Her passion is to help women increase their awareness of the pervasive systemic inequities that they face, and to empower them to create change both in their individual lives and for the world at large. In her spare time, Astrid loves to spend time with her dog Riley and to travel the world. She has a penchant for making long-lasting serendipitous connections with individuals from her traveling adventures.

Tricia’s primary work is as Director at GTT Group, headquartered in Portland, bridging business strategy, market forensics & trends, and financial analysis with patent portfolio monetization strategies.

Tricia is an Advisory Board member with WIS-PDX, serves on the Women in Cleantech & Sustainability Entrepreneurship Committee, and various other community networks that strive to empower and support women and other underrepresented people in the innovation and entrepreneurship space. In service of a passion for I&E and the opportunity to have a positive impact on the planet and people, their 10+ year career track as a multi-disciplinary project leader, expert analyst, and creative continues to be leveraged in the impact investing and cleantech startup community through volunteerism and the like.

Tricia is classically trained in chemistry & materials science with tangential work in economic development, business, sustainability, and marketing.

While systems thinking, spreadsheets, forecasts, and financial expectations are Tricia’s professional love language, she and Maggie (her Golden Retriever), love to slow down and experience nature, mindfulness, community, arts, sport, and food.