Giving Compass' Take:

• Ahalya Srikant highlights the nonprofit, NexGeneGirls, that gives girls STEM experience and changing the face of gender equity in life sciences. 

• How can funders help expand and replicate this program? Are gender-specific programs the best way to engage girls in STEM?

• Learn about the global underrepresentation of girls in STEM.


Marlena Jackson recalls that her daughter was 8 years old when she raised her hand in a science class and said “a scientist looks like my mom.” Upon hearing that her daughter said this to classmates envisioning a scientist as an Einstein-esque man in a lab coat, Jackson was struck by the impact a positive and personal role model can have on challenging the status quo.

Growing up in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco, Jackson always felt like her community lacked role models for high school-aged women in particular.

“When I looked around my own community and realized I was in a really great place myself, being at the world’s first biotech company, what could I do more to give back,” Jackson thought.

Jackson, a longtime scientific researcher at Genentech who currently serves as a diversity talent partner at the company, founded nonprofit NexGeneGirls in 2011 to empower young girls from marginalized communities to create career paths in the life sciences.

NexGeneGirls exposes girls from underserved neighborhoods to professionals and hands-on experiences in the life sciences. It is one of a growing ecosystem of organizations in the Bay Area intended to diversify the field through early education and mentorship.

Read the full article about exposing girls to STEM education by Ahalya Srikant at San Francisco Business Times.