The Princess Program STEM is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit on a mission to transform how kids experience STEM, ensuring it is accessible and engaging for all young minds. Through our fairytale-inspired STEM activities and guides, we are breaking down barriers and inspiring children to dream boldly as they engineer their own happily ever afters, and we are supporting parents and educators as they seek to empower the future innovators in their lives with STEM confidence in engaging STEM experiences. Join us in empowering the next generation of problem solvers and creators as we teach all young kids they can be both, because an engineer is a princess who can build her own castle!
Building Enthusiasm
It's well documented that our youth, particularly women, don't respond overwhelmingly favorably to traditional messaging about engineering being based on the application of mathematics and sciences. Many STEM outreach initiatives teach incredibly valuable lessons in these areas, but they aren't taught in a language that excited and inspires the next generation of female technologists. The Princess Program aims to mesh creative play and crafting with engineering education to speak the language that resonates with young girls and build enthusiasm while also shattering stereotypes associated with women (and girls) in STEM.
Improving Accessibility
As new STEM programs are spun up, they often require costly tuition payments or travel to distant or inaccessible locations. This can disparity in access across socioeconomic bands, which contributes to the lack of representative diversity in STEM fields. The Princess Program STEM is comprised entirely of free online resources that any student, parent, or teacher can download and print. Additionally, any parent, student, or teacher can request in-person or virtual STEM activity instruction free of charge (donations encouraged to offset facilitation costs). From activity facilitation guides to coloring pages, everything is available on-demand at no-cost, making sure that every young person can see themselves having a future that is stronger with STEM!
If you happen to be located in the Southern California area and would like to request a facilitated classroom visit from our founder, please use this form to coordinate a FREE visit!
If you'd like to read more about the impact we've had, you can find our 2024 Annual Report here.
Building Enthusiasm
It's well documented that our youth, particularly women, don't respond overwhelmingly favorably to traditional messaging about engineering being based on the application of mathematics and sciences. Many STEM outreach initiatives teach incredibly valuable lessons in these areas, but they aren't taught in a language that excited and inspires the next generation of female technologists. The Princess Program aims to mesh creative play and crafting with engineering education to speak the language that resonates with young girls and build enthusiasm while also shattering stereotypes associated with women (and girls) in STEM.
Improving Accessibility
As new STEM programs are spun up, they often require costly tuition payments or travel to distant or inaccessible locations. This can disparity in access across socioeconomic bands, which contributes to the lack of representative diversity in STEM fields. The Princess Program STEM is comprised entirely of free online resources that any student, parent, or teacher can download and print. Additionally, any parent, student, or teacher can request in-person or virtual STEM activity instruction free of charge (donations encouraged to offset facilitation costs). From activity facilitation guides to coloring pages, everything is available on-demand at no-cost, making sure that every young person can see themselves having a future that is stronger with STEM!
If you happen to be located in the Southern California area and would like to request a facilitated classroom visit from our founder, please use this form to coordinate a FREE visit!
If you'd like to read more about the impact we've had, you can find our 2024 Annual Report here.
Meet the Board
|
Dr. Kelsey Kirrene - Founder & President (Queen)
Dr. Kelsey Kirrene is a real life space engineer, (pageant) queen, and girl mom. She holds a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering and a masters degree in engineering and technology innovation management, both from Carnegie Mellon University, and a doctorate in educational leadership and organizational innovation from Marymount University. While in school she also minored in photography, worked in a daycare, and earned a certificate in Spanish language and culture. Since graduating she has worked in the aerospace and defense industry, developing technologies from cyberspace to outer-space! She currently works as a space payload systems engineer, architecting optical payloads and analyzing space data! Kelsey began competing in pageants at age 24 - because you're never too old to be a real life princess! She has focused her platform advocacy work around STEM outreach and education, volunteering with many organizations. Throughout her work, she realized how exciting it was to many young girls to see a princess doing STEM. So, to further spread positivity and inspiration, specifically targeting "girly girls" who are often missed with traditional STEM outreach, she founded The Princess Program STEM! |
|
Jenny Tran - Vice President (Deputy Queen)
Jenny Tran is a research scientist and pageant queen who enjoys breaking down stereotypes in STEM. With a Bachelor’s in Biochemistry and a Master’s in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jenny has made significant contributions to research in Alzheimer’s disease and organ transplant diagnostics. Her innovative work is directly impacting the lives of patients seeking organ transplants. Beyond her scientific achievements, Jenny is a dog mom, choir singer, STEM event organizer, and mentor. She is passionate about inspiring young women to pursue careers in STEM and providing them with the resources and support they need to succeed. |
|
Stephanie Spies - Treasurer (Financial Queen)
Stephanie works as a Senior Financial Advisor at Modera Wealth Management. She is both a Certified Financial Planner(R) and an Enrolled Agent authorized to practice before the IRS. Stephanie partners with her clients to build, execute, and monitor the progress of their financial plans and investment strategies to help them achieve their financial goals. She has experience working in many areas of wealth planning including retirement planning, estate planning, tax planning, risk management, and investment management. Stephanie holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and financial planning from William Paterson University. She also works as an adjunct professor for William Paterson teaching financial planning courses. Through teaching, she hopes to inspire the next generation of financial planners - especially women who are underrepresented in the profession. |
|
Lianyan Xu - Administrator
COMING SOON |
|
Andrea Lawrence - Webmaster (Cyber Queen)
Andrea Lawrence is a Cybersecurity Engineer specializing in security operations and automation. She ensures best practices and protocols are followed using a shift-left security approach to software development. With over 15 years of IT experience across security, cloud infrastructure, software development, and networking, she bridges the gap between Developers and Security, driving collaboration and secure design practices. Andrea's love for tech began in childhood, inspired by building computers and playing video games with her stepdad. She pursued her interests by taking computer classes in high school, followed by studying Computer Information Systems at Bellarmine University. An advocate for Women in STEM, Andrea combined her pageant titles and love for tech with public speaking to inspire young girls, showing that intelligence and femininity can go hand-in-hand. She blended her passions for video games, tech, and cosmetics to create her personal brand, the1337beauty. Now, as a first-time girl mom, she continues to share her enthusiasm for STEM with her daughter. |
|
Rebecca Hawkins - Member at Large (Chaos Queen)
Rebecca Hawkins is a licensed Professional Engineer who has over 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry. It's her job to ensure that medicine or vitamins people take, cosmetics people use, or medical devices that people need are safe to use, through extensive testing of every aspect of the manufacturing buildings, equipment, computer systems, and processes. Her colleagues have described her as a "pink Swiss Army Knife", because it seems that there's very little she can't do on the job. She spills the secrets to her STEM career success at her blog, Pink Tools and Pearls. Rebecca has a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from Villanova University, where she also sang in three choirs, anchored the quiz bowl team, and was a Teaching Assistant in General Chemistry. Rebecca is happily married to her brilliant king, who keeps her out of the dungeon (because he's a lawyer), and is the proud mama of triplet princess nerdlings who wear dresses, play in the lab, dig in the dirt, program computers, and break stuff in the name of science. Then there are two cats and a cocker spaniel under foot. With all of that activity, it's no wonder she reigns as the Chaos Queen. |