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Top 25 Women in STEM Speakers

• By Aaron Peterson
•  Feb 07, 2024

Women in STEM speakers inspire the next generation of female professionals to pursue careers in traditionally white, male-dominated sectors and increase diverse representation. By empowering young girls to follow their passions, new steps can be taken in order to break down barriers and equalize systematic imbalances. Engage has a wide array of Women in STEM speakers who specialize in female leadership, innovative technology, group mentorship, and more.

1. Marita Cheng : Marita Cheng is a technology entrepreneur and women in technology advocate. After noticing the low number of girls in her engineering classes at the University of Melbourne, she rounded up her fellow engineering peers, and they went to schools to teach girls robotics as a way to encourage girls to enter engineering. Cheng later expanded the group to London, Australia, the UK, the USA, and Japan, where they run robotics workshops, career talks, and various other community activities to introduce young women to engineering.
2. Lauren Hasson : Lauren Hasson is the Founder of DevelopHer, an award-winning career development platform that has empowered thousands of women in tech to get ahead, stand out, and earn more in their careers. Through DevelopHer, she’s partnered with top tech companies like Google, Dell, Intuit, Armor, and more and has worked with top universities, including Indiana and Tufts, to bridge the gender gap in leadership, opportunity, and pay in tech for good. Hasson’s insight and passion have jump-started a movement that inspires women around the world to seek an understanding of their true value and to learn and continually grow.
3. Dr. Yvonne Cagle : Dr. Yvonne Darlene Cagle is an Aerospace Surgeon, entrepreneur, and consulting professor for Stanford University’s Department of Cardiovascular Medicine and its Department of Electrical Engineering. In addition to holding professorships with Stanford University, UC Davis, and UTMB, she has also participated in an aircraft mission by providing medical support and rescue in a variety of aeromedical missions.
4. Deborah Berebichez : Deborah Berebichez is the first Mexican woman to graduate from Stanford University with a Ph.D. in Physics, and she uses her education and background to make complex topics approachable to a wide range of audiences. She also co-hosts Discovery Channel’s Outrageous Acts of ScienceTV show, where she uses her knowledge of physics to explain the science behind extraordinary engineering feats. Berebichez is the Lead Scientist in Microelectronics and Quantum Computing at VTT and is responsible for facilitating business relationships and churning out a variety of innovative products.
5. Shayla Rivera : Shayla Rivera is an Aerospace Engineer and former Rocket Scientist with NASA turned corporate trainer, International Speaker, TEDx Speaker, TV and radio Host, Emcee/Host, Comedian, Actor, Writer, Seminar Facilitator, Panel Moderator and Awareness Expert. As a spiritually irreverent Mystic and Awareness Expert, she speaks on subjects like inclusion & and diversity, STEM & and STEAM education, and self-growth. Rivera reiterates that “The best way to learn, grow and change, in other words, be enlightened, is to lighten up.”
6. Sharmi Albrechtsen : Sharmi Albrechtsen is the founder of SmartGurlz, a robotics company that engages and encourages girls to code. SmartGurlz's award-winning products are the world's first line of coding robots for girls and have been recommended by the Girl Scouts of America and BlackGirlsCode. Albrechtsen grew the company from a need she identified trying to buy toys for her young daughter into a company with an eight-figure valuation that has sold more than 30,000 products worldwide. As a speaker, she seeks to continue and magnify her goal to diversify the workforce by encouraging women to participate in coding and other STEM activities.
7. Dr. Kimberly Clay : Dr. Kimberly S. Clay is the Founder and CEO of Play Like a Girl, a Nashville-based non-profit organization working to level the playing field for girls by leveraging the skills gained from sports to propel young women into male-dominated careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Clay is also a member of the leadership team for Tennessee Girls Collaborative, the local affiliate of the National Girls Collaborative, bringing together organizations across the nation that are committed to informing and encouraging girls to pursue careers in STEM. In addition, she mentors college women and is a member of the Scholarship Committee for Women in Technology Tennessee.
8. Linda Bernardi : Linda Bernardi is the Co-Founder and CEO of XdMind Inc., a revolutionary company using AI to dynamically adapt music to video gaming. Her focus is to enable all enterprises to imagine, disrupt, and innovate at a record pace and make the impossible become possible. Bernardi helps clients imagine, develop a vision, build products, reshape, and re-imagine their future. As a well-known author in technology disruption and innovation, she reaches thousands of people each year, helping reshape companies.
9. Jenn Donahue : Jenn Donahue, Ph.D., is a retired US Navy Captain and Regimental Commodore. As an engineer, she works on large-scale, high-profile projects, including building a bridge across the Euphrates River in the midst of the Iraq war and constructing combat outposts in the middle of deserts filled with insurgents. Donahue speaks on topics that focus on leadership, overcoming imposter syndrome, and inspiring audiences to achieve greatness.
10. Tan Le: Tan Le is a revolutionary author and entrepreneur within the emerging field of brain-computer interface. She is the founder and CEO of EMOTIV, a neuroinformatics company that is set on improving our understanding of the human brain and developing a platform for researchers, developers, and consumers around the world to be part of a global innovation task force. Le’s book, The NeuroGeneration: The New Era in Brain Enhancement That Is Revolutionizing How We Think, Work & Heal, was published in 2020.
11. Gitanjali Rao : Gitanjali Rao is an inventor, an aspiring scientist, an author, a speaker, and an active promoter of STEM around the world. She was recognized as America's Top Young Scientist and was a recipient of an EPA Presidential award for her patented invention of an innovative lead contamination detection tool. Rao is the author of the book "Young Innovator's Guide to STEM," which guides students, educators, and teachers through a self-developed prescriptive 5-step innovation process.
12. Rania Hoteit : Rania Hoteit is a multi-award-winning serial entrepreneur, global impact leader, speaker, advisor, and author. As founder and CEO of ID4A Technologies, she has built a company whose developments are widely adopted, disrupting traditional supply chains, revolutionizing production processes, and creating significant environmental, economic, and social impacts worldwide. Through her commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 5, 8, 9, 10, and 12, she has contributed to reducing labor exploitation in global production pipelines by improving the skills and working conditions of nearly 2 million people so far.
13. Cassandra Worthy : Cassandra Worthy is the world’s leading expert on Change Enthusiasm®. She emphasizes the importance of growing through change rather than living in a management-based world. Worthy helps guide her audience to not only embrace change but also use it to propel them to heights they never imagined with thousands all over the world.
14. Sara Ross: Sarah Ross is the founder of BrainAMPED, which seeks to provide brain-based tools to decrease stress and exhaustion and increase Leadership Vitality by strengthening the skills of energy management, emotional intelligence, and resilience. She has researched the neuroscience of emotional intelligence (EQ) and performance, along with delivering award-winning leadership programs, assessments, coaching, and accreditation programs, helping leaders from across the globe be their best, even in the most complex and pressure-filled moments.
15. Peggy Smedley : Peggy Smedley is an internationally known speaker and highly respected influencer in the tech world, educating businesses and consumers alike on the latest trends in digital transformation and circularity shaping everyday lives. She is a strong advocate of sustainability and resiliency, and her innovative storytelling is displayed in The Peggy Smedley Show. Smedley has covered topics ranging from manufacturing and construction infrastructure to security and empowering a younger workforce of women to join STEM.
16. Deborah Metts : Deborah Metts is a global educator, brand storyteller, and leading technologist with 10+ years of experience in marketing and the e-commerce side of luxury retail branding. Her specialties include management at startup companies, innovation, Software as a Service (SaaS), SaaS Operations, high availability, and scalability. Metts regularly speaks at fashion tech events throughout the world and has recently discussed her views with media outlets such as Nasdaq, Gals Talk Tech, and Forward-Thinking Founders.
17. Dr. Natoshia Anderson : The engaging, phenomenal founder of Smart STEM, LLC. Dr. Natoshia Anderson is a reformed Mechanical Engineer-turned-award-winning STEM educator and STEM equity/diversity and inclusion advocate, STEM leadership consultant, and dynamic and informative, in-demand motivational speaker and podcast host (STEMming in Stilettos ™). Dr. Anderson loves to offer intensive professional and leadership development coaching and training for women of color in STEM, and STEM DEI keynote/motivational speaking services to organizations, associations, corporations, conferences, and educational systems nationwide.
18. Lavinia Osbourne : Lavinia Osbourne is a Blockchain, Fintech & and Welltech specialist, consultant, and thought leader. She founded Women in Blockchain Talks, an award-winning networking and educational platform that shines a spotlight on dynamic women in the Blockchain space, in 2019. Osbourne brings a fresh and accessible approach to complex subjects and has a deep desire to uplift individuals financially, professionally, and personally, giving those in her community a new way of thinking about money, career, and life opportunities.
19. Amy Nutt: Amy Ellis Nutt is a science writer at The Washington Post. An aborted career as an academic serendipitously propelled Amy, albeit late out of the gate, into journalism. She earned a Masters degree in Journalism at Columbia University and was a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard University. Nutt was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in feature writing in 2009 for “The Accidental Artist,” which eventually became a book, “Shadows Bright as Glass.” In 2011, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing for my series “The Wreck of the Lady Mary.”
20. Amber Case: Amber Case studies the interaction between humans and computers and how our relationship with information is changing the way cultures think, act, and understand their worlds. They are an internationally recognized design advocate and speaker and the author of four books, including Calm Technology and A Kids Book About Technology. Case currently works on next generational governance tools at DAO DAO.
21. Gemma Milne: Gemma Milne is a UK-based writer and researcher focused on narratives surrounding, activism in and political economy of science and technology. She is the author of 'Smoke & Mirrors: How Hype Obscures the Future and How to See Past It'; and is a researcher in Science and Technology Studies and Sociology at both Edinburgh University and Glasgow University focused on corporate futurism and the political economy of deep tech. Milne speaks on all things science and technology - from biotechnology, health, agriculture, and energy, to quantum computing, AI, immersive technologies (VR, AR, metaverse), and space.
22. Clara Durodie : Clara Durodié is a technology strategist specializing in the business and governance of artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services. She is internationally recognized for her expertise, advising Boards of leading financial institutions, think tanks, governments, and academia. She also mentors AI startups on governance, funding, and growth strategy. Durodie is the author of the highly acclaimed Decoding AI in Financial Services - Business Implications for Boards and Professionals, which wasthe first guidebook on AI in financial services for C-level Boards and decision-makers.
23. Nina Schick: Nina Schick is an author and advisor specializing in the Age of AI. She is an expert in AI, deep fakes, and the geopolitics of technology. She helps organizations, businesses, and individuals understand and navigate the risks and opportunities posed by the Age of AI. She is an advisor to Truepic — one of the first companies in the world to build media authentication technology; as well as Synthesia — the world’s first AI text-to-video generation platform.
24. Alison McCauley : For over five years, Alison McCauley has worked to raise awareness and understanding of the “new possible” unlocked by blockchain technology, and how that translates to the next era of the Web: Web3. In 2018, she authored the best-selling book Unblocked , which projected how blockchains could shape organizations and culture. McCauley, as a speaker, touches on subjects such as enterprise, disruptive innovation, and organizational and cultural change.
25. Kristen Ruby : Kris Ruby is the CEO of Ruby Media Group, an award-winning Public Relations and social media marketing agency that helps companies leverage the power of content marketing to increase exposure. She facilitates strategic, creative, measurable targeted campaigns to achieve an organization's strategic business growth objectives. She also presents social media workshops for CEO groups to empower business owners to utilize social tools for their networks. Ruby is a founding member of The Young Entrepreneurs Council.