Episode #6: Dr. Leena is truly a remarkable soul that continues to make the world a better place through her work in education. As founder of STEM 4 Real, Leena and her team drive the opportunities for equity and social justice in the educational system. You won't want to miss her passion or the beautiful way she approaches life!
Dr. Leena Bakshi intensively studies STEM education and how we can create access and opportunities for each and every student regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or socioeconomic status. Leena earned her B.A. degree in biology from UC Berkeley, M.A. in Education from Claremont Graduate University, and a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California. She has researched schools spanning all across the state of California and completed her dissertation on The Successful Implementation of STEM Initiatives in Lower Income Schools. She worked as a teacher and master teacher teaching math, science and health in middle school and high school. She went on to work as a site administrator for continuation school students and served as the science program director at the county office of education and on the statewide network of science educators collaborating with teachers, instructional coaches and administrators on the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core, and English Language Development standards. After seeing the limited access that underrepresented students have in STEM subjects, she founded STEM 4 Real, a nonprofit professional learning organization committed to combining STEM content learning with principles of equity and social justice. In addition to quality professional learning, the company showcases real-life STEM stars that are breaking barriers and pioneering key breakthroughs in the STEM fields through children’s literature. Through this #4Real commitment, the organization hopes to increase the school to STEM career pipeline with a diversified STEM workforce that will continue to change the world.
Episode #6: Dr. Leena is truly a remarkable soul that continues to make the world a better place through her work in education. As founder of STEM 4 Real, Leena and her team drive the opportunities for equity and social justice in the educational system. You won't want to miss her passion or the beautiful way she approaches life!
Dr. Leena Bakshi intensively studies STEM education and how we can create access and opportunities for each and every student regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or socioeconomic status. Leena earned her B.A. degree in biology from UC Berkeley, M.A. in Education from Claremont Graduate University, and a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California. She has researched schools spanning all across the state of California and completed her dissertation on The Successful Implementation of STEM Initiatives in Lower Income Schools. She worked as a teacher and master teacher teaching math, science and health in middle school and high school. She went on to work as a site administrator for continuation school students and served as the science program director at the county office of education and on the statewide network of science educators collaborating with teachers, instructional coaches and administrators on the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core, and English Language Development standards. After seeing the limited access that underrepresented students have in STEM subjects, she founded STEM 4 Real, a nonprofit professional learning organization committed to combining STEM content learning with principles of equity and social justice. In addition to quality professional learning, the company showcases real-life STEM stars that are breaking barriers and pioneering key breakthroughs in the STEM fields through children’s literature. Through this #4Real commitment, the organization hopes to increase the school to STEM career pipeline with a diversified STEM workforce that will continue to change the world.