NAPE Welcomes Meagan Pollock, PhD, as Director of Professional Development

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Laura Sperratore, Communications Manager, NAPE
Phone: 707-407-5118
Email: lsperratore@napequity.org

Gap, PA (08/21/14)–The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) is pleased to announce that Meagan Pollock, PhD, will join its staff as Director of Professional Development. In this role, Dr. Pollock will develop programs and products that help educators, administrators, and counselors improve equity in the classroom, ultimately to increase the participation of women and minorities in high-skill, high-wage, high-demand careers.

Dr. Pollock is a former National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, with a PhD in engineering education from Purdue University. She worked as an engineer for Texas Instruments, including three co-op rotations, before returning to school to earn her doctorate. She has earned a BS in computer science, with a minor in mathematics, from Texas Woman’s University (graduated cum laude and from the Honors Scholar Program) and an MS in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University as a part of the Program for Semiconductor Product Engineering.

Dr. Pollock is very familiar with the NAPE organization and its work. She has served as a consultant since 2011, delivering professional development, developing the STEM Careers Toolkit as part of NAPE’s Focus on Counselors Initiative, and developing online courses.

Since 2008, Dr. Pollock has enjoyed working as a consultant for other nonprofit and private-sector organizations, developing curriculum and programs and conducting research related to gender and race equity and STEM. Previous clients include High-Tech High-Heels, Learning.com, Scientific Minds, and Texas Instruments Education Technology.

As a researcher, Dr. Pollock’s work has focused on closing the gender gap in engineering, improving STEM career counseling, equipping STEM professionals to be role models, and equity training for educators.

“We are very excited about Dr. Pollock’s joining NAPE as the Director of Professional Development,” said NAPE Chief Executive Officer, Mimi Lufkin. “Her experience as an engineer, her engineering education training, and her knowledge of educational equity brings a unique perspective that will help us continue to expand NAPE’s high quality professional development programs, products and services.”