Technovation Challenge
As we kick our 4th Technovation Challenge season off next week with our 12-week course on P2PU, we would like to introduce our team at Iridescent. We are the four women in Boston, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco who run Technovation Challenge. It is a pleasure to work with your teams around the world this season.
Jenna Blanton, Director of Communications and Program Development, Technovation Challenge
Jenna Blanton has a track record for empowering the lives of young people through science education. Previous to her time at Iridescent she served an AmeriCorps VISTA at the California Conservation Corps (CCC). In her position at the CCC she enhanced the agencies capacity to educate thousands of underserved young adults. Since 2010 Jenna has led the Iridescent Science Studio in South LA and has had a deep commitment to providing programming for underrepresented communities. In 2011 she led the Technovation Challenge scale up to Los Angeles. Jenna earned her B.S. In Environmental Science and B.A in Organizational Communication from Western Michigan University.
AnnaLise Hoopes, Director SF Bay Area, Technovation Challenge
AnnaLise holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Studio Art from the University of Notre Dame, a Master’s in Education from Harvard University, and a California teaching credential. AnnaLise taught elementary school before joining Iridescent in 2010. Over the past two and a half years, she has worked to grow Iridescent’s Technovation program from 43 girls to 520 nationwide. AnnaLise is passionate about empowering young people with the skills, tools and confidence to make a difference in the world.
Angélica Torres, Senior Director, Technovation Challenge
Angélica applies her research backgroundin anthropology, ecology, and psychology to create learning environments and communities that create bridges between corporations, pre-K-12 classrooms, and higher education. She came to know STEM as an educational concept via a NSF Graduate K-12 fellowship. She loves project management and in a previous job delivered fast-paced assignments for Wall Street and life science executives. Angélica led Technovation Challenge 2012 in NYC and oversees global operations for Technovation Challenge 2013. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and 7-month old son.
Tahani Zeid, Director of Educational Technology, Technovation Challenge
