Adjusting the variables: Writing the new formula for women in STEM

Krystal is a master’s student at TMU currently earning her degree in Environmental Applied Science and Management. Her research focuses on sustainable energy, specifically looking at geothermal energy innovations and their potential impacts on the environment.

Alongside her academic pursuits, Krystal is the founder of an outreach initiative named “BLK Women in STEM”, which aims to provide mentorship opportunities and support to black youth in STEM fields. As part of this initiative, she publishes a virtual magazine to showcase the remarkable accomplishments of black women in STEM whom she interviews. Additionally, Krystal collaborates with SciXchange, the science outreach office at TMU, where she delivers accessible STEM education and workshops to youth across the GTA.

Penny Wise was appointed President of 3M Canada in January 2020. She brings over 20 years of global brand and marketing experience to the role, most recently as the Global Marketing Director of the Safety and Industrial Business Group (3M’s largest business), based out of the 3M global headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota.  

Originally from Canada, Penny began her 3M career at the Canadian head office based in London, Ontario. She has held a variety of progressive senior leadership roles in business, commercialization, brand and corporate marketing including the former Executive Director of the Canadian Consumer business group. 

In 2010, after relocating to 3M global headquarters as the 3M International Marketing Director and Chief Branding Officer, Penny led the team to successfully launch a new global tagline for the company known as “3M Science. Applied to Life™.” 

Before joining 3M in 2000, Penny was a marketing leader in the Canadian Hardware industry.  She holds an MBA from York University, with a specialization in Marketing. She has experience as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and has been responsible for several successful, award-winning marketing transformation projects at 3M.   

In 2021, Penny established a cadence of 3M STEMtalk workshops — bringing together a multidisciplinary cohort of Canadian industry leaders to explore barriers to equitable access to STEM education for underrepresented communities and ideate actionable solutions to remove those barriers. As a result, 3M is working with partners to look at the way STEM is taught and accessed in Canada and help influence the move from STEM role models to champions and rally partners to join us in our efforts. Penny is Co-Chair, Canadian Chamber’s Council for Women’s Advocacy which helps bring the perspectives of women to national policies and drive meaningful action to address the identified issues and barriers facing women. She is a board member for the Business Council of Canada and for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Penny was recognized as one of the WXN’s Top 100 Powerful Women in Canada in 2022.

Dr. Emily Agard earned a B.Sc. (honours) in life sciences from Queen’s University and a Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Toronto. She taught biology at York University and the University of Toronto at Scarborough before joining Toronto Metropolitan University as an Assistant Professor, where she teaches immunology.  Currently, as the Director of SciXchange, she is focused on making science accessible, engaging and inclusive of all groups and is mentor to many youth in the community. She is currently the chapter ambassador for Technovation Girls, Toronto. Emily regularly facilitates science enrichment activities and mentoring programs for elementary and secondary students. She embraces opportunities to speak about learning and applying science in everyday life and various career paths. In her spare time, Emily also enjoys music, travel, sports and photography. She recently completed a certificate in photography studies through the Chang School at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Dr. Roxana Sühring is an Assistant Professor in Analytical Environmental Chemistry at the Department for Chemistry and Biology at Toronto Metropolitan University. She holds a doctor of natural sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) degree in environmental chemistry from the Leuphana University in Lueneburg and conducted postdoctoral research in Germany, Canada, and Sweden. From 2016-2018 she led a regulatory scientist team at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science. During this time, she also was the policy advisor to the Netherland’s delegation for the OSPAR Offshore Industry Committee (OIC) regarding offshore chemicals and advisor for the UK Ministry of Defence regarding potentially polluting shipwrecks.

Her interdisciplinary research encompasses the development of innovative analytical strategies for the characterization of plastic pollutants in water as well as the development of analysis strategies to help understand the chemical, physical and socio-economic factors that drive the observed pollution patterns. For this research she partners with regulatory agencies, industry and academic partners, as well as Indigenous communities from the Canadian Arctic. 

She is a sought-after invited and keynote speaker at international conferences and was featured in the Agilent Technologies Podcast “Spectral Stories from the North”, the microplastic information campaign by Ocean Diagnostic, le Journal de Québec documentary “Microplastiques: Menace dans le Saint-Laurent”, and as editor and author in the children’s journal “Frontiers for Young Minds”.

Alice Thomas is a trailblazer and champion for the advancement of women in tech. With over 30 years of experience, she has helped lead Sun Life’s digital transformation and made significant contributions within the insurance industry, developing best-in-class digital client experiences. Alice was named by WXN as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2021. She is a passionate supporter of diversity, equity and inclusion and continues to carve out inroads for future tech talent.

Dr. Imogen R. Coe is a professor of Chemistry and Biology and founding dean (2012-2018) of the Faculty of Science at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is also an affiliate scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, where her research group studies drug transporters. In addition to being an academic scientist, Dr. Coe is one of Canada’s leading advocates for organizational change towards inclusive excellence in research, particularly in science and medicine. She runs a consulting company providing advice and training on inclusive excellence and has advised federal and national funding agencies on how to integrate equity, diversity and inclusion principles into diverse research cultures and is the inaugural NSERC Scholar-in-Residence. She has published widely on inclusive leadership, misogyny in science and the need for intentional policy around EDI-infused organizational culture. She is much in demand as a speaker and panelist, and has received numerous awards for her advocacy work, most recently, the 2022 Canadian Science Policy Centre Trailblazer (Policy for Science) Award.

Karla Avis-Birch is the Chief Planning Officer at Metrolinx. She leads the Planning & Development team on helping to deliver an integrated, sustainable transit and effective network for all by way of development of the Regional Transportation Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area (GGHA), implementation of key policies and standards that connect communities and maintains a high customer experience, and manages the delivery of benefits from capital projects.

Karla is a Civil Engineering graduate from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). In recognition of her executive leadership and award-winning, multi-billion-dollar project delivery experience, Karla became the recipient of the TMU Alumni Achievement Award in 2021. Karla’s proven record of excellence garnered her a feature in the Women of Influence “Meet a Role Model” article and a spot amongst the 2020 Women in Infrastructure Network (WIN) Outstanding Leaders short list. She also served as the 2017 and 2018 President of the Women in Transportation Seminars (WTS) Toronto Area Chapter. She has been federally appointed by Infrastructure Canada to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority board of directors to oversee the construction of the Gordie Howe bridge.

A champion of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives, she is deeply passionate about raising awareness of inclusion and diversity issues, and encouraging the fostering of inclusive workplace environments.