Professor of Statistics, Rice University, Houston, Texas; Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at Duke University and Baylor College of Medicine

Dr. Miranda specializes in research on environmental health, especially how the environment shapes health and well being among children. She has taught courses and conducted research on children’s environmental health, with a particular emphasis on reproductive and developmental toxicants, childhood lead exposure, and allergen and asthma triggers. She is also a leader in the rapidly evolving field of geospatial health informatics.

Dr. Miranda is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of Duke University, where she earned her A.B. in mathematics and economics and was named a Truman Scholar. She has a Ph.D. and M.A., both in economics, from Harvard University, where she held a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. She served on the faculty at Duke from 1990-2011, and then as dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan for four years.

Dr. Miranda was recognized at Girlstart’s 2018 Houston Game Changers Luncheon as a Women in STEM Honoree for her outstanding contributions to the STEM community.

Community Relations Director, Alliantgroup

Casey Curry is the Community Relations Director at Alliantgroup as well as a media personality and meteorologist in Houston. You have watched her on FOX, ABC and NBC in Houston and as a guest meteorologist on the weekend edition of Good Morning America in New York City. Casey earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado and Certificate of Broadcast Meteorology at Mississippi State University. Casey loves being a meteorologist and spends much of her time encouraging young people to pursue a career in STEM.

CEO and Managing Partner, Minerva Work Solutions

Kathryn Keeton is CEO and Managing Partner of Minerva Work Solutions and Associate Professor of Practice at UTSA’s College of Business. As a licensed Organizational Psychologist, she is passionate about leadership, teamwork, and professional development, especially working with her female executive coaching clients realize their full professional potential. In 2016, she was awarded NASA’s Early Career Public Achievement Medal and in 2017 was a recipient of the San Antonio’s Business Journal Women Leadership Award.

Girlstart Alumna

Isabelle Scott is currently pursuing a computer science degree at Rice University with a minor in business. One of her first memories of working with programming is coding video games at a Girlstart summer camp. She has enjoyed getting to explore computer science more and learn about all of its possible applications!

President and CEO, Tellurian

Meg Gentle has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Tellurian since August 31, 2016.

She previously served as Executive Vice President-Marketing at Cheniere Energy, Inc. from February 2014 until August 26, 2016. She also served as Senior Vice President-Marketing, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President-Strategic Planning & Finance. Vice President of Strategic Planning, and Manager of Strategic Planning.

Before joining Cheniere, Meg spent eight years in energy market development, economic evaluation and long-range planning. She conducted international business development and strategic planning for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and energy market analysis for Pace Global Energy Services.

Meg received a B.A. in Economics and International Affairs from James Madison University in May 1996 and an M.B.A. from Rice University in May 2004.

Space and Science Consultant, former Astronaut

Peggy A. Whitson (Ph.D.) flew on Expedition 50/51 and participated in four spacewalks, bringing her career total to ten. With a total of 665 days in space, Whitson holds the U.S. record, placing eighth on the all-time space endurance list. The Iowa native also completed two six-month tours of duty aboard the station for Expedition 5 in 2002, and as the station commander for Expedition 16 in 2008 where she accumulated 377 days in space between the two missions, the most for any U.S. woman at the time of her return to Earth.

President, Launching & Leading Development Co., former Director of Engineering at NASA JSC

Lauri Hansen is an aerospace and leadership development consultant, with 34 years of experience in human spaceflight programs. She retired from NASA Johnson Space Center, where she served as Director of Engineering for five years. As such, she managed an organization of approximately 2500 civil servants and contractors responsible for the technical engineering of the ISS program, the Orion Program, supporting the Commercial Crew Program, and developing technology and engineering domains necessary for human spaceflight to Mars. Prior to that, she was Chief of Staff for Johnson Space Center, responsible for integration activities at the center level including policy development, strategic and tactical planning, and technical and business integration decisions.

Lauri is a two-time recipient of the Presidential Rank Award, as well as a recipient of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, Outstanding Leadership Medal, and Exceptional Achievement Medal. She was recognized as NASA Johnson Space Center’s 2015 Federal Engineer of the Year, and has received the Johnson Space Center Equal Opportunity Award, and numerous other JSC Honor Awards. She holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan.

CEO, Barrios Technology

Sandy Johnson, one of the founders of Barrios Technology, became President and CEO of the company when she purchased it in 1993. She began her career as an engineer supporting the Skylab and Space Shuttle programs. She has held numerous positions at Barrios, including technical roles, project management, contracts and pricing, business development, and corporate management.

Under Sandy’s leadership Barrios Technology has continually held prime Government contracts, primarily with NASA, grown from $10 to $80 million in revenue and expanded to the commercial space and oil and gas industries. Barrios is a technology services firm, specializing in systems engineering, program integration, and software engineering. Barrios has received numerous awards, including Boeing’s Small Woman Owned Business Supplier of the Year, NASA’s Woman Owned Business of the Year and NASA’s George M. Low Award. Most recently Barrios was named the SBA’s Region 6 Subcontractor of the Year for 2018.

Sandy has received numerous awards for her achievements, including the University of Houston Clear Lake (UHCL) Presidential Medal, the third recipient of this award in UHCL’s history. The Houston Technology Center recognized her Aerospace Entrepreneurship with their Lifetime Achievement Award. She received one of NASA’s highest honors, the Distinguished Public Service Medal.