A science, technology, engineering, and math Advisory Board meeting was held in Danbury Monday, led by 5th District Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty. The STEM Advisory Board meeting was held at Belimo. Esty first convened the panel in 2015 to bring together leaders in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields from across Connecticut to address the challenges facing STEM industries. The Board is tasked with developing strategies to prepare students for STEM careers.
At Monday’s meeting, Esty presented a legislative update on her work on STEM education and opportunities. Board members updated Esty on the progress made in their working groups, and outlined goals for their next meeting.
Esty says there's a lot of commonality among companies worried about having educated workers in the future. Educators say more needs to be invested in technical high schools and community colleges to prepare the future workforce.
Among other students, educators, and business leaders, members of the advisory board include Dantaya Williams, Vice President of Human Resources at United Technologies; Tracy Ariel, Director of Advanced Manufacturing and Early Colleague Opportunities for Connecticut State Colleges and Universities; Jason Teal, Chairman of CT NAACP Economic Development; Melanie Sinche, Director of Education at Jackson Laboratory; Patrice Gans, Founder and Executive Director of Random Hacks of Kindness Junior, Inc.; and Catherine Lasser, former Vice President at IBM.
Belimo opened its North American headquarters in Danbury in 1998. The company moved to its current space in 2014, and specializes in heating, insulation, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems. Following the meeting, Esty toured the new facility and viewed their latest sustainability efforts.
