IN-PERSON | Conversations with the 2023 Women of STEMM | Sponsored by Burns & McDonnell

At the 10th Annual STEMMy Awards in October 2023, Central exchange celebrated the accomplishments of ten women and one corporate hero who are setting trends and breaking barriers in their STEMM fields.

These prestigious awards were created to put a well-deserved spotlight on women in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Medicine across the greater Kansas City region. These women are business and civic leaders, students and educators, and entrepreneurs and advocates who work together to increase gender diversity and who excel in their STEMM field.

The winners of the STEMMy Awards make changes for a better today and brighter tomorrow.  Their influence on a global and local level makes a difference, not just for our community, but around the world and for the next generation of STEMM leaders.

Come join us for happy hour to network with other women and join in on the conversation as we hear from a few of the 2023 STEMMy Award Winners!

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Anita Ranhotra is the Distribution Engineering Manager at Hallmark Cards.  During Anita's 23 years at Hallmark, she's worked in engineering, manufacturing, distribution, procurement, product integrity and supply chain solutions. Previously, Anita worked for The Limited and Payless ShoeSource, where she earned a patent. 
Anita holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering (IE) and master's degree in engineering management, both from Kansas State University (K-State).  She is a co-founder and member of K-State's IE Academy, serves on advisory councils for the Multicultural Engineering Program and Business Management Department, and past chair of K-State's IE advisory council. 
Anita is senior advisor for the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers - KC chapter, past chapter president, regional VP, and chapters SVP - Board of Trustees.  She was co-founder and past-chair of the National Association of Asian American Professionals KC chapter and the Asian American Resource Community - Hallmark and is an advisor to Hallmark's STEM Engagement Committee. 
Anita was awarded the 2022 Groundbreaking Leadership.
PANELISTS:
Originally from Sweden, Dr. Elin Grundberg trained in Human Genetics at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge UK and at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. 
Between 2013-2017 she held an Assistant Professor and the Canada Research Chair in Disease Genomics and Epigenomics at McGill University. Then in 2017, Dr. Grundberg was recruited to Children’s Mercy Kansas City to establish epigenomics and single-cell programs for pediatric translational medicine studies. As the current Roberta D. Harding & William F. Bradley, Jr. Endowed Chair in Genomic Research, Dr. Grundberg is also an Associate Professor in Pediatrics at UMKC School of Medicine. Her group applies modern next-generation sequencing technologies in large populations aiming to understand how environmental and genetic risk factors affects the functional genome and impacts complex and rare disease risk.
One area of research includes social epigenomics to mechanistically understand the association of exposure to chronic stress in African American children and asthma risk via epigenetic modifications impacting viral response and subsequent asthma prevalence and morbidity.
Elin was awarded the 2023 Rising Trendsetter.
Christine Lemmon is a high school computer science teacher at St. James Academy and loves connecting with her students in the classroom. Whether she is teaching at an advanced placement or introductory level course, it is Christine’s goal to make each student feel welcome and competent in her computer science classroom.
Christine often sees herself as the lead learner more than the teacher. Using the term “fail forward” a lot, Christine strives to replicate a real-world working environment where each person’s perspective and skill sets have value. She is also passionate about helping CS students learn to use their classroom knowledge of algorithms and programming to take ownership of their lives in the digital world.
Christine also loves connecting with other professionals  either collaborating cross-curricular or through opportunities that add depth and perspective to their lessons.
Christine was awarded the 2023 WiSTEMM Educator.
Kimberly Robinett is the CEO/Managing Partner of TREKK Design Group, LLC, a women-owned civil engineering firm based in Kansas City. As CEO/ Managing Partner, Kimberly directs the firm’s overall business strategy and operations. The mother of three daughters, Kimberly is widely recognized within the engineering profession as a strategic thinker and highly skilled businesswoman.
Under her direction, TREKK has grown from a firm of three people in 2002 to 200 people across 10 offices today. Her entrepreneurial spirit is carried out across TREKK’s unique culture and commitment to IMPROVING LIVES by providing direction to enable community and personal growth.
Kimberly is a graduate of the University of Missouri- Kansas City College of Electrical Engineering. She advocates for equity and inclusion in the industry through her involvement in numerous industry, civic and community organizations.
In 2016, she was named to the Kansas City Business Journal’s prestigious Women Who Mean Business list.
Kimberly was awarded the 2023 Enterprising Innovator.