President’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Speaker Series

The President’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Speaker Series, in collaboration with the Office for Institutional Equity and Inclusive Culture, regularly brings to campus pathbreaking visionaries and thought leaders in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. These social justice-oriented community discussions will focus and energize the University around its strategic imperative to foster and strengthen a culture of equity.

Women’s History Month Panel Discussion

Monday, March 6, 2023, 4-5:30 p.m.

With an amazing panel of distinguished guest speakers, Drexel University honored the legacy of pioneering African American NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, whose critical contributions to the success of the U.S. space program were featured in the award-winning film "Hidden Figures" and inspired a generation of women and people of color to become today’s leaders in science, technology, engineering and math.

The following panelists, moderated by Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leslie Ashburn-Nardo, discussed the value of role models, representation, intersectionality and allyship in encouraging young people to pursue their dreams:

• Michael Moore, Katherine Johnson’s grandson and a senior vice president and director of software engineering at Truist Financial Corporation;
• Moogega Cooper, an alumna of the College of Engineering and a planetary protection engineer at NASA;
• Latasha Harling, a diversity and community impact consultant and member of the Board of Trustees of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University;
• India Johnson, a social psychologist at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, who studies what makes individuals role models and allies from the perspective of Black women in STEM; and
• Stephen Cox, who is the regional project director of the Greater Philadelphia Region Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation and is resident in the Office of the Provost.