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Meet The Team
As kids, having productive conversations about race was not normalized. Some of us had parents who tried to prepare us for racial discrimination, but there were never deep dives into conversations about structural racism and white supremacy culture. All of us experienced certain privileges, but it was not made evident to us what those privileges were and why they existed.
As undergraduate students, we were taught about the interactions of society and engineering; but it severely lacked depth due to the absence of expressing how the field of engineering could address racial inequities, discrimination, and oppression. Truthfully, we did not understand how large this void was at the time (due to our conditioning), but we all still found ourselves aspiring to elicit positive social change with our engineering degrees.
As graduate students diving deeper into the ever-expanding literature on equitable design practice in engineering, we came together to push the engineering discipline towards a more equitable, restorative and sustainable practice. We believe building learning modules that center social justice into engineering curriculum is a key to transformation of the field.
As a team, we are passionate about making sure all students have exposure to social justice in their engineering curriculum to effect positive social change and to attract diversity in the field.
Project Manager
Sydney Turner
With her research at the intersection of access to safe drinking water and the reduction of vector-borne disease, Sydney finds herself drawn to multi-faceted engineering solutions that: (1) empower and build resilience in underserved and/or historically minoritized communities and (2) utilize inclusive, universal and human-centered design principles. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Virginia.
Project Manager
Patrick Hancock
Patrick's research investigates how applications of behavioral science to engineering decision-making can elicit equitable and sustainable design outcomes. He is a Doctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia and serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the UVA Department of Engineering Systems and Environment.
Project Engineer
Bethany Gordon
As an equity-driven engineer, Bethany utilizes behavioral science and social psychology to improve social justice in design of the built environment. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Virginia. She is the creator and primary instructor of the UVA course Engineering Social Justice.
Project Engineer
Katelyn Stenger
Following an interest for policy, behavioral science, and designing the built environment, Katelyn researches as a PhD Fellow in the Convergent Behavioral Science Initiative at University of Virginia. She researches how to democratize behavioral design, with a goal to scale behavioral insights and widen who can shape decision-making spaces. Katelyn’s approach is rooted in complex system science and emphasizes adaptability and inclusion as systems, cultures, and policies evolve.
Project Engineer
Tomeka Carroll
Tomeka's research interest revolve around economics and sustainability, real estate, and leadership. Currently, her focus revolves around the circular economy and understanding the behaviors that promote a more sustainable and inclusive society. After attending graduate school for business and working in the real estate development industry, she is now a Ph.D. Fellow in the Behavioral Science for Sustainable Systems program at the University of Virginia.
Art Director and Illustrator
Charleen Lopes
Charleen is a strategic minded experience designer and illustrator with a Master's of Business from the VCU Brandcenter based in Richmond, Virginia. She received her Bachelors Degree in Communication Design with minors in both Political Science and
African & African American Stuides. She believes in the power of impactful storytelling. Her digital illustrations featured on this website center BIPOC in the field of engineering, representation we are in dire need of!
Website Architect
Marshal Turner
Marshal is an experience designer with a Master's of Business from the VCU Brandcenter based in Richmond, Virginia. He has worked on a wide range of projects focused on diversity and inclusion, such as "Where are all the black people", a project designed to bring awareness to the lack of diversity in the advertising industry and "Steeze", a platform that makes snow sport culture more accessible and inclusive for POC.