Speaker
Tracie Dean Ponder
Founder & Executive Director, B-STEM Project
Tracie Dean Ponder is an entrepreneur, educator, equality advocate, writer, and filmmaker. She’s the youngest of 11 born and raised on the southside of Chicago. With an ardent commitment for educating and empowering emerging talent, in 2016 Tracie founded B~STEM Project (B~STEM). The organization’s primary goal has been to create free educational opportunities for young girls and women. Most recently B~STEM Project partnered with Level Forward, a company co-founded by Abigail Disney, to lead in the reimagining and development of an online platform that focuses on supporting and fostering aspiring, emerging, and established female talent across the media and entertainment industry. Through Tracie’s work as the founder of Genius In Motion (GIM), she has documented and curated hundreds of hours of interviews capturing the stories of Oscar and Emmy winning talent of color working across the media and entertainment industry. Tracie has partnered with leading advertising agency, Leo Burnett Chicago, to spotlight trailblazing talent of color within the advertising industry. As well, she’s worked intimately with Women In Technology International as a consultant helping to drive issues around access, equity, and advancement. Tracie graduated from NYU, as a Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar, receiving a BA in Philosophy and English. As a President Scholar at DePaul University, Tracie received an MA in Liberal Studies with a specialization in writing.