Our Team
Meet our community of mentors, volunteers, and change-makers.
Founder
Sierra Smith
Sierra is an environmentalist, activist, professional photographer, and aspiring biologist. Her first-hand experience with the gender gap and inequities in advanced math and science classes inspired her to create NeXXgen STEM. She is currently attending Wake Forest University, pursuing a degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry.
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Mentor and Operations Director
Hanning Yan
Hanning is a junior at Moravian Academy. Her academic passions lie in mathematics, but she also strongly loves singing and writing. She wants to become a college professor and encourage women and other underrepresented groups to overcome barriers to pursue positions in academia. Hanning is hoping to aid and inspire the next generations of female STEM students and future leaders along the way.
Mentor and Creative Coordinator
Brannagh Breslin
Brannagh is a rising junior at Moravian Academy. She has a passion for life sciences and hopes to be the mentor she wishes she had when she began her STEM studies. Encouraging and supporting her students, she strives to help other girls feel empowered to pursue their interests and challenge biases.
Mentor
Janiyah Ross
Janiyah is a junior at Moravian Academy. She loves to spend her free time on the track, as well as the fundamentals of calculus: planning to explore the way athletics and lawyering intersect in college. Janiyah became a NeXXgen mentor to spark girls' interests in mathematics and science.
Mentor
Diya Sharma
Diya is a junior at Moravian Academy. She has a deep interest in playing the viola in addition to her scholastic passions for history and English. She hopes to advocate for the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM as a NeXXgen mentor.
Mentor
Ema Miele
Ema Miele is a junior at Moravian Academy from Ottawa, ON. She loves chemistry and algebra and intends to study the medical field after high school. Ema became a NeXXgen mentor to use her passion for chemistry to teach underserved girls-providing them the tools to thrive in STEM subjects.