Founded in 1982, Women In Natural Sciences (WINS) — the Academy’s award-winning program designed to bolster the success of primarily young women of color in their pursuit of STEM education and careers in the sciences — recently celebrated 40 years and over 1,000 young women served.
For many years, these WINS alumnae have remained informally connected to the program after graduation — supporting current students as mentors and investing in the program’s development and growth.
Seeing an opportunity, however, to formally grow and expand this network of STEM professionals, the WINS Alumnae Association was established during the anniversary celebration. The goal, according to the Alumnae Planning Committee, was to lean into those deep bonds formed throughout the program and fan the flames of their lasting enthusiasm, to ultimately strengthen the network, form new pathways for mentorship and create spaces for deeper involvement and investment.
And this is where Ninette Bennett steps in.
A WINS alumna herself from 1989, Bennett will be activating this network in her role as WINS alumnae manager. WINS has remained a critical part of her identity and professional success. As Senior VP of operations, she has previously owned and operated a company that provided project management to small businesses and nonprofits, and most recently acted as co-chair of the Planning Committee for the WINS 40th anniversary celebration. “I enjoy meeting people where they are and helping them get to where they want to be,” Bennett says.
Now, through a grant from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation, this new WINS alumnae manager will be able to use her professional expertise and connections, as well as her personal and educational experiences, toward better serving her favorite people: current WINS students and alumnae from across the world.
“As the alumnae manager, my initial goals are to listen: Listen to the needs and desires of the alumnae and the current WINS students. Listen to the needs and desires of our stakeholders and then provide a vision and a plan to get there.”
She believes the association benefits from the invaluable guidance and feedback of program graduates spanning multiple generations. Her role will be to help reconnect all these individuals and ensure they have the chance to invest and give back to the program, as well as develop, foster and maintain strong mentorships with current students — ultimately bolstering the program’s long-term vitality, success and continued relevance in the ever-evolving STEM education landscape.
“Through WINS, I have gained and retained remarkable friendships, mentorships and opportunities. We were embraced by a program, an institution and people who didn’t limit our capacity, but ignited and fueled a desire to change the world around us. As an alumna myself, and now as the WINS alumnae manager, I get to encourage this growth in others,” Bennett says. In this new role, she hopes she can share and build success with all alumnae, meeting them where they are and bringing them back into the fold.
Ultimately, the WINS Alumnae Association really does matter. WINS students consistently outpace their peers within the School District of Philadelphia, exceeding them in academic performance, high school graduation, college matriculation, STEM education and ultimately, STEM careers. The data shows it, too: 100% of girls that commit to WINS for all four years of high school will graduate with their diploma while 97% of those graduates continue to a college or university, and of those, 63% major in a STEM field. And WINS alumnae have an 86% college graduation rate and 54% ultimately obtain and sustain careers in STEM.
“In science, diversity of thought, diversity of experience, allows for a myriad of approaches that cannot and would not be available without it.” Bennett hopes that as the alumnae manager, she can help foster this phenomenal success by finding and unlocking new ways to bring in diverse perspectives and create further opportunities for current WINS students.
“WINS is special because it looks for girls with potential, not limitations. It embraces girls for who they are and can be, not for what they don’t have. One of the things I found in my time at the Academy was freedom. Freedom to be me, freedom to explore, freedom to expand and freedom to dream.”
Bennett is now opening doors to other alumnae to see what is truly possible, together.
You can support the Academy’s research efforts to understand the natural world and inspire everyone to care for it by becoming a member or donating to our WINS program.
Tú también puedes apoyar los proyectos de investigación de la Academia, y así ayudar a entender y proteger la riqueza natural convirtiéndote en miembro o haciendo una donación a nuestras WINS.