STEM Woman Leader of the Day: Deborah Bial (Posse Foundation)

Deborah Bial- President and Founder, Posse Foundation

Deborah Bial, EdD is a nationally recognized leader in higher education. As president and founder of The Posse Foundation, she has helped shape the dialogue around diversity, access, and equity. Posse has sent more than four thousand young people across the United States to college. They have won nearly $500 million in scholarships and are graduating at a rate of 90 percent. In 2010 President Obama selected Posse to share in his Nobel Peace Prize award. A distinguished visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, Bial received a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2007.

Why do you believe STEM Education and Workforce are important to our nation?

The Posse Foundation believes that a brighter future for our country will depend in part on our ability to identify, nurture and support young leaders of diverse backgrounds entering the STEM fields, as scientific and technological innovation are inextricably linked to our national health, security and global competitiveness.

Of what one initiative you are most proud?

The Posse Foundation has launched its innovative STEM program by adapting its liberal arts model for students who wish to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math.  By sending students to college as a team, or Posse, they will be better able to support one another through graduation.

Which woman leader do you most admire, and why?

We are very proud of our women's STEM Posse at Bryn Mawr College.  This fall, Bryn Mawr will accept its first all-women's STEM group from Boston.  They will follow the lead of the highly successful Science Posse program at Brandeis University, which saw its first Science Posse attain a 100 percent graduate rate in 2012.

Check out Deborah Bial's 100 Women Leaders in STEM profile on STEMconnector.org!