It gives me great pleasure to announce that Keshia Ashe, a chemical engineering student in the Institute for Regenerative Engineering, was recently awarded the 2013 Individual Student Service Award given by the Connecticut Higher Education Community. Colleges and universities around Connecticut annually recognize individuals and groups who design projects which serve a community, incorporating originality and unique approaches, substantially raising student participation, and addressing community problems.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and William R. Dyson, chair of the Connecticut Commission on Community Service, presented Keshia with the award, siting her passion and dedication to inspiring, encouraging, and supporting students’ pursuit of STEM degrees. She founded ManyMentors, a nonprofit which aim to close the gap between minority and female interest and achievement in the STEM fields by connecting students to mentors and role models. Her social innovation bridges traditional in-person mentoring efforts with online and mobile components to create sustained mentoring between middle school and high school students and near age mentors in STEM.

With a group of nearly 30 mentors, ManyMentors has reached over 400 students in the Greater Hartford area, and plans to reach more as the organization establishes more partnerships with community leaders in the STEM education fields. I am very proud of Keshia for her contributions to STEM education. I am looking forward to future successes as she and others continue to serve as inspiring role models and mentors.

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