Amy Sailor serves as the Advancement Program Manager for the Connecticut Science Center. In this role she stewards a 14 member Steering Committee of the Women in Science initiative and implements a suite of programs and events that bring attention to the accomplishments of women in the sciences and introduces girls and young women to STEM fields of study and career paths. The signature work of the steering committee is selecting the finalists and honoree of the Petit Family Foundation Women in Science Leadership Award. This award recognizes a woman in STEM who is a leader in her field as measured in part, by the breadth and depth of her STEM related activity beyond the scope of her workplace. Amy also spearheads the Access Membership Initiative which has evolved to become a cornerstone of the Connecticut Science Center’s current strategy for diversity and inclusion, and as such, widens the avenue for increasing the workforce development pipeline by connecting access members to future career awareness and opportunity. Amy’s mission focused career as a Museum Educator spans two decades. In that time she has contributed her talents to exhibition development and curation, public programming and teacher training at various cultural institutions including the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the Connecticut Historical Society and the Humanities Department of Capital Community College. A professed “life long-learner”, Amy received her M.S. Ed, with an emphasis on Museum Leadership from Bank Street College of Education in New York City.
Dawn Hocevar
Dawn Hocevar is President & CEO at BioCT. She is committed to growing the bio industry as well as tech and med device in Connecticut with building collaboration throughout the state including government, academia and industry. She was the 2017 President and Board Chair of Women In Bio and during her six year involvement, had various roles with Women In Bio including: fundraising, national program chair and helped establish Women In Bio’s Boardroom Ready program. Prior to BioCT she was Vice President, Business Development with BioSurplus where she worked closely with BIO and affiliates across the country helping to grow vendor programs and membership. During her tenure with BioSurplus, she seeded and built business platforms in San Francisco as well as Boston and the New England area including Connecticut. She excels in building relationships and her vast network adds tremendous value to her work with BioCT. During her 20 years with Fisher Scientific she gained experience in distribution, sales, management and marketing. She obtained her BS in Microbiology and Chemistry from San Jose State University and worked at Stanford University for six years prior to joining Fisher Scientific.
Laura Pence
Dr. Laura Pence is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Hartford with expertise in environmental chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and chemical education. In 2012-2013 Dr. Pence spent a year as an American Chemical Society (ACS)/American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Congressional Science Policy Fellow in the office of Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), where her policy portfolio featured natural resources, energy, and environmental issues, with a particular emphasis in the areas of water and forestry. She served on the ACS Board of Directors from 2017-2019 and continues to be an acknowledged expert on the nexus of science and public policy for that organization. Dr. Pence is an outstanding educator, winning the University of Hartford’s Roy E. Larsen award for Excellence in Teaching in 2006 and twice ranking among the top 25 professors nationally on RateMyProfessor.com in both 2014 and 2017. Prof. Pence received her B.S. in chemistry from Lebanon Valley College and her Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Subsequently, she was a National Institutes of Health Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2011 for her programming and leadership on environmental and sustainability issues.