Bonnie Bertolaet

BONNIE BERTOLAET, PhD ’94, chemistry, is the executive director of Science Club for Girls (SCFG), a 27-year-old non-profit focused on mentor-led STEM education for girls in Cambridge and Greater Boston. SCFG provides experiential STEM programming to communities of girls and young women underrepresented in STEM by race or income or who are first-generation-college-bound. With representation at its core, Bertolaet works with SCFG’s partners in higher education and STEM-based corporations to create a mentor corps in which ~70% of its members come from its target populations. Indeed, Bertolaet works closely with Harvard University, where SCFG has a campus mentor chapter that recruits women STEM majors who reflect the girls that SCFG serves. Together with local governments, schools, community organizations, and these mentoring partners, Bertolaet is leading SCFG in its mission to create a pipeline of future, diverse STEM leaders. Prior to SCFG, Bertolaet conducted basic research in cancer and inflammation in the fields of biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology in academia, and in the biotech industry before making STEM education her focus. She received her BA in chemistry from Amherst College.