Published: March 1, 2021

The Womxn of Color in STEM Collaborative, a partnership between The BOLD Center, Miramontes Arts & Sciences Program, and the Womxn听of Color in STEM student organization are proud to present the 3rd Annual WoC STEM (Virtual) Brunch with special guest Gitanjali Rao.听

Gitanjali Rao on the cover of Time Magazine

Gitanjali Rao as Time Kid of the Year, 2020. Photo courtesy of Time Magazine.

Rao was recognized as America's Top Young Scientist and received an EPA presidential award for inventing her device "Tethys"鈥攁n early lead detection tool. Rao is also the inventor of 鈥淓pione鈥濃�攁 device for early diagnosis of prescription opioid addiction using genetic engineering, and "Kindly"鈥攁n anti-cyberbullying service using AI and natural language processing.

鈥⊿he was honored as听Forbes听鈥�30 Under 30 in Science鈥� in 2019 and听TIME鈥檚 鈥淭op Young Innovator鈥澨齛nd "Kid of the Year" for her innovations and STEM workshops she conducts globally. She has inspired over 38,000 students in the last two years across four continents. sharing her own process of innovation that can be used by students all over the world. She is an experienced TED speaker and often presents in global and corporate forums on innovation and the importance of STEM.
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Most recently, Rao was honored with the 2021 Colorado Affiliate and National Winner of the Aspirations in Computing Award through The National Center for Women & Information Technology, which recognizes U.S. high school women for technological achievements. Her second book, , will be released March 16, 2021.

The brunch will also feature a panel of womxn of color students talking about their experiences in STEM at CU Boulder and beyond.

The WoC-STEM Brunch is a听student-led initiative that began in 2018 as a response to requests for dedicated space and time as women-identified students to network and celebrate together. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and students, staff and faculty from across campus have joined the effort to support the Brunch as an annual event for all current, past and future Womxn of Color in STEM at CU Boulder.

The WoC Collaborative听uses "womxn" as an umbrella term for anyone听who identifies听as a woman or as outside of听the gender binary, including听non-binary,听femme, gender-fluid, genderqueer, and other identities.听
"of Color", also known as听"People of Color" or "POC" refers to听people who identify as a race/ethnicity other than White/Caucasian in a United听States context. This includes听BIPOC, Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi, Latinx, Middle Eastern/Persian, multiracial identities, etc.