The speakers for "Super Mega Ultra Women: Build Up, Not tear down!" are not just recent winners of awards at the Women of Color STEM Conference. They have also worked together in the United States military as Army soldiers, Navy, and Marine civilians within the Department of Defense.

Take a listen live on WOC DTX or STEM City USA. Click here to register.

Save the Date: 2022 Women of Color in STEM® Women to Watch, Fri, May 6. Time:9:00 AM – 5:30 PM EDT. Location: Online event.

Antoinette R. Gant is a colonel in the United States Army. Currently, she is commander of the South Pacific Division (SPD) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, one of nine regional commands. With five District offices in Albuquerque, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Sacramento, and San Francisco; SPD encompasses all or part of ten states. As SPD commander and division engineer, Colonel Gant oversees hundreds of water resource development and military design and construction projects that bring value to our communities, nation, and warfighters. Prior to taking command of SPD, Gant served as the South Pacific Border District commander and district engineer.

Col. Gant is a winner of the 2020 Women of Color Career Achievement in Government Award. A senior officer in the Engineer Regiment, Gant is also a committed role model, mentor, and advocate for young people interested and involved in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Throughout her career, she has worked to develop partnerships with agencies and organizations to promote STEM initiatives, particularly during her time as commander of both the Albuquerque and Louisville districts.

Adrienne Somerville also won an award at the 2020 Women of Color STEM Conference. She was one of nine Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) civilians to win awards for their community service, technical contributions, and exceptional achievements. Somerville reieved the rare President's Award in recognition of accomplishments during her 26-year Navy career.

Before retiring, she served as commander, Fleet Readiness Centers’ (FRC) Acquisition Group head, leading acquisition and business management processes for FRC industrial maintenance, repair, and overhaul operations. Her contributions enabled key reform efforts to address the repair turnaround times of aviation assets at the FRCs for the warfighters. She previously worked as the V-22 Program production contracting officer, where she acquired V-22 Osprey aircraft for the Marines and Air Force. From there, she worked on the staff of NAVAIR’s assistant commander for contracts and then served as NAVAIR’s community/talent management program manager, developing the “NAVAIR Career Guidebook” and the accompanying mobile application — the command’s first.

Renata Spinks is a U.S. Army Combat Veteran. After separating from the military, she worked as an analyst at the Department of Homeland Security for almost five years on assignments that supported cyber security awareness. She also founded Rising Footsteps, an organization that works to address the mental, physical, spiritual, and financial necessities balancing our lives.

In addition, she volunteers with organizations working with women and children who are victims of abuse, often using entry-level technology training to encourage self-reliance and the development of skillsets that open doors to new job opportunities. Since speaking to Women of Color magazine in 2016, Renata has held a slew of high-profile jobs in federal information technology. They include technology specialist in the IT Strategy group of the U.S. Treasury's Office of Financial Research.

Renata is the 2020 Stars and Stripes Senior Executive Service (SES) Member of the Year and was recently promoted to Assistant Director of Information Technology/Deputy Chief Information Officer and Senior Information Security Officer for the U.S. Marine Corps.

Take a listen live on WOC DTX or STEM City USA. Click here to register.