The United Nations Headquarters in New York will host the annual observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, 2024.
This year's theme is "Amplifying the Leadership of Persons with Disabilities for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future."
To celebrate this day and its theme, WOC Online recognizes Iris Wagstaff, who received a Promotion of Education Award at the Women of Color STEM Conference.
Throughout her career, Wagstaff participated in initiatives aimed at recruiting underrepresented STEM students, including individuals with disabilities.
A strong advocate for science, she supported students in STEM by providing mentorship, tutoring, and career guidance in the chemical industry.
For many years, she developed and managed programs that utilized hands-on science activities with real-world applications.
Wagstaff served as a program director in the Education and Human Resources Department of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Prior, she worked as an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Institute of Justice in the Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences, where she applied principles from physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, and engineering to legal matters.
During her time as a research chemist at Rohm and Haas (a Dow Chemical Company), she also mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate interns.
In addition to her achievements, Wagstaff joined the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) in 1993, taking on various leadership roles across different chapters.
Her passion for science and science education led her to establish the Brilliant and Beautiful Foundation's Science, Math, Research, and Technology Scholars program.
Through this program, she conducted science workshops that engage middle school girls of color, featuring hands-on STEM activities, parent workshops, interactions with female scientists of color, and a STEM fair.
Her educational outreach made a lasting impact on aspiring scientists, and she has over 20 years of experience in STEM outreach, informal science programs, mentoring, and serving as a role model for underrepresented students in chemistry and chemical engineering.
