Shaniah Reece is a junior at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County with a GPA of 3.38. She is committed to diversity, equity and social justice. This commitment often results in her speaking up for those who are unable to do so for themselves and has driven her to lead or support multiple initiatives around these topics in her community.

For Reece, entry into the STEM field was unexpected. She began her college education with aspirations of becoming a Physicist; that is, until her mindset changed due to experiences with the Center for Women in Technology (CWIT). As a child, she was fascinated by computers, but she never took the leap at a career in tech. Her reservation was driven by fear and a belief that it would be difficult to find her place in a male-dominated field.

Her perspective shifted sharply when she joined CWIT- a scholarly community dedicated to improving the participation of women and other underrepresented minority groups- at her school. Watching the strong community of women excelling in technology and engineering fields inspired Reece and taught her the value of representation and inclusion. As a result, she has spent much of her time volunteering and participating in leadership programs that would teach her how to be an inclusive leader and to work with diverse groups and teams. Reece hopes to merge this passion with her Data Science interest to tackle inequalities in the world. After graduating she hopes to take a strong step forward in this direction by attending graduate school.

In 2020, Shaniah and her peers led an initiative to advocate for the rights of international and transfer students on campus. These efforts have resulted in radical shifts in spaces, opportunities, and resources available for these student groups and a growing sense of community where they can thrive. Reece has also spent much of her time participating in leadership and social impact workshops and experiences that have primed her for working with diverse groups and driving change. She’s currently focused on breaking biases by fostering guided conversations among diverse groups within her campus community.

Reece has previously been awarded the CWIT Inclusive Excellence award and the CWIT Shining Star Award for her contributions in her communities. She attended the 2022 BEYA conference and said she thoroughly enjoyed all the activities and networking opportunities she was able to participate in.

"The combination of insights, experiences and stories shared in one space was beyond inspiring,” Reece said. “If you are interested in attending, do not hesitate.”