PHILADELPHIA, April 2, 2018

The Women In Natural Sciences program benefiting Philadelphia public and charter high school girls will mark its 35th anniversary with a fundraiser Wednesday, May 9, at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

WINS is the Academy’s free after-school and summer science enrichment program. Since its founding, the program has introduced hundreds of young women from 46 of Philadelphia’s 50 zip codes to careers in science, technology, engineering, math, and other professions by providing hands-on science workshops, career and college exploration, and positive youth development.

WINS is the only all-female science program of its type in the region and beyond. The program provides young women with the information, encouragement and confidence they need to shape their futures. The program’s mentoring and support have resulted in 100 percent of the students graduating from high school, compared with 65 percent of students in the School District of Philadelphia. Ninety-seven percent of those who graduate from high school continue to a college or university and 63 percent major in a STEM field.

The evening fundraiser, called WINS 35, is open to the public and will feature WINS alumnae, as well as current students. The keynote speaker will be Lisa Dyson, PhD, CEO of Kiverdi, a technology company whose mission is to develop innovations that go beyond traditional agriculture to help feed and power a growing world. Dyson developed a bio-process that uses natural microbes to convert carbon dioxide into the proteins and oils that we use today for sustenance and to power industry.

Dyson will receive the newly established WINS Award, which honors an outstanding female innovator in the STEM field, whose visionary contributions in science have made a positive impact on the world.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit ansp.org.

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