The Girls STEAM Institute™ is grateful to the men and women who used their vision, knowledge, and innovation to create a better society for our world through new technologies, products, and services designed to increase our curiosity, empathy, and global understanding to achieve more freedom,hope, and equity for our world’s citizens.
2024 Recipients
On December 4, 2004, Girls STEAM Institute celebrated their 10th Anniversary with a Holiday Gala in ENGAGE XR to recognize and honor participants in their successful leadership program. The event featured a keynote by Dr. Tom Furness of the Virtual World Society and Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington. He shared he experiences and life lessons learned as a prolific inventor and entrepreneur and advocate for girls in STEAM. Awards were then presented to the following and many of them shared their insights into the Girls STEAM Institute experience as well as the lessons they’ve learned on their journey as entrepreneurs and leaders in STEAM education and industries.
Brianna Ong – 2024 Global Diplomacy Leadership Award
Brianna Ong is a freshman at the University of Washington, studying Computer Engineering as part of the Honors Program. In addition to competing in Varsity Athletics, she was involved in many activities in high school such as YOUNGA, HOSA, DECA, and served as President of the National Honor Society. Currently, she is part of the Women in Computing and Minorities in Tech organizations and is an associate officer for the Association of Computing Education. Brianna hopes to connect her passion for technology and hands-on innovation with the built environment to advance the future of urban infrastructure. By applying smart technologies to city planning and design, she envisions creating more sustainable, efficient, and connected communities.
Caprial Farrington – 2024 Rising Scholar of Education Policy Excellence
Caprial Farrington is a Girls STEAM alum who earned her Masters at Oregon State University and in the PhD program at the University of Georgia Department of Educational Administration and Policy. Her Masters Thesis was Beyond the Carpetbagger: The Emergence of Racialized Terms as a Political Weapon in the Reconstruction Era South. Her academic focus is on developing effective educational systems and policies that enhance learning outcomes. Caprial has a strong commitment to educational equity and strives to contribute to research that addresses disparities in education. Through her studies, she aims to influence policy decisions that improve educational access and quality for all students. Her background and ongoing research position her as a promising scholar in the field of educational administration.
Kimberly Ong – 2024 Tech Multi-skilled Excellence Award
Kimberly Ong is a junior at Redmond High School who enjoys being actively involved with improving her school community with her role as an Ambassador in Girl Scouts working towards her Gold Award; her involvement with the Girls STEAM Institute as a mentor and intern; and running her business Kimtastic Kollections where she sells her artwork and designs to donate to local nonprofits. Kimberly has competed internationally in a variety of clubs including HOSA, Science Olympiad, and Robotics and helps mentor other students in these subjects. In addition, Kimberly loves art, particularly painting, and her award-winning artwork has been displayed in international galleries. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, reading, and learning.
Pamela Kan – 2024 Innovative Manufacturing & Civic Leadership Award
As President of Bishop-Wisecarver since 1999, Pamela Kan has leveraged the company’s 70+ years of ingenuity to provide the most trusted and respected motion solutions in the industrial automation industry. Bishop-Wisecarver is a US-based, certified women owned, manufacturing and engineering company specializing in linear and rotary motion for automation solutions that excel in extreme, harsh and hygienic environments. As one of the few female leaders in the manufacturing industry, Kan is passionate about closing the gap in gender diversity and helping showcase the benefits of manufacturing as a strong career option. She is active in numerous regional, state and national trade organizations helping solve the skills gap issues in the industry, as well as STEM-focused student programs and mentoring groups for women business owners. Kan’s tenacity in solving problems and helping others, combined with her entrepreneurial vision, commitment to customer service, and proven company leadership, has led to numerous awards and recognition.
Prabhleen Kaur Lamba – 2024 Inspiring Voices Award
Prabhleen Kaur Lamba is a Senior at Carnegie-Mellon School of Computer Science majoring in artificial intelligence. Prabhleen has been a servant leader ever since she joined GSI in 2017. She has volunteered as a mentor and helped with social media and digital marketing and coached some of the STEAMer Challenge teams. Prabhleen is an author of She Plays to Win book and an award-winning basketball player. She completed internships at Uber and is currently a Teacher’s Assistant for Introduction to Programming at Carnegie Mellon University.
Melinda Shu – 2024 International Transformational Innovation in Healthcare Excellence
Melinda is an 18-year-old technology advocate committed to bridging global divides through ethical innovation. Passionate about making intelligent and immersive technologies accessible to youth worldwide—regardless of background—she empowers the next generation of pioneers and problem solvers to harness technology responsibly for social good. As the president and one of the founding members of Youth AI Lab, she has hosted numerous distinguished talks with world-renowned experts in XR and AI (Member of National Academy of Engineering, Member of National Academy of Sciences, Pioneers of the field, Chief AI Scientist of major corporations such as Microsoft and Facebook), engaging over 7,000+ young learners globally and garnering more than 35,000 YouTube views.
Her efforts have been recognized with the Nextant Award from the Virtual World Society, and the U.S. Presidential Volunteer Service Award for over 100 hours of service. Melinda was the only high school participant at the 2021 Medical Augmented Reality Summer School by Technical University of Munich and Johns Hopkins University with her team proposal for an immersive VR remote training platform for paramedics to deliver better urgent care in low-resource areas. She has worked with Woebot Health, Kansas City Digital Drive, and Chuck Studios in Seoul, and others on medical training, mental health support, and creative VR applications.
Africa VR Campus and Center – 2024 Champions of Future Girl Innovators in VR Excellence Award
The Africa VR Center in Kenya is an innovative hub dedicated to advancing virtual and augmented reality technologies across the continent. Focused on empowering young people, especially young girls, the center aims to create locally relevant VR, XR, and AR experiences that promote social justice and sustainability. By fostering a network of African creators and technologists, the Africa VR Center seeks to enhance educational opportunities and support the development of a vibrant metaverse tailored to the needs of African communities and building a future economy embracing emerging technology. Through workshops, collaborations, and projects, it plays a crucial role in democratizing access to immersive technologies and inspiring the next generation of innovators in Africa.
Kate Edwards – GSI Board Chair, 2024 Tech & Nonprofit Leadership Excellence Honoree
Kate is a unique hybrid of an applied geographer, writer, and content culturalization strategist with a passion for global cultures and media technologies. With broad experience in the fields of geography, cartography, geopolitics and cross-cultural issues, Kate is a recognized thought leader in applying this knowledge to ‘real world’ business solutions and problem solving, particularly in the information industry as related to inclusive representation, content management, and cross-cultural impacts of information and globalization.
Billie Bryant Schultz – 2024 Catalyst for Change Award
Billie Bryant Schultz is a pioneering entrepreneur and the Chief Executive Officer of CESCO, Inc., based in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. With over 39 years of experience, she has transformed CESCO from a sales and service organization of used equipment into a nationwide expert in IT equipment, software solutions, supplies, and managed print services. Under Billie’s leadership, CESCO has become a collaborative technology innovator, serving as a Value Added Reseller (VAR) for major brands like Xerox, Lexmark, HP, Brother, and Zebra. The company specializes in Managed Document Services, including managed print, mobile print, and digitized workflow solutions.
Billie’s journey into entrepreneurship began unexpectedly in the wake of a family illness. Her vision and creative skills enabled her to navigate CESCO through significant transitions, embracing digital transformation in the printing industry. Beyond her role at CESCO, Billie served as President and CEO of Technology Interchange Resources (TIR) from 1997 to 2007, where she oversaw the training of over 26,000 DoD buyers and small business owners on electronic processes for government business. A strong advocate for women entrepreneurs, Billie is actively involved in implementing STEM and STEAM mentoring programs for young girls, aiming to foster a diverse future workforce in technology and other industries. Her educational background includes studies at the WBENC Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, the ICIC Small Business Growth Program, and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program. Billie’s contributions to business and women’s economic development have been recognized with several honors, including the Enterprising Women of the Year Award in 2015 for Business Development and Growth.
Mary Morrissey – 2024 Global Luminary Award for Inspirational Leadership
Mary Morrissey has made it her mission to empower people to create and live a life they love. For over 50 years Mary has studied the art and science of transforming dreams into results. Mary is the founder of the Brave Thinking Institute, the world’s premier provider of transformational training and coaching. Through life-changing books, events and programs, Mary has helped millions of people tap into the power within them to achieve new levels of success and experience a deeper sense of meaning and purpose.
Mary holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters. She has addressed the United Nations three times, co-convened three week-long meetings with His Holiness The Dalai Lama, and met with President Nelson Mandela in South Africa. She has written two best-selling books, No Less Than Greatness and Building Your Field of Dreams, which became a PBS special. Today, Mary is focused on a bold dream: 1 Billion Dreams Achieved around the world.
Suzanne Justice Lackman – 2024 Pioneering Spirit Award
Suzanne Justice. Lackman is the Co-Founder of ASTRA Society International and the Girls STEAM Institute™. She is a long-time civic leader, screenplay writer and strong advocate for LGBTQ, in the Portland & Gresham, Oregon communities. Along with her twin sister, Diane McClelland, the two founded ASTRA Society International in 1999 and joined WBENC as one of 14 Regional Partner Organizations that certified women business owners in 7 Western states. In 2025, the organization is still growing now under the name of WBEC-Pacific and continues to increase economic development and business owner wealth, due to access to global supply chains. In 2014, when part of Astra Society, the Astra STEAM Summit was born, now under a separate name, Girls STEAM Institute™ designed to train young girls to be future STEAM entrepreneurs who develop solutions, using immersive technologies that create global collaborative innovation.
Dr. William F. McCulloch- DVM – 2024 PAWSITIVE Innovative Leader for Mental Health Solutions Using Pet Therapy
Dr. William F. McCulloch, DVM, is a notable figure in veterinary medicine and the field of animal-assisted interventions. Dr. McCulloch began his career treating small animals in private practice in Des Moines. He later joined the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps and the U.S. Public Health Service traineeship program. His academic career included positions at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Texas A&M University, and Colorado State University, where he served as associate dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. In the mid-1960s, inspired by Dr. Boris Levinson’s work on the human-animal bond, Dr. McCulloch began advocating for research in this field. He co-founded the Delta Society (now Pet Partners) in 1977, alongside his brother Dr. Michael McCulloch and other veterinarians. The Delta Society focused on studying the human-animal bond and promoting animal-assisted therapy. Dr. McCulloch’s contributions to veterinary medicine and animal-assisted interventions have been widely recognized, including the establishment of the American Veterinary Medical Association Human-Animal Bond Task Force in 1981. His work has had a lasting impact on the field, helping to pave the way for the widespread acceptance and implementation of animal-assisted therapy.
Amanda Ong – 2016 Steamer – 10th Anniversary Servant Leader Award
Amanda Ong joined Girls STEAM Institute as a student 8 years ago and is honored to have the opportunity to return and speak at the 10th Anniversary Gala. She recently joined Microsoft as a software engineer after graduating with her Masters in Computer Science from the University of Washington. In addition to computer science, Amanda is particularly passionate about computer science education, working as both a teaching assistant and lecturer for programming courses at the University of Washington, as well as a volunteer teacher with the TEALS program. She is energized by finding new ways to help students understand concepts and believes that the best way to learn is through teaching.
Sana Shah – 2024 US Innovation Honoree
Sana Shah, Senior at Catlin-Gable High School, is an award- winning individual who has been recognized numerous times for her leadership as a robotics team member. VR Team earning first place in a global team competition, and her innovation to help OHSU develop a solution that mitigates ergonomic health challenges for Ultrasound techs by using a mixed reality solution, which is now common practice for the hospital procedure. Sana was able to present this new procedure at the SPIE Radiology Meeting in San Diego, California, February 2023, as the youngest presenter to the conference. GSI awarded Sana Shah with the 2024 Innovation Award, April 2024. In September, 2024, Sana completed an internship at Broad Institute MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ariana Lissak- GSI International Innovation Vanguard Award
Ariana Lissak is currently employed by Athene Health. She is a graduate of Neuva High School & college graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) with a degree in Computer Science. While a student at Neuva High School, Ariana took formal classes in robotics and mechatronics and founded the First Robotics team at Nueva High School where she programmed robotic vehicles. At RPI, she worked at the Center for Automation Technologies and Systems.as an undergraduate researcher and developed a passion for understanding other cultures through immersion. This took her to study Kung Fu in Dengfeng China and study Mandarin in Shanghai. Ariana now holds a Certificate in HSK-3 Chinese Proficiency , sponsored by the Chinese government.
In 2019, she participated in the IRES Program in Cambodia, using her skills and knowledge of creating high-density 3D point clouds of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) bombs to give operators a better view of the object and more understanding of the claw in relation to EO. It will give the operator more perspective through distance in retrieving unexploded armaments buried since Viet Nam War in the 1960s-1970s. The IRES – International Research Education Students Program is funded for humanitarian purposes by the National Science Foundation to make innovative positive changes in the world.
Chloe Dayton – Social Impact Award
Chloe Dayton is known as the “Little Cherokee Girl.” She is a long-time participant, mentor, and speaker for Girls STEAM Institute. Chloe Dayton is a Cherokee Nation citizen from Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She is a student at the Cherokee Nation Immersion School.
An accomplished storyteller in both English and Cherokee, she won first place in the Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Faire for Spoken Language and has been featured on Osiyo TV, the PBS Special “Native America,” and in the New York Times. Chloe uses Virtual Reality to teach Cherokee to people all over the world. She loves to teach the Cherokee language and she also loves to sings Cherokee hymns and play piano and fiddle!
2023 Honorees
Africa VR Center 2023 Inaugural International Social Impact Award – Africa Power Girls
The Africa VR Center in Kenya is an innovative hub dedicated to advancing virtual and augmented reality technologies across the continent. In 2023, their team of students called Africa Power Girls participated in the GSI 2023 Business Challenge and received the 2023 Inaugural International Social Impact Award for their innovative idea to provide reusable menstruation pads. The Africa VR Center brings young female students together to learn in and with virtual reality and emerging technology to better prepare them for future employment and leadership opportunities. The girls also work together with their communities build a better future economy that encourages emerging technology through education and innovation.
Dr. Thomas Furness III – Heart for Humanity Award
Dr. Tom Furness is a pioneering figure in virtual and augmented reality, widely recognized as the “Grandfather of Virtual Reality.” With over 50 years of experience in the field, he has made significant contributions to the development and application of VR technology.
Dr. Furness is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, where he founded the Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HITLab) in 1989. He has also established HITLab affiliates in Australia and New Zealand. His academic career is complemented by his extensive experience in the U.S. Air Force, where he worked on advanced cockpit and virtual interface technologies.
As an inventor and entrepreneur, Dr. Furness has founded or co-founded over 25 companies in the VR/AR space. He holds over 20 patents and has received numerous awards for his groundbreaking work, including the IEEE Virtual Reality Career Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the SPIE.
Dr. Furness is deeply committed to using virtual reality for social good. He co-founded the Virtual World Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to leveraging VR technology to address global challenges and improve lives. His vision extends beyond technological innovation to encompass education, healthcare, and humanitarian applications of VR. Throughout his career, Dr. Furness has been a mentor and inspiration to many in the field of virtual and augmented reality. His ongoing work continues to shape the future of immersive technologies and their potential to transform various aspects of human life and society.
2019 Recipients
Ray Kurzweil – Flame Award
Ray Kurzweil is an American inventor, computer scientist, futurist, and author, born on February 12, 1948. He is renowned for his contributions to various fields, including optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments. Kurzweil has authored several influential books on artificial intelligence, transhumanism, and the technological singularity, positioning himself as a prominent advocate for the futurist and transhumanist movements.
Throughout his career, he has received significant recognition for his achievements, including the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1999, the $500,000 Lemelson–MIT Prize in 2001, and election to the National Academy of Engineering in the same year. In 2002, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and holds 21 honorary doctorates.
Among his notable inventions are the Kurzweil Reading Machine for the blind (1976), Kurzweil Music Systems (1982), Kurzweil Applied Intelligence (1987), and Kurzweil Educational Systems (1996). In 2012, he joined Google as a director of engineering, focusing on machine learning and language processing. Kurzweil is well-known for his predictions about technological advancement and the future of humanity, particularly his concept of the “Law of Accelerating Returns” and his views on the technological singularity.