About | Up4 The Challenge

Transforming the culture of STEM towards inclusivity

Our Vision

We envision an inclusive culture within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) where interdisciplinary approaches are used for positive social change.

By highlighting the potential for science and technology to better our communities, we anticipate an increase in the diversity of people, perspectives, and ideas in STEM, resulting in more innovative and sustainable solutions.

Our Vision

We envision an inclusive culture within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) where interdisciplinary approaches are used for positive social change.

Our Mission

We inspire youth to use STEM
to improve people’s lives.

Our Values

Diversity
Collaboration
Creativity

Diversity
Our work starts from a place of compassion, empathy, and integrity. We welcome and value different viewpoints, experiences, and sources of knowledge and we are curious about different ways of doing things, while also staying true to our individual sense of self.

Collaboration
Our team is made better through mutual respect, learning, and contribution towards common goals. Working together, we aspire towards our mission advocating STEM for social impact and our vision of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the STEM fields. Within our team we foster a growth mindset while remaining solutions-oriented.

Creativity

We thrive on the opportunities presented by the unknown. We value process and positive risk-taking because meaningful change and true innovation can only be achieved by trying something new. We believe our creativity will help us find the emerging possibilities.

Meet Our Team

Andrea Hemmerich

Toronto

Andrea is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Queen's University, Lecturer of Human-Centred Design at McMaster University, and Co-founder of Up4 The Challenge. She is excited to be expanding the program to Toronto with a growing team.

Katherine Reilly

Ottawa

Katherine is a Research Associate at the University of Ottawa's Bone and Joint Research Laboratory and Co-founder of Up4 The Challenge. She brings a wealth of experience from numerous K-12 STEM outreach programming initiatives.

Ariadni Anathassiadis

Ottawa

Ari is a lawyer, consultant, and educator. As Chair of WISE-Ottawa she helped co-found Up4 The Challenge and continues to provide invaluable advisory support to the organization.

Lauren Folk

Virtual Office

Lauren has been instrumental at getting our Toronto program off the ground while completing her Master's in Civil Engineering at York University. She mentored our initial cohort of participants through our pilot program.

Ryerson Fellowship Students 2019

We were very fortunate to have Ryerson ACS students, Devany Macdonald and Smyrna Wright, join our team for May and June of 2019. Thanks so much for all of your hard work and contributions!