CULTIVATING BELONGING BY CENTERING PEOPLE (Invited Presentation)

My own experience navigating the world and STEM as non-binary, biracial, and queer has shown me the importance of finding and creating community in cultivating resilience. My experiences have also changed my relationship with the concepts of “community” and “family”. People who are biracial are often excluded because they are viewed as not enough of either race instead as wholly both. People who are queer face prejudices and endure different forms of violence. For me, these experiences are not limited to encounters with strangers or acquaintances, but also occur with people who are supposed to be family. Entrenched in white cis-heternormativity, we do not learn about LGBTQ+ history, let alone QTBIPOC history, unless someone shows us or we figure out how to find it. In that, the concept of “chosen family” has always existed, where people without blood or legal relations choose to be emotionally close and become significant parts of each others’ lives. Learning this wholly resonated with my experience and is the foundation of my advocacy and approach to STEM. Within communities and systems that do not support us, we need to find, support, and champion each other. Working with mentors, Queer & Trans in STEM, Reclaiming STEM, and the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science has only solidified this and shown me ways this can manifest in STEM settings.