Lotus STEMM Team Members
Paksh Program
Jaishree Subrahmaniam, PhD
Developer and Lead
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Being a South Asian woman myself, I am thrilled to be a part of the support system that is Lotus STEMM. The core aim of LS, which is to celebrate diversity and promote women to follow their passion for science aligns with my passion for helping women in their STEAM journeys. Thanks to LS and Dr. Roopali, I got to create a mental health support system for researchers all over the world (Paksh) to help them in their journeys navigating a STEM career!
Mohit Jaiswal
Technical Manager
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Lotus-STEMM, as a diverse network of (and for) academics, accentuates certain fragile topics including gender bias, toxic academic atmosphere, mentor-mentee relationships, gender bias - and I believe that Project Paksh, being a relatively new and successful branch of LS, does a fantastic job of wielding all of the above. I felt, that it resonated with what I am starting to feel in research and academia, and this is only the beginning. So far, it is only my gut feeling, but I truly believe that LS is playing, and will continue to play a crucial role, in my development as an empathetic human being, and a good scientist.
Zill-e-Anam, PhD
Coordinator
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I am a PhD in Molecular Medicine presently exploring non-academic science careers. I joined Lotus STEMM to be a part of a community of South Asian Women to broaden my network and build my safe space. I do this by contributing towards and participating in the Paksh Program. I truly believe that we need to build stable, reliable, and safe mental health structures within STEMM, and hope to contribute towards this by being a part of Lotus STEMM.
Anushree Krishnamurthy
Communication Manager
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Outreach, Leadership, Networking and Research independently have been instrumental in preparing me for a journey in academia. Being the cornerstones on which LotusSTEMM stands, the opportunity to work in and be exposed to these four aspects together in the LS family is really exciting to me. Using my experience to help others achieve their goals and give back to the community that is nurturing me, is nothing short of a dream come true.
Mentorship Program
Jovita Pinto
Developer & Lead
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I joined Lotus STEMM because I believe in its mission and vision. Being a south asian myself and a minority in my profession, I can relate to the struggles of an immigrant woman trying to aspire professionally. I have a Master's and Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering.
Bhairavi Shankar, PhD
Program Advisor
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I support Lotus STEMM because I believe it serves a critical purpose of providing a platform where professional South Asian women can connect, lean on, and build on the support system as they navigate the STEMM world within Canada.
Shefali Chaudhary
Technical Manager
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As one of the few South Asian women who decided to make Engineering a career path and from my experiences, I can relate to the mission and objectives of Lotus STEMM. Before pursuing this career, I barely knew anything about the field and what it meant to be an Engineer. I noticed that those that I could talk to were predominately male and I had not seen or met any female Engineers. I would like to change that, as well as see more South Asian women choose the Engineering field and I believe Lotus STEMM is a great platform to achieve this.
Expanding Horizons
Priya Iyer
Workshop Developer
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Priya Iyer is a public health professional, a freelance writer, and a proud feminist. She was born in India and lived in the middle East before immigrating to Canada. She is excited to bring her skills in project management, stakeholder engagement and communications to bring greater visibility to diverse women in STEMM.
Celia Du
Workshop Developer
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Dedicated to expanding representation and support for underrepresented and marginalized communities in science, I was naturally inclined to be part of the work that Lotus STEMM does. Everyone is so encouraging, helpful and eager to make things happen! Without Lotus STEMM, my passion for more multicultural science communication may have never been fulfilled!
Family & I Code Together Program
Shefali Chaudhary
Technical Manager
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As one of the few South Asian women who decided to make Engineering a career path and from my experiences, I can relate to the mission and objectives of Lotus STEMM. Before pursuing this career, I barely knew anything about the field and what it meant to be an Engineer. I noticed that those that I could talk to were predominately male and I had not seen or met any female Engineers. I would like to change that, as well as see more South Asian women choose the Engineering field and I believe Lotus STEMM is a great platform to achieve this.
Jasvinder Kalra
Developer and Lead
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My name is Jasvinder Kalra and I have 15 years of experience as an IT Educator and IT specialist. I have worked in various different colleges in and outside of Canada. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Science and a Masters in Information Technology and Masters in Computer Applications and Information Technology. I am highly involved in supporting women and girls in STEM through actively engaging with my daughters and other parents in robotics events and organizations where I met with Dr. Roopali. LotusSTEMM’s efforts not only inspired my daughters, but also me as we get to contribute to everyone’s passion for helping South Asian women reach their full potential.
Teach Me in 5 (Youth Program)
Yashaswani Chauhan
Program Developer and Co-Lead
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Yashaswani Chauhan is a 4th year undergraduate student completing her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at McMaster University. She is a passionate advocate for STEMM education and hopes to inspire creativity and mentor youth through her "Teach Me in 5" project at LS.
Meshva Desai
Program Co-Lead
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Meshva Desai will be starting her first year at University of Waterloo for Biomedical Engineering. She hopes to share her passion for science by volunteering with Lotus STEMM and the "Teach Me In 5" project.
LS-CAGIS Chapter
Goppikka Natkunam
Chapter coordinator
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Throughout my undergraduate years, I gained a passion & appreciation for science communication because I felt that the general public needed to comprehend science topics. There’s a barrier between individuals in STEM effectively communicating & delivering the science to the community which is something I strive to change as an active science communicator! As a proud South Asian Woman in STEM, Lotus STEMM sparked my interest because of their goal in spreading awareness of STEMM to the South Asian community which is currently a challenge. They focus on “outreach” as one of their main objectives which I knew I was passionate in to support to ensure young South Asian girls can pursue STEMM careers knowing that they have role models that look just like them excelling in the field! At Lotus STEMM, I want to change the traditional faiths society has set for South Asian women & allow us to stand on our own two feet & pursue a career we are passionate in like STEMM!
Administrative Team
Lakindu Wickramasekara
Fundraising Campaign Manager​
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I joined Lotus STEMM because I resonate with their ideology. Growing up in Canada, I witnessed the struggles my parents endured as immigrants from a visible minority. While being educated back home, they were clueless about finding employment and resources in Canada. Therefore, I hope to help bring change to the marginalized in our South Asian community by assisting in providing the resources and information needed to succeed.
Sadaf Adnan
Senior Program Coordinator​
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I have 10 years of work experience with different non-profit organizations, but Lotus STEMM, is my dream come true project in different capacities. I would like to highlight 2 important things:
1.Empowerment of South Asian women on different leadership platforms.
2.Extensive learning in terms of Science Translations in different languages.
Thank you so much LotusSTEMM team for being an amazing support always.!!
C M Manasvi
The Pond Project Lead
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I'm a curious lover of all things science and I'm delighted to be a part of Lotus STEMM. Lotus STEMM is a wonderful platform that encourages females to go beyond their limits with the support of South Asian female mentors. Let's grow together!
Research Team
Suffia Malik
I support Lotus STEMM because I want to help grow a network of South Asian women leaders and encourage young women to pursue their dreams in STEMM.
Elias Elaneh
With a keen interest in social justice issues and a deep commitment to developing and mobilizing knowledge to create social change, I am thrilled to be part of the research team at LS!
Parizad Katila
Lotus flowers are commonly associated with purity, inner strength and tranquility, which I believe are the traits that Lotus STEMM embodies. I am proud to be a part of the LS research team and I am currently going in my final year of undergraduate studies in Chemical Engineering. I had always imagined myself working in a STEMM field, however it wasn’t until I was much older when I realized the disparities I would face in the field as a South Asian woman. Due to my intersectional identity, I had to face a whole new set of challenges without much guidance. Now that I have had the chance to learn and grow, I want to be able to share my experiences with other women in STEMM. I truly believe in the importance of having a safe space where women can build their connections and have a community through Lotus STEMM.
Alador Bereketab
I joined Lotus STEMM as I’ve always felt such a strong affinity for equity work. The importance of this work centred around the focus of amplifying voices that are often left unheard, as seen with Lotus Stemm in the South Asian community, can never be left unnoticed. I’ve specifically focused my passions on health equity, and music accessibility. To see work that’s being done to research the determinants of South Asian women in the health field parallels gaps I’ve witnessed in several other spaces.
Shysta Sehgal
I am a rising junior at the University of Toronto, and I am studying cognitive science and computer science. I am highly passionate about promoting equity in STEM education, and I have previously researched about the barriers women face in tertiary STEM education, which contributes to their low persistence and enrolment rates. I am continuing my research in the form of its application at LS by creating workshops for women that encourage them to stay in STEM. I am really excited to be a part of LS, and I highly resonate with its missions, being a South Asian women myself.
Former Research Team Members
Hafsa Omer
By fostering an environment that allows for young female students to be introduced to science communication and research, Lotus STEMM will only give those individuals that much more of a reason to pursue rewarding opportunities.
Sowmithree Ragothaman
I joined Lotus STEMM initially as a confused third-year university student seeking a mentor within the South Asian community. As an immigrant, I've often found navigating the post-secondary system difficult, especially as my family has little knowledge about my field of study. I was hoping to find someone who had been in my shoes before, and would be willing to both guide and challenge me. I was lucky to find that in Dr. Chaudhary, who's been a hugely positive influence in my life. I'm looking forward to helping this organization grow so that other South Asian girls in my situation can find a safe, welcoming space!
Zeba Rizvi
I joined Lotus STEMM as a South Asian woman looking for a supportive community as I begin my academic journey in science. What I found was an opportunity to make a real impact, an amazing research team of motivated women, and incredible support/mentorship from Dr. Chaudhary. This organization gives young women interested in science the space and opportunity to thrive and I am so happy to be a part of these efforts!
Tiffany Chen
I joined Lotus STEMM to support girls and young women in STEMM fields to redefine gender stereotypes and break unconscious biases. I'm very excited to be working alongside an amazing group of individuals to advocate for women of colour and reduce the STEMM gender gap.
Zahra Abdallah
More than ever, we are witnessing the importance of advocating for equity and respect when facing injustice. I joined lotus stemm to support young women and girls who not only aspire to work in stemm, but hope to create a lasting impact in this field. Along with my wonderful colleagues, I am looking forward to challenging the existing barriers and creating opportunities for women of colour to flourish and succeed in this field