Yakima Valley College’s 2022 Diversity Series kicks off with a virtual conversation featuring biomedical scientist and creative science communicator Knatokie Ford. The free event will be held on Monday, January 24, 2022 at 4 p.m. PST. A Q&A will follow the lecture. Register for the event online.

Ford’s talk will focus on the innovative use of entertainment media to promote social change, particularly as it pertains to public perception and participation in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers.

Ford is founder and CEO of Fly Sci® Enterprise, an education and media consulting organization focused on leveraging the power of storytelling to promote social change, particularly in STEM fields. An international advocate for STEM inclusion, Ford works with a number of leading organizations, including YouTube, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, and the Association of National Advertisers where she serves as the STEM and entertainment engagement advisor for the #SeeHer initiative.

She previously served as a senior policy advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). In this role, Ford oversaw development and implementation of the national initiative, “Image of STEM,” which was designed to raise visibility and improve the image of STEM fields and careers to help promote diversity in the workforce. Prior to working at OSTP, Ford was a postdoctoral research fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She also spent time in Los Angeles where she had the opportunity to work in the entertainment industry and serve as a middle school teacher in an underserved community.

Ford served on the Barbie Global Advisory Council from 2018-2019 and is currently a member of the YouTube Kids Global Advisory Committee and the Toy Association’s STEM/STEAM Strategic Leadership Committee. She was a nominee in the “Shero” category of the inaugural Women’s Choice Awards in 2017 and is featured in the “BLACK GIRLS ROCK!” book by DJ Beverly Bond. Ford earned her PhD in experimental pathology at Harvard University where she studied age-related macular degeneration. Regis College awarded Ford an honorary doctorate of science in 2017.

Since 2005 Yakima Valley College has partnered with several local area organizations to host events and lectures through its annual Diversity Series. The events provide YVC the opportunity to bring diverse perspectives to everyday topics and push the boundaries of the term beyond race, gender, social class and sexuality.

For more information contact Counselor Vicente Lopez at vlopez@yvcc.edu.