Kaela Brown (she/her)

Social justice and community outreach have been integral parts of Kaela’s life since elementary school. After immigrating to the United States from Jamaica, she joined a local NAACP youth council in 5th grade. It was there that Kaela discovered her voice and became dedicated to using it to advocate for her community. She was elected to the executive board and was treasurer and secretary for several years before being elected to the New York State NAACP youth and college executive board in 10th grade. In this role, she served as secretary and helped oversee over 27 youth councils and college divisions in New York State. Through her position, Kaela was able to assist in coordinating many important community events, such as Know Your Rights trainings with resources and training from the Legal Aid Society, as well as community pep rallies with information and resources regarding censuses, voting, and community leadership. Kaela also helped organize her high school’s first voter registration drive, which successfully registered or pre-registered all eligible juniors and seniors within her school while also educating her peers on the importance of voting locally and during presidential elections. She was the Chief Operating Officer in her school's virtual enterprise class. Together with her peers, she created and ran a mock virtual nonprofit organization called OneWorld, which sold products to contribute to different social and environmental causes. Kaela further developed her experiences and skills while attending Northeastern University, majoring in communications and media studies. She was involved with the Council of University Programming, the pep band, and the Caribbean Students' Association’s dance troupe. Kaela completed a co-op at Akamai Technologies, where she served as an Event Marketer on the global events team. After a rewarding three years at Northeastern, Kaela graduated early and found her next challenge at the Science Club for Girls. She is excited to be a part of an organization that works tirelessly to cultivate the next generations of world changers.

“My favorite woman in STEM is Katherine Johnson. Katherine was one of the few Black mathematicians at NASA in the 1950s, and her calculations played a significant role in the success of the first U.S. crewed space flights and all that followed. Seeing her story portrayed in the movie Hidden Figures as a 13-year-old Black girl who was used to being told how high I could reach, I realized that I could reach for the stars despite what anyone says, just as Katherine did, which changed my life.”