March 7 at USC and online, come Out to Innovate

For the first time in years, Out to Innovate, the national professional organization for LGBTQ+ scientists, science educators, and technical professionals, is organizing an in-person conference: a community summit hosted at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles all day Saturday, March 7. The program will feature motivational talks and panels by experts in science policy, healthcare, and law, as well as workshops in professional development, navigating the backlash against pro-diversity policy — and in applying STEM skills to community needs.

That last workshop will feature yours truly, building on ideas from my 2025 IDEA award plenary at the Evolution Meetings in Athens, Georgia. I’ll draw on my experience with the Queer in STEM project to give participants some guidance for developing a project to serve community needs with our expertise — whether in data collection or in translating scholarly results for advocacy. I’ll discuss examples of projects that successfully “speak for data,” and I’ll guide participants to brainstorm project ideas and make plans to turn those ideas into reality.

Plenary sessions for the summit will be live-streamed, and offered free to OTI members — but registration for the in-person events and workshops at USC is very reasonable, and covers breakfast and lunch as well as transport to a closing reception at the ONE Archives. Sign up now on the OTI website to join in!