For second-year Tar Heel Aynsley Szczesniak, being a woman in STEM is more than just an academic path — it’s a passion, pursuit and moral compass that drives everything she does.
In fall 2023, Szczesniak founded Speak Out Sisterhood, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization for young professional women in STEM. The organization is best known for its internship program, Generation YES, in which teams of women-identifying students are paired with partner companies to drive real-world problem solving.
campus collaborations
Szczesniak, a North Carolina native, was in her first semester at Carolina when she created the organization. Szczesniak is a pre-medical student who dreams of working in women’s health or emergency medicine. Her father, Carl Szczesniak ‘94 works in the medical field and met his wife, Katherine ‘93, in Chapel Hill. Aynsley knew having diverse voices in STEM-related fields was important, but attending a STEM conference in Colorado heightened her awareness of the lack of young women voices involved in change.
“I was by far the youngest person at that conference,” Szczesniak said. “There are so many organizations doing great work in STEM, but why aren’t there more young people in those conversations?”
Szczesniak made it her mission to change that. Majoring in biology and mathematics with a minor in entrepreneurship through the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship, Szczesniak worked in tandem with Carolina resources to bring Speak Out Sisterhood to life. These resources were instrumental in helping her realize her vision, she said.
“I might’ve eventually decided to do this on my own, but seeing how excited people were to have a young person in that space convinced me my ideas mattered and that this had potential,” she said.
Szczesniak collaborated with entities from across campus to build her organization. Szczesniak visited UNC Y to discuss her ideas and develop a plan. Honors Carolina helped her navigate finance questions and set up a nonprofit business structure. The Shuford program taught Szczesniak how to secure funding and how to market her organization. At every turn, she said, she found someone willing to help her.
“It’s a spirit I have seen in so many places here on campus,” she said. “I’ve never had someone tell me I couldn’t do this; no matter who I’ve talked to, I’ve felt a sense of empowerment and help that fits within my own bounds.”
Life lessons
Speak Out Sisterhood focuses on social entrepreneurship, a way to address problems by using business principles to make a positive impact. Generation YES teaches students how to come up with an idea, speak with stakeholders, create a prototype and improve that prototype based on company and mentor feedback. Interns develop a well-written and well-researched proposal on how to solve the industry problem they’ve been assigned.
Szczesniak said these exercises teach not only necessary intellectual skills, but social ones, too. Advocacy, confidence, creative thinking and self-efficacy are skills she believes are overlooked in a typical STEM education.
“People focus so much already on the enrichment of STEM, but just because you’re interested in something doesn’t mean you’ll have smooth sailing when you enter the field,” she said. “As a woman in STEM, it’s easy to burn out while facing challenges produced by the system you’re working in.”
As a woman, Szczesniak has faced these challenges herself, but the Carolina community has helped her overcome them. Szczesniak meets regularly with mentors from across campus and enjoys networking to find connections she can recruit for the cause of increasing young perspectives in STEM.
Moving forward
Generation YES will host its third cohort of students beginning in late February. Since its inception, more than 100 have applied for spots. The newest cohort will have around 30 slots.
Szczesniak hopes to grow Speak Out Sisterhood’s national and international presence in the coming years. Although most Generation YES interns are UNC-Chapel Hill students, she said she would love to see more students from other campuses and countries applying.
“UNC-Chapel Hill is incredible because there are so many opportunities, but a program like this is more impactful when it reaches the women who don’t have access to the same opportunities,” she said. “I keep in my heart the goal of building partnerships with other universities and community colleges so that we can bring this opportunity to even more women.”
Although she hopes to be a doctor one day, she plans to continue working with Speak Out Sisterhood to create a more equitable industry climate. She aims to continue pursuing partnerships for Generation YES and creating connections with professionals of all types. Ultimately, she hopes her work with Speak Out Sisterhood will enhance feminist ideals and gender equality in STEM-related fields.
“I want to do good things for the world,” she said. “I genuinely love getting to know people, and I want to use that to continue chasing my ambitions.”
— Payton Wilkins