April Boyd-Noronha is Chief STEM Solutions Architect at The STEM Broker, LLC, where she brokers strategic partnerships between STEM stakeholders to facilitate customized services to ensure an engaging, vibrant, and evolving STEM ecosystem in the metro Kansas City area and beyond.

Her 3rd book “The Top 5 Rules of Engagement for Parents Raising a Girl in STEM” (2016, e-book) helps parents discover five strategic rules to implement to consistently engage and constantly encourage their daughter to pursue a STEM career. This simple five-step guide gives parents practical yet strategic steps to systematically apply regardless of their daughter’s level of STEM involvement. This rule book is based on April’s proactive parenting and personal experiences as a mother of three aspiring technologists, a STEM diversity thought leader, and from her own personal journey as a “woman in STEM”.

April was born and raised in the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri and continues to be active in local affairs where she currently serves on the Social Impact Technology & Engineering (SITE) board of directors. She is serving her 2nd year on the Grace Hopper Celebration selection committee awarding scholarships to aspiring women technologists to attend their annual Women in Computing conference. Recently, April was selected as a KC Scholars scholarship reviewer with the Kauffman Foundation. She also provides her expertise as a Support Mentor for students in “The Threat Within” cybersecurity course at The City University of New York (CUNY).

April is a passionate STEM advocate who mentors girls, coaches parents, and dedicates both her personal and professional time to elevating the awareness and importance of STEM diversity and inclusion. She develops and presents STEM training, workshops, and boot camps for girls, parents, and concerned stakeholders in the community such as start-ups, educators, and faith-based entities. April is currently preparing to launch her “Girls in STEM” lecture series that focuses on the traditional aspects of STEM to include medical (STEMM).

She travels the U.S. as a keynote speaker, panelist, and subject matter expert on emerging and critical workplace policies and best practices regarding women and minorities in STEM industries. Recent appearances include: 2017 National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) collegiate workshop presenter, keynote speaker at the 2016 Diversity and Inclusion Summit at The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, featured “Women in STEM” presenter at the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) convention, National Postal Forum Annual Convention - featured “Change Management” presenter, 2015 “Women in STEM” panelist at the UMKC Women of Color Conference, and a recurring presenter for the Science Pioneers, Inc. “STEM Parent Session” (held annually at the Kansas City Union Station).

April is currently working on her fourth book, a memoir that chronicles her STEM journey (from Spelling Bee to STEM Broker) which provides STEM influencers and enthusiasts the ultimate blueprint to strengthen and/or expand their current diversity and inclusion initiatives. STEM stakeholders will gain insight and learn practical principles on how to effectively embrace and engage as well as proactively recruit and retain undervalued STEM talent from within the urban core.

April hosted the weekly podcast “The STEM Broker” where she reported on local STEM events and expressed her views on “girls in STEM” engagement and outreach. She is a regular LinkedIn contributor on a variety of STEM issues.

April also is a champion for change management where in her first book “Good Bosses Gone Bad: How to Survive the Workplace When Your Boss Sucks” (2012) she offers ten practical yet strategic solutions to implement while employed in a toxic workplace.

Her second book, “The Soul of a Single Parent: How to Snapback and Get Your SWAG On” (2014) is a candid, up-close-and-personal perspective of her journey as a single parent. It delves deep into the thresholds of self-care, self-reflection, and self-reliance in order to snapback from the depths of single parent paralysis. More importantly, it helps readers gain further insight in realizing their own strength and divine role as a single parent.

April earned her MBA and continues her studies in Cybersecurity. Though she serves in various roles, she is always reminded of her primary role as parent of three aspiring STEM technologists – her two daughters: Zaria, a future Cybersecurity Tech and Nyah an aspiring Behavior Analyst (ages 18 and 16, respectively) and her son Caleb, age 11, a future rocket scientist. She currently resides in Lee’s Summit, Missouri – the New Silicon Prairie. For more information about April’s STEM consulting, lecturing, or corporate presentations, visit www.thestembroker.com.