The Ames Laboratory supports women through employee resource groups, professional development opportunities, relationships with professional associations, volunteer opportunities, and a wide array of campus programs. Cardinal Women is a personal and professional leadership development program for women who are faculty and staff at Iowa State University, including Ames Lab participants. Ames makes a point of including female scientists and postdocs in student STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) outreach events, and is aiming for additional involvement with Iowa State University’s Program for Women in Science and Engineering and an Inclusion Council at the Laboratory. 

Ames has also hosted a Diversity and Inclusion workshop for the National Laboratory Director’s Council, which included a seminar for all Ames Laboratory staff funded through the Women’s and Diversity Grant Program at Iowa State University, which is managed by the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Office. Additionally, the Lab supports STEM education as a charter sponsor and regional site for Middle School and High School Science Bowls and through its participation in the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI), Community College Internship (CCI) and Visiting Faculty (VFP) programs. The Lab also supports Iowa State University’s Science Bound, a pre-college program to empower Iowa students of color to pursue degrees and careers in STEM fields. 

At Argonne National Laboratory, the Women in Science and Technology (WIST) Program supports the Laboratory’s goal of scientific and engineering excellence through a diverse workforce. Since 1990, WIST has worked to recruit, retain, and promote the success of women at Argonne through programs that encourage, develop, and utilize their full potential. WIST outreach activities such as Science Careers in Search of Women (SCSW) and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED) seek to encourage young women to pursue careers in science, engineering and technology.

Brookhaven National Laboratory has developed many programs and partnerships with organizations to encourage girls and women to pursue education, careers, and leadership in science. These programs and partnerships include outreach efforts in K-12 schools, undergraduate and graduate schools, post-docs and careers scientists, as well as opportunities with women-owned businesses.

The Lab’s Office of Educational Programs conducts STEM programs serving women and girls, including programs for Girls Inc., the Girl Scouts, and Stony Brook University’s Women in Science & Engineering, among others. The Lab’s Inclusion & Diversity Office partners with Brookhaven Women in Science (BWIS), one of the Lab’s Employee Resource Groups and a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which promotes equal opportunity and advancement for women, to host events, a speaker series, leadership training for women (such as the BNL Women in STEM Leadership program), and support for other organizations and events, such as International Women’s Day.

Highlights of the BWIS program include the Renate W. Chasman Scholarship and the Gertrude Scharff-Goldhaber Award, both of which are named for notable Brookhaven Lab women scientists and which promote their legacies by recognizing achievements of women who have conducted research at the Lab while pursuing graduate degrees in science. Brookhaven also recently partnered with Con Edison to host a Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Technology Summit.

Fermilab’s Women’s Initiative promotes gender equity and organizational civility, and provides a platform for professional growth and empowerment. The contributions of women whose work drives discoveries are prominently featured in the Women of Fermilab web photo gallery. The Fermilab professional chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (fSWE) offers networking and professional development opportunities for the lab’s women engineers and engineering physicists. Additionally, the SWE national conference connects Fermilab with local, regional and national SWE professional and student chapters, and STEM outreach activities. Focused on high school girls,hands-on activities at the Wonderful Women in STEM conference provide exposure to the work done by female scientists, engineers, and graduate students at Fermilab.

Idaho National Laboratory hosts My Amazing Future, an event designed to introduce eighth-grade young women to potential STEM careers. The program allows 150 girls annually to participate in hands-on activities, meet professional women in STEM and hear from an inspiring key note speaker. My Amazing Future is in its 12th year and is supported by groups including the American Nuclear Society, Idaho Women in Nuclear and the Department of Energy. In 2019, INL also supported the national Girls Go CyberStart initiative, an innovative cybersecurity training initiative aimed at encouraging high school girls to pursue careers in information technology.

To address issues that affect the careers of women scientists and engineers, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory created the Women Scientists & Engineers Council (WSEC). The WSEC, Human Resources, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusions (DEI) Office work in partnership to determine priorities and develop strategies for recruitment, retention, work life balance, and empowerment of women scientists and engineers. Subcommittees focus on target areas and address specific challenges. Every three years Berkeley Lab hosts a Women @ the Lab event, honoring employees in STEM and Operations and sharing their stories. The Director’s Distinguished Women in Science Speaker Series brings prominent women in science to speak with the Berkeley Lab community about their research and experiences. The Lab’s Visible Spectrum website shares stories of women in the Lab’s workforce. 

Additionally, Berkeley Lab is inspiring girls toward STEM careers through Nuclear Science Day, which is celebrating 10 years in 2020. The Lab partners with the Girl Scouts of America and have seen an increase in young women participants over time, and will continue to build on that through our participation in Girl Scout programs throughout the region. The K-12 program will also partner with Women in Science and Engineers Council to build in youth components during conferences and celebrations highlighting the work of women in STEM.  

The Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Women's Association (LLLWA) was founded in 1971 to promote educational and advancement opportunities for women and men at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Each year the LLLWA distributes between $8,000 and $10,000 in scholarships to employees pursuing higher education. The LLLWA is an action-focused group concerned with issues of interest to all Laboratory employees with an emphasis on women’s issues and interests. Under the LLLWA umbrella are subgroups such as the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) and the New Mom’s Group.

The LLLWA promotes STEM education for young women by sponsoring and helping to coordinate two annual Expanding Your Horizons conferences. The two conferences (one in San Joaquin County the other in the Tri-Valley) serve about 800 girls combined and encourage girls in middle and high school to consider education and career options in science and mathematics. Girls attend a series of workshops that provide hands-on science or math related activities and enable the girls to interact with professionals and science enthusiasts.

In addition, LLNL supports Girls Who Code, a national program aimed at encouraging girls to explore coding in a friendly and enjoyable environment through local gatherings. In 2016, the Computation Directorate of LLNL partnered with the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District to establish Girls Who Code clubs at seven Livermore middle and high schools. The Livermore Girls Who Code clubs are unique collaborations between the national nonprofit program, the local school district, and the Laboratory. The Girls Who Code program provides training and curriculum to volunteers from the Laboratory who visit the school sites once a week for about two hours over ten weeks to teach the curriculum.

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) hosts Future Female Leaders in Engineering, a three year internship program to inspire women to achieve their full potential as engineers and future leaders and to support and celebrate their achievements and successes. The Girls in STEM program from LANL matches girls with mentors to include one on one assistance with STEM homework, school support with STEM and other topics, a full week summer session with lab and near-peer mentors at Girls Inc. of Santa Fe, Ghost Ranch, and various LANL sites.

There are three women’s Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) at LANL. The Atomic Women provide networking opportunities, and support and education for women in science and engineering at the Lab. Women in Computing build a vibrant community through which female staff and students engaged in all aspects of computing (and advocates) can network, connect with and create professional development opportunities, inform, brainstorm, receive and provide encouragement and support, grow, lead, and succeed. The LANL Women’s Group provides a forum to encourage women's contributions, development opportunities, and shared support across LANL.

Additionally, the 2019 Summer Physics Camp for Young Women brings in 20 young women from neighboring school districts together to meet scientists and STEM role models. During the two-week camp, they learn about physics through hands-on experiments (such as muon tracking, superconductors and magnetism, holography, and rocket science), about STEM careers and career paths or choices.

Women bring unique talents, skills and perspectives that are essential to the success of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) as the nation’s premier fossil energy science and engineering resource. The NETL Women’s Program, led by NETL Research Engineer Eilis Rosenbaum, Ph.D., and the Equal Employment Opportunity Office for Diversity & Inclusion host an annual celebration and training event that features guest speakers who share thought-provoking stories and valuable insights related to women’s roles and gender equity in the STEM workforce. Recent themes include “Leading and Following in Gender Equity Work” and “Visionary Scientists & Engineers at NETL.”

The lab also takes these opportunities to recognize women honored with awards for their work within the past year. In addition, NETL has a STEM Ambassadors program that invites researchers to connect with aspiring young scientists and engineers. Women at NETL participate to share their STEM career path with the next generation of energy researchers who will one day work to develop technological solutions to America’s energy challenges.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) builds a diverse talent pool through an annual diversity and inclusion plan that monitors, evaluates, and deploys best practices for workplace diversity. To attract women to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) roles, NREL works with the Society of Women Engineers and participates in the Women in Physics Regional Conference. NREL also introduces girls to STEM career opportunities by supporting educational programs like GESTEM, hosted by the Society of Women Engineers, Girls Inc., and the Girl Scouts of America.

To ensure women remain an integral part of STEM disciplines at the lab, NREL supports a variety of initiatives that meet their unique needs. The Women's Network, for example, is an Employee Resource Group that provides a platform for professional development, mentorship, and networking to promote female leadership, workforce opportunities, and a supportive environemnt. For more information visit NREL's education website.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory‘s Committee for Women employee resource group hosts annual Women’s History Month activities including a Women’s Workshop and partners with local girls groups for mentoring events. Oak Ridge worked with a Diversity manager to analyze the data for the female workforce for the Oak Ridge Office of Science to determine potential areas where we may need improvement in hiring practices.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has an extensive network for women in STEM. The SPARK employee resource group ignites the careers of women in science and technology by creating a culture of dignity that furthers inclusion, equity, and parity. It produces workshops, guest speakers, and monthly content focused on career advancement, networking, leadership, and empowerment. In 2019, PNNL was chosen to host the IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Summit with nine other global locations for a conference on inclusion, leadership, mentorship, and collaboration.

Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, part of the Office of Environmental Management, hosts a STEM 4 Girls event each year to introduce young women ages fifth through twelfth grade about the variety of careers available to them in STEM. In 2018, over 120 girls participated in activities to learn about natural radiation, radiation’s history and uses, and get introduced to women in STEM careers.

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) hosts the Young Women’s Conference in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. PPPL hosts the Young Women's Conference in STEM with the goal to inspire young women to pursue careers in the STEM fields. PPPL invites 750+ young women to spend the day with prominent female scientists, engineers, and technological professionals. Those attendees have the opportunitiy to engage with professionals explaining their own paths into STEM fields and guidance on the journey for the next generation. Through face-to-face interaction and encouragement, exposure to cutting edge, hands-on projects and lectures by the Lab’s experts, prospective STEM careers may become tangible realities for conference attendees.

Sandia National Laboratories’ Jill Hruby Fellowship in National Security Science and Engineering is one of Sandia’s most prestigious postdoctoral fellowships, aimed at developing women in engineering and science who are interested in technical leadership careers in national security. Jill Hruby was the first woman appointed director of a large, multidisciplinary national security laboratory and has been a driving force for other women to follow careers in national security. The Sandia Women’s Action Network encourages women’s career development and community building, and supports Sandia’s commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace for women. Sandia’s employee resource groups promote STEM education in the community by offering engaging activities and mentoring opportunities for students throughout the year.

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) supports women in STEM through employee resource groups, mentorship programs, and community outreach. Spectra, SRNL’s employee networking group dedicated to illuminating the role of women at SRNL and across the Department of Energy complex, fosters technical partnerships between women serving in multi-disciplinary roles across the lab. Its key focus areas include technical collaboration, professional development and advancement, community outreach, and support. SRNL mentorship programs match junior and mid-career professionals with experienced, technical, and managerial experts, to increase their professional skills, build their network, and develop a greater sense of community within the lab. Finally, SRNL employees volunteer in a variety of Savannah River Site and community STEM outreach activities, building a strong regional network for women dedicated to inspiring the next generation of female scientists and engineers. Other sitewide women’s groups include a local chapter for Women in Nuclear (WIN), the Central Savannah River Section for the Society of Women Engineers, and the SRS Women@Liquid Waste.

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) hosts the annual SAGE-S (SLAC Accelerating Girls' Engagement in STEM). It is a one week long on-campus summer camp for public high school students (age 14-17) hosted by SLAC's scientists and engineers to share what everyday life in STEM professions is like. This program aims to foster innovation, grow the STEM community, and engage intelligent, creative, and passionate young women in everyday life of scientists and engineers of the National Laboratories.

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has co-hosted regional events for the Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics, bringing those physics majors to a day of special events and talks at Jefferson Lab. The Women in Science Roundtable, a major outreach effort, has also been held at the lab, as have many STEM activities aimed at reaching school-aged children – and so increasing the number of females and minorities in STEM.