Chair Azad looks back on the year that was

Greetings, Saint Louis Local Section Members! I hope this message finds you well.

I am grateful for the opportunity to lead the STL section as your chair in 2021. It has been another tough year – still dealing with COVID as we continue to have zoom meetings and avoid in-person gatherings. One of my focuses this year was to help the graduating undergrads with their job search efforts – we held online coaching sessions where undergrads from a few different local universities joined in. The feedback was that they found it helpful. We will plan a few online career coaching sessions for the undergrads again next year.

Cynthia Chapple (incoming chair in 2022) and Jeramia Ory launched new listening sessions and discussions on race, diversity, and inclusion (RD&I). Cynthia was awarded an IPG Grant from National ACS for this program. Next year, we will see continued focus on RD&I discussions and awareness, as this is an important topic for National ACS.

The STL section plans to have a strategic planning meeting in May. We collected your feedback on what type of programming and events we should focus on to make your membership with ACS worthwhile: we will incorporate your feedback in the section’s strategic plans.

Please stay tuned for more information on next year’s programming and events! Wishing you all the best in 2022!

Cheers!
Samina

Samina Azad, 2021 Chair