7 Women Changemakers Making Waves in STEM and Tech

Business Lists

Published by Stephen Oluwadara at March 31, 2025

Aisha Bowe

Aisha Bowe is an aerospace engineer, founder, STEM advocate, and entrepreneur. She founded STEMBoard, a technology company, and LINGO, an educational tech company featuring tutorials and online resources.

Furthermore, the Bahamian-American is a former NASA rocket scientist, Blue Origin astronaut, and host of Inc. Magazine’s Your Next Move. The podcast features authentic and insightful conversations with today’s most innovative and exciting entrepreneurs and business leaders.

She has been featured on national TV, online, and print media outlets such as Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Wired, and The Kelly Clarkson Show. Bowe was also the focus of the documentary “In Her Element,” which can be seen on Amazon Prime, Google Play, and Apple TV. The University of Michigan graduate is set to make history as the first African American woman to fly with Blue Origin’s Spaceflight.

Hadiyah-Nicole Green

Hadiyah-Nicole Green is an American medical physicist, STEM pioneer, leader, humanitarian, and entrepreneur. She is one of the nation’s leading medical physicists and one of the first African American women to earn a Ph.D. in Physics.

Dr. Green developed a revolutionary cancer treatment that uses lasers and nanotechnology to eliminate cancer in mice. To ensure the affordability of this treatment, she founded a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation (OraLee.org), to raise funding for human clinical trials. In addition, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded her a $1.1 million grant for her research. Her story has been featured in various media outlets, including ABC News, NBC News, New York Times, The History Channel, PBS, and NPR.

The Atlanta-based scientist has been distinguished as one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans in the U.S. by Ebony and The Root magazines, one of the Top 30 Under 40 in Healthcare by Business Insider, one of the 100 Women of the Century by USA Today, and one of the 50 Champions by Forbes.

Kunbi Tinuoye

Kunbi Tinuoye is a BBC-trained journalist turned entrepreneur based in the States. She is the founder and chief executive of UrbanGeekz, the first-to-market award-winning digital news platform that covers tech and innovation from a diverse and multicultural perspective.

She is a key player in the Atlanta tech startup ecosystem and the lead mentor for The Farm Accelerator. The Oxbridge graduate is a sought-after on-air contributor, speaker, panelist, and moderator at conferences nationwide. More recently, she has appeared on MSNBC and Arise News and facilitated a panel discussion at the 500 Startups Unity and Inclusion Summit.

Crunchbase has recognized Tinuoye as one of the ‘25 Black Entrepreneurs Making Waves.’ Ranker has also listed UrbanGeekz as one of the Best 10 Tech Blogs online. Tinuoye is a former correspondent for NBC’s theGrio.com. Before relocating Stateside, she was a journalist for the BBC in London. Tinuoye graduated from the University of Cambridge. She studied post-graduate in print journalism and is an NCTJ-qualified UK professional journalist.

Joy Buolamwini

Joy Buolamwini, a computer scientist and digital activist, founded the Algorithmic Justice League (AJL) in 2016. Based in Cambridge, Mass., the organization uses research and art to highlight AI’s social impact and potential harms. She is the best-selling author of Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What is Human in a World of Machines.

The book aims to show how racism, sexism, colorism, and ableism can result in many people being underrepresented and vulnerable to bias in algorithm creation. The Ghanaian-American-Canadian’s TED Featured Talk on algorithmic bias has over 1.7 million views. Her MIT thesis methodology uncovered significant racial and gender bias in AI services from companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon.

Her research has been covered in over 40 countries. As a renowned international speaker, she has championed the need for algorithmic justice at the World Economic Forum and the United Nations. She serves on the Global Tech Panel convened by the vice president of the European Commission to advise world leaders and technology executives on ways to reduce the harms of AI.

Timnit Gebru

Dr. Timnit Gebru is the founder and executive director of The Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research (DAIR) Institute. Before that, she served as co-lead of the Ethical AI research team at Google until she was fired in 2020 (along with her co-lead) for writing a paper warning about the dangers of large language models and raising workplace discrimination issues.

The Eritrean Ethiopian-born computer scientist also co-founded Black in AI, a non-profit that works to increase Black people’s presence, inclusion, visibility, and health in AI. She is on the board of AddisCoder, a non-profit dedicated to teaching algorithms and computer programming to Ethiopian and Jamaican high school students. She has received numerous accolades, including being named one of Nature’s Ten People who helped shape science and one of TIME 100’s most influential people worldwide.

Related Post: 10 Black Women Making Waves in AI

Elizabeth Ameke

Elizabeth Ameke is an engineer, innovator, and advocate for STEM education. Her doctoral research is driven by an interest in understanding the behavior of aerospace structures under varying conditions. She specializes in composite structures subjected to impact testing to enhance reliability and safety. With the push for weight reduction in aviation as a catalyst for innovation, her work contributes to developing more efficient, lightweight materials to minimize environmental impact.

Passionate about addressing No Child Poverty and transforming STEM education and leadership across Africa, Ameke advocates for innovation, equity, and accountability. Through her work with GleeChild Initiative and Ed Emporia, she is dedicated to driving impactful change. Ameke’s mission is to advance global educational equity and innovation by developing adaptable solutions that bridge gaps, create lasting impact, and ultimately create a world where every child has the opportunity to thrive.

Ameke was recognized in She Leads Africa’s 50 Under 30 and named a ‘Woman Engineer You Should Know’ by the Society of Women Engineers. She has been featured on several prestigious platforms, including WomenTech Network, Leading Ladies Africa, SWIS Africa, and the Magazine of The Society of Women Engineers. She was also a Women in Tech Global Awards 2024 and 2025 Nominee and appeared in the spotlight for the Leading Ladies of Aerospace and Defense’s Wonder Woman Wednesday Feature.

Bianca Maxwell Harris

Bianca Maxwell Harris is a leading voice in tech. As Principal Product Manager at Disney Streaming, she drives growth hacking, partnership development, and product innovation. She is at the forefront of streaming and digital innovation, with a career spanning major brands like Apple and Disney.

The Canadian-American innovator founded WIPPWellness in 2015, a brand that has grown into a leading wellness community. Her work in wellness consulting led to collaborations with major brands like Nike and Google.

Harris is also the founder of Skinary, a digital health company that leverages machine learning to understand underlying skin issues. Skinary helps people improve their daily diet, cleansing, and lifestyle habits to have healthy skin from the inside out. Eventually, the app helps people avoid bad habits that trigger breakouts and uses selfies to track and pinpoint skin concerns.

She has been featured on BET+ as one of the trailblazing Black women making history. Harris also ranked second at the inaugural Black Girl Ventures Crowdfunded Virtual Pitch Competition. Her story has been featured in Business Insider and Fortune Magazine.