On May 31, students and teachers from Canadian International School Beijing (CISB), Dulwich College, and Keystone Academy gathered to celebrate the completion of a WEC flagship program, Girls in STEMM (GIS) for the 2022/23 academic year.2023年5月31日，来自北京加拿大国际学校（CISB）、北京德威英国国际学校（Dulwich）和北京鼎石国际学校（Keystone）的学生和教师代表们欢聚一堂，共同庆祝WE女性发展协会的旗舰项目 — "STEMM女生项目"（GIS）2022-2023学年圆满成功。
Charlotte Smith, Program Director at WEC, dialed in from Washington, D.C. to open the ceremony. She shared how her international experiences shaped her to have a global mindset and become an avid listener, a skill she considers to be one of her superpowers. Listening allows you to understand different people’s values, wants and needs, and collaborate with others to make ideas happen and make an impact. This marked the beginning of her journey with establishing GIS as a program that can help shape the futures of young girls in China. She closed with an inspiring message. “As you go on towards future stages of your life, I encourage you to continue to learn and to listen, and to discover your superpowers along the way!”首先是WE女性发展协会项目主任Charlotte Smith特地从美国华盛顿特区连线为毕业典礼做开场。典礼上她分享了她的国际经历帮助她塑造了全球心态，由此成为一个十分热情的倾听者，这在她看来是一种技能，是她所具备的一项超能力。她认为倾听可以让我们更好理解他人的价值观、愿望和需求，与他人携手合作，最终使我们的想法得以实现并带来影响力。而这恰好标志着她主导的STEMM女生项目活动的开启，该项目是一个可以帮助在中国的年轻女孩们创造未来的项目。典礼上她最后说了一句鼓舞人心的话：“当你们走向人生的未来阶段时，我鼓励你们继续学习，保持倾听，并在此过程中发现你们的超能力！”
Su Cheng Harris-Simpson, Founder and President of WEC, expressed her appreciation for the great work that the WEC GIS team, led by Charlotte Smith and Nataliia Vladyka, has accomplished this year despite all the challenges presented by COVID-19, and congratulate the girls for their active and thoughtful participation throughout the year. WE女性发展协会创始人兼总裁吴素珍女士对Charlotte 和Nataliia 共同负责的 STEMM女生项目赞赏有加，即使面临新冠COVID-19所带来的种种挑战，她们今年依然取得了不起的成就，同时她也对STEMM女生项目的女孩们表示祝贺，祝贺过去这一年里她们对项目的热情和积极参与。
The group then welcomed a global keynote speaker, Marcia Matos, APAC Clinical Operations Hub Director at Servier. Marcia shared her journey with navigating different barriers for women in STEMM research. She emphasized the importance of being open-minded and adaptable, as she eventually found her way to clinical research, even though this was not where she imagined she would end up when she first embarked on her career.随后，典礼迎来了一位全球主讲嘉宾，施维雅公司亚太区临床运营中心主任Marcia Matos，Marcia分享了她是如何在科学、技术、工程、医药和数学研究中，克服各种障碍的经历。演讲中她强调了保持思想开放和随机应变的重要性，因为她最终找到了通往临床研究的道路，哪怕这并不是她第一次踏上职业之旅时想象的最终结局。
Poh-Yian Koh, VP of Operations at FedEx China and our local keynote speaker, echoed a similar message. She empowers girls to never take failures as setbacks. “All failures are temporary, and if you know how to learn from them, they count as successes too.” Moreover, Poh-Yian explained how we all internalize biases, which can influence our decision to pursue degrees and careers that are considered more suited for women. She hopes that programs like GIS will help inspire young girls to break out of those societal molds and enter fields and industries that have been historically male-dominated. By exposing the girls to female role models in STEMM, they will see that women can do anything they set their minds to.同时，另一位主讲嘉宾联邦快递中国区运营副总裁许宝燕（Poh-Yian Koh）在典礼上也传达了类似的信息。演讲中她鼓励女孩们永远不要把失败当作挫折。“所有失败都是暂时的，如果你知道如何从失败中吸取教训，那失败也算是成功。” 此外，许宝燕女士解释了我们应该如何将偏见自我内化，因为这可能影响我们去追求那些传统被认为更适合女性的学位和职业的决定。她希望像STEMM女生这样的项目，可以帮助激励年轻女孩们打破社会的传统枷锁，积极投身于那些历史上由男性主导的领域和行业。她相信让女孩们接触到STEMM领域的女性榜样们，将帮助女孩们看到女性只要下定决心，就能取得成功。
According to the girls themselves, this has been a major takeaway from the program. They all agree that the company visits boosted their self-confidence in pursuing a career in STEMM, thanks to the many women who paved the way before them. “Thanks to GIS, we now see many more open doors and possibilities for what a career can look like,” said one GIS participant. 接下来轮到女孩们发言，参加STEMM女生项目她们获得了很多收获。通过拜访公司，增强了她们追求STEMM职业的信心，当然这要归功于在她们之前铺平道路的许多女性前辈们。其中一位STEMM女生项目参与者说：“感谢STEMM女生项目，我们现在看到了更多大门敞开，更多的可能性，预见一份职业的未来是什么样子。”
The girls had a final opportunity to engage in lively discussions with female leaders through round-robin conversations with Poh-Yian Koh, VP of Operations at FedEx China, Wei Xiaohang, Director of R&D at HPE China, and Sara Zhang, Project Engineer at ConocoPhillips China. They also learned about many more STEMM role models across the world in a fun, competitive quiz.紧接着女孩们有机会以圆桌讨论的形式与各位女性领袖们进行热烈的讨论，女性领袖们包括联邦快递中国区运营副总裁许宝燕女士，慧与中国区研发总监魏晓航女士，康菲石油中国区项目工程师Sara Zhang女士。女孩们还通过一个个有趣的竞争性问答游戏，了解了更多来自世界各地的STEMM女性榜样们。
The graduation concluded with the presentation of certificates to all participants, wrapping up a year of GIS full of excitement and learning for the girls. We all look forward to more potential unleashed in the next academic year of the Girls in STEMM program!至此毕业典礼接近尾声，WE女性发展协会向所有STEMM女生项目参与者颁发了证书，这也将为女孩们在STEMM女生项目活动中充满热情和奋发学习的一年画上圆满句号。最后，让我们一起期待在下一学年有更多女孩们在STEMM女生项目的帮助下，释放出更多潜能！
The Women Empowerment Council (WEC) is an engaged network of leaders and decision-makers that aims to advance gender equality in businesses in China and beyond.
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