Our team
Our team is an incredible mosaic of people from all over the world and a hundred different professions but we all share one thing: a curiosity for the world of science. Curious too? Hover over each team member's photo to learn more about what they love!
And if you want to join us… check out our vacancy page here!
Founder and Chairman
Brussels, Belgium
Melissa Rancourt is the Chairman & Founder of greenlight for girls. Melissa is an engineer herself and loves the Big Bang TV show. So much so that she does a workshop based on it which has proved to be one of the favourites of the girls. Melissa is a true science geek and doesn't mind who knows this!
Our Board of Directors
New-York, USA
Sarah is the ultimate teacher. She looks forward to our future work with teachers to bring fun new ideas into the classroom. It isn't the surprising to know that Sarah loves to dive into the fun detail of the science experiments. Her work with g4g in the US here!
Bridgewater, USA
Chandana loves technology and loves research! She is our leader in gender equality. Chandana brings passion to everything she does - and this is contagious for all of us. Read more about her work with g4g in India here!
Bangalore, India
Joyce loves all sciences related to plants, animals and planets and is addicted to... the Discovery Channel! Read more about Joyce's g4g Projects here.
Kinshasa. DRC
Having graduated in the U.K from Biological Sciences in 2000, Tess went straight into her chosen profession, teaching. Sharing her passion for her subject and trying to come up with new and engaging methods to capture her audience was her reason d’etre. Having completed her MA in International Education and working towards her doctorate in Education, Tess is always and forever seeking new ways to show students that the world of science is a fun and inspiring place to be. Having worked on a number of programmes promoting girls into science, Tess joined up with the greenlight team with the hope of reaching a wider audience and showing them that anything is possible!
Science Educator
Luxembourg
Julia is our fearless Ambassador coordinator. Passionate and driven, she loves multitasking; Math Team, Rotary Interact, Marching Band, Zumba, sport, STEM… and if possible, all of them at once! Of course, she loves STEM, particularly mechanical and civil engineering, and has established an engineering club at her high school. She particularly loves combining STEM activities with other interests to show how STEM can be amazing in so many ways! She has also been dancing her whole life and is the youngest licensed Zumba instructor in Chicagoland.
Ambassador Coordinator
USA
Global partners
I am truly passionate about our wonderful partnership with Greenlight for Girls and I love developing new fun events together!
AIG Corporate Citizenship and Events Manager
London, UK
In her work life, Rachel Owen is passionate about communicating the cool science behind a multinational company and how this translates into getting more girls inspired by STEM subjects. In her private life, she is an expert in juggling (metaphorically speaking!) two ‘lively’ young kids, a cheese and gin habit and a penchant for bad karaoke … usually on her own.
Covestro Head of Communications
Frankfort, Germany
Procter & Gamble, R&D Packaging director
Brussels, Belgium
g4g leads and supporters
Loredana is our Venezuelan numbers geek who is able to learn first someone’s phone number or date of birth than the actual name. She is also an avid traveller who loves to meet people from all around the globe because of her interest on how people could do simple daily life so different from one place to another…specially eating given her Italian family background! She was living in Brussels when g4g was getting started and always stayed around the organization to help in any possible way ( even just to cheer-up for the great success stories it has had). Even though her personal /career path did not guided her straight into Engineering or science studies as she would loved to, she has followed numbers and STEM path through Finance and Project Management within several multinationals in the Technology, Telecom and Engineering industries. Being a witness during her work life of the need for diversity initiatives including more girls into STEM subjects, and now mother of a little girl, she is currently supporting g4g her knowledge and passion for global projects and exposure to amazing people/girls from around the world.
Spain
Maria took the lead initiating the global SBD partnership with greenlight for girls, as well as the advisory board. She is a D&I Champion, inspiring and connecting with the Women’s network and budget owners across the globe. She has almost 20 years of service at SBD covering several leadership roles, has been a key note speaker at Brussels Day in 2017 and Global Point of contact for 2 years. Through her leadership, our our collaboration has grown and continues to develop!
Belgium
Kelly can tell you the best time of the year for star-gazing! She is our resident Astrophysicist and we wouldn't be surprised at all if the number of scientists in Ouro Branco, Brazil triples due to Kelly's passion in sharing her knowledge about the stars.
Country lead, Brazil
Funda is an economist and a financial analyst. Mathematics, analytical thinking and technology were the main tools that she needed during her post graduate studies in financial engineering and MBA; finance.
From her childhood she has lived in different geographies thus she believes in multiculturalism. She has seen how math, science or technology suddenly become common language that facilitate communication and create common cultures regardless of age and gender.
Funda was on the first mail list of Melissa’s greenlight for girls project and then has taken initiative to launch g4g in Turkey where girls are needed more representation in STEM. She wants girls to understand math & numbers and the ways they act, the stories they tell and systems they create in life. STEM would motivate girls to ask questions, give them time to struggle, make observations, develop ability to take risks, come out with answers, start a debate, encourage to create systems and solutions. STEM thinking should not be about following rules; it is about playing, exploring, struggling, searching for clues and coming out by solutions. STEM would divert girls from being passive rule followers. Fun way of experiments and playing would lead girls to the highest form of research. STEM instinct of girls would flourish by playing and searching therefore their classrooms should turn into playrooms with puzzles, games and experiments. A mix of curoisty, creavity and courage through STEM would teach girls adapt to creative thinking and become inventors of the future not the followers. Girls should have a say in the world of IT; this becomes even more important in geographies where girls even have no names!
Funda also loves to travel, food, painting, philosophy, jazz and the rest…
Turkey
Caterin is a Colombian physicist engineer, who finds every opportunity to outreach science. She is passionate about education and believes it is the key to unlock dreams and nourish talents. After obtaining her PhD in physics, she has become a player in the energy transition to help reduce global warming. She has been part of the g4g team since 2014, brought g4g to Germany for the first time in 2016 and now plan to do the same in Colombia. She is currently our country representative in France.
France
Michelle is our Project Leader in launching the first ever g4g event in Canberra, Australia! She has been a Software Engineer for the past 19 years, and a Girl Guide Leader with Girl Guides NSW & ACT for over 15 years. On the side, she has been involved in online businesses and system innovations, loves the adventurous outdoors and has a passion for STEM and for promoting skills and leadership in girls.
Country lead, Australia
Morocco
Portugal
I am Thaisa Brandão from Ouro Branco, Brazil. My first contact with g4g was when I volunteered at an event in 2015, and since, I couldn’t stay away from this organization! I always liked biology, and I graduated in Bioprocess Engineering a few years ago. When I was a student, I took part in lots of projects, including Junior Enterprise, Student Academic Center and I was also a volunteer as a math and biology teacher. After living in the USA and in Belgium, I am back in Brazil where I coordinate the Ambassadors program. I am a dreamer and for me, empowering girls to become whatever they want is very important, and that’s all g4g is about!
Brazil
Priscila is a Brazilian recent graduate in Mechatronics Engineering. She helped organize the very first g4g event in Brazil in 2012 and since then, she's just been more and more engaged with the goal of getting girls in STEM. Now, love has brought her to Luxembourg and the passion to inspire girls & the g4g experience has just become greater. Beginning of 2018, she will be leading the planning to launch the first ever g4g day event in Luxembourg!
Luxembourg
India and USA
Greece
India
Combinin her love of technology, design and science, Nikki helps lead our g4g Makerspace in Brussels. Having two daughters of her own, Nikki is passionate about inspiring the next generation to look for innovative solutions to today’s most pressing problems. When not at the g4g Atelier, Nikki can be found teaching at the International School of Brussels, tinkering with her family at home or off-the-grid in her cabin in Canada.
South Korea
