Olay and EBONY recently collaborated on a limited-edition print magazine, created as part of Olay’s #FaceTheSTEMGap program. Olay has three more releases planned this month, as part of their $1 million commitment to taking steps towards greater equality in STEM fields. Olay hopes to showcase a variety of STEM career paths to the next generation of women through a statue of 20th-century space pioneer Mary Golda Ross, a mentorship panel, and a limited-edition, space-themed moisturizer.
According to Olay, of the 5,500+ public outdoor sculptures in the US, only 10% portray women. To change this, the Mary Golda Ross statue in Oklahoma will be unveiled to create a permanent memorial of the first-known Native American female engineer. The statue has been produced alongside the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum to ensure historical accuracy. As a founding engineer of Lockheed’s top-secret Skunk Works program, Golda Ross worked on the earliest orbiting satellite studies, crewed Earth-orbit flights, and created preliminary designs for flyby missions to Mars and Venus.
The Mary Golda Ross Trust comments: “The Mary Golda Ross family is very happy that Mary’s contribution to STEM will be memorialized in this fashion. The goal of her trust is to inspire young women and Native people to rise and ‘reach for the stars.’...as a Cherokee from Park Hill, Oklahoma, Mary broke through societal stereotypes to help pave the way for others to follow. We are pleased that the home of the statue will be the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where our history lives.”
With STEM fields being made up of 73% men, it is evident that women are missing out on the essential guidance required to excel in these careers. In hopes to counteract this, Olay and Million Women Mentors are hosting a virtual panel for high school students consisting of female STEM role models. With panelists including Rolanda Wilkerson, Olay Principal Scientist & Senior Director Skin Care, the discussion will highlight the journeys that led to their STEM careers and express the importance of seeking and maintaining relationships with mentors.
“We are proud to join Olay and face this STEM gap with such strong, innovative partners. Together we are changing the future for the next generation of women and girls. We are removing barriers, creating pathways, and designing blueprints for bright futures to fuel a STEM-ready pipeline for the future workforce and the global economy,” expresses Dr. Jo Webber, FRSC CEO of STEMconnector and Million Women Mentors.
The final chapter of this year’s initiative is a limited-edition, space-themed Regenerist Retinol 24 + Peptide Moisturizer. With over 65 years of science backing, Olay’s products are created in labs by individuals of all genders. Through the product, Olay hopes to show young girls there are a variety of career paths in STEM that will allow them to fulfill their passions, whatever they may be. The limited-edition product will be available from Olay.com from February onwards.
