NutraWomen Wednesday: Yasmeen Nkrumah-Elie, PhD, Global Director of External Research, ChromaDex

Nkrumah-Elie joined NutraWomen Wednesday to discuss her journey as a Woman of Color in the STEM field.

“I get to walk into rooms where there's not a lot of Black women that are in science and engineering. And so, my community really uplifts me, gives me encouragement and definitely wants me to reach out to others to make sure that we can make sure I'm not the only one or one of few that's in the community. But on the other hand, sometimes when I walk into other rooms I have to prove myself over and over again, demonstrating that I should have a seat at the table, that I am knowledgeable, that I am an expert in the areas that I state I'm an expert in. And so dealing with those two sides can really be challenging. But for me, I take it with pride and joy because I feel like it is my duty and my responsibility to do all of that,  to give back to my community and to prove that Black women in STEM should be here, we deserve to be here and deserve to make our way up to the top.” ​

Nkrumah-Elie added  that when it comes to having a seat at the table, if companies don't feel that people are qualified, they should figure out a way to help them become qualified. “I've seen more companies start to develop junior boards, junior scientific boards, junior advisory boards and moving individuals into those types of positions so that the next generation, or the next 10 years, we will see our boards looking more like America.”​