Jennifer Stimpson posing with her statue made for IF/THEN Ambassadors. Her statue is displayed at Pegasus Park. Photo courtesy of IF/THEN Collective.
Oak Cliff neighbor Jennifer Stimpson, also known as Dr. J, will be a featured local leader this weekend at the first ever Sunniefest.
The Gen Z-focused festival is created by Hello Sunshine’s media and lifestyle brand for young women Sunnie, founded by Reese Witherspoon. The ticketed event will take place Saturday, Nov. 15 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Pegasus Park, which Stimpson said is the “hotbed of science, innovation and curiosity.”
As director of education at the National Aviation Education Center in Redbird, Stimpson said she is building capacity for the community to learn more about science and aviation, and the history of World War II planes.
“One of the things they brought me in for is that they had that missing link,” she said. “That element that I bring is the STEM capacity to teach not just how planes fly, but just the mechanics of the plan and how STEM is important.”
The festival is presented by Lyda Hill Philanthropies, which Stimpson is involved with as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) IF/THEN Ambassador. The program highlights women with a STEM career to serve as high-profile role models for middle school girls.
“As a woman in science, I represent countless girls who look up to me and look at me as someone that they can see as ‘Well, she did it, I can. She lives in Oak Cliff, I can. She was a toxicologist, I can (be) too.’”
Stimpson was one of 125 women selected in 2019 from across the country to serve as an ambassador.
This weekend, she is partnering with fellow ambassador and roboticist Jenn Makins to conduct the STEM Lab at Sunniefest. The lab creates a hands-on experience for girls to explore the world of science and creativity.
“They’re going to see some really neat things that you wouldn’t see anywhere else,” Stimpson said. “I like the idea that when it’s close to home, all of my girls from Oak Cliff can actually go and experience it and it’s not that far away from them.”
Attendees will be guided through a fragrance dissection to uncover the science behind a scent, along with a robotics demonstration from an all-female FIRST Robotics team.
“For girls, it speaks to them in their language. It nuances what they really like, and the entire festival is focused in on communicating to these girls what is possible,” she said. “Telling them the wonders and possibilities of what their life can become by looking at it through this lens.”
