Meet the Co - Founders

Meet Veronica Tang and Eleni Fafoutis, both members of the high school class of 2018. The duo met in the summer of 2013, and together fostered their love for STEM and wanted to share it with other girls in Southern California and now in Virginia. They were also co-directors of the first ever all-girls math tournament at San Diego.

Veronica Tang

Veronica Tang is currently a cryptography researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Security and Privacy in Bochum, Germany. She graduated in 2022 from Harvard University with a joint degree in Computer Science and English. For her thesis, she proposed a new framework for understanding privacy through the lens of literary authorship and examined the role of speculative fiction in reevaluating appropriate privacy thresholds with respect to social norms and contextual privacy. She is also a dancer, published creative writer, and enthusiast of all things folk and myth.
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Veronica's interest in STEM was first sparked in 6th grade, when she volunteered at an event to teach autistic children circuitry with breadboards. In 2014, Veronica began volunteering for the International Fringe Festival and became the Assistant Box Office Manager for the San Diego Fringe. She designed and developed a multi-show pass management subsystem to improve the efficiency and security of ticket sales, which was later adopted by the Charm City Fringe of Baltimore, Maryland. In 2018, Veronica was recognized by the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) as one of the top 40 girls in computer science in the United States and won the National Award for Aspirations in Computing. Veronica's passion lies in applying technology for making a positive impact in society; in particular, she feels her work for All Girls STEM Society has given her the power to empower other aspiring girls.

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Eleni Fafoutis

Eleni Fafoutis is a recent graduate of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. She currently is a medical student at Penn State College of Medicine. Eleni's interest in STEM began at a young age, first in engaging with math and science courses and then expanding to competitive model rocketry. Eleni built model rockets for five years, competing on a national level for Team America Rocketry Challenge. Eleni brought her love of STEM to her work in volunteering, spending thousands of hours with underserved students in both California and Virginia. Her involvements include working with Santa Ana Math Club via OC Math Circle, the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, Horizons Hampton Roads,  Madison House, Zion Union Baptist Church, and more. After co-founding the All Girls STEM Society with Veronica in San Diego in 2014, Eleni relocated to Virginia. She went on to establish a Hampton Roads Chapter in 2016, where she coordinated partnerships with Horizons Hampton Roads and Suffolk County Public Libraries. In 2020, Eleni recruited a large team of peers at the University of Virginia and founded the All Girls STEM Society UVA chapter, which boasts over 40 active student members and a large executive board in its two years since its founding, as well as partnerships with Horizons Hampton Roads, Boys and Girls Club of Central Virginia, and KidVention at the Virginia Discovery Center and Science Museum. In her spare time, Eleni enjoys country music, video games, writing, and public speaking.