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 privacy engineer at Google, working on fairness and privacy in machine learning. 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 a dancer, published creative writer, and enthusiast of all things folk and myth.
​
Veronica's interest in STEM was first sparked in 6th grade, when she volunteered at an event to teach children with autism circuitry using breadboards. 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. During the summer of 2022, Veronica worked as a cryptography researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Security and Privacy in Bochum, Germany. 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. 

​
Eleni Fafoutis

Eleni Fafoutis graduated from the University of Virginia in 2022. 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 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 Horizons Hampton Roads,  Madison House, BRIDGE mentoring at Penn State, 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 dozens of active student members and a large executive board. This chapter has had partnerships with Horizons Hampton Roads, Boys and Girls Club of Central Virginia, and KidVention. Since starting medical school, Eleni has presented research at multiple conferences, including the American College of Medical Genomics and Genetics International Conference and the Northeastern ALS Consortium (NEALS). She continues to engage in research and scientific discovery at Penn State, having been selected as a Summer Genetics ACMG Scholar in 2023. She also continues in the spirit of service, serving as an Executive Co-Chair of BraveCubs at Penn State, helping to bring magic to the bedside of hospitalized children, as well as a former SCOPE Clinic Coordinator and President of PULSE, an educational organization focused on bringing medicine to students who are underserved.