WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023 SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1973
Flying to greatness UCLA star gymnast Jordan Chiles goes airborne during a routine on the uneven parallel bars in a meet against Stanford at Pauley Pavilion on March 5, 2023. Chiles scored a perfect 10 on the uneven parallel bars and helped lead the Bruins past the Cardinal in Pac12 Conference action. Chiles, a 2020 Olympic silver medalist for Team USA, also recorded a 9.975 score on the balance beam and a 9.975 on the floor exercise as UCLA outdistanced Stanford, 198.1-196.8. Photo by Melinda Meijer courtesy of News4usonline
Black advocates celebrate Women’s History Month
Compton native shows off pathway to NASA
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rowing up in Compton, California, Katrina Emery’s parents taught her a simple lesson that has carried her through more than 20 years of increasingly significant work roles to a senior leader-ship position at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. “Nothing beats a failure but a try.” Since those childhood years, Emery not only has tried but has succeeded in establishing a ca-reer as an educator and leader with the world’s foremost space agency. A resident of Slidell, Louisiana, Emery currently serves as manager of the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity for both NASA Stennis, located near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and the NASA
Women’s History Month
Shared Services Center, also located at the site. “I tell young people that their career path starts early,” Emery said. “It begins with the inspiration you draw from friends, family, and community.” For Emery, that inspiration came from her parents, both of whom were educators. Emery sub-sequently earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and master’s in public administration from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her university mentors eventually urged Emery to apply for a NASA professional leadership fel-lowship. “I didn’t think I would qualify, but my mentors really pushed me.” Emery recalled. “As it turns out, I was one of only 10 individuals selected out of hunreds of applicants.”
Katrina Emery leads the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity at NASA Stennis and the NASA Shared Services Center. Photo credit: NASA/Danny Nowlin
Emery enjoyed her experience with the agency. When the fellowship ended, she worked under an Intergovernmental Personnel Act to help manage NASA-funded grants to minority-serving institutions. She then joined the agency team in 2007 as project manager for NASA’s University Research Centers, which focused on promoting a competitive
aerospace research capability among the nation’s minority-serving institutions. Following more fully in her parents’ footsteps, Emery became director of the Office of Educa-tion at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, in 2012. She moved to the same role at NASA Stennis in 2013. A large part of n NASA, see page 5
March is Women’s History Month, and several California organizations are celebrating trail-blazing women making history in our state -- whether it’s recognizing the record-setting number of women who are state constitutional officers or lauding the unprecedented number of women serving in the legislature (50 out of 120). Last week, the Black Women’s Collective kicked off Women’s History Month with an event organized to help build an economic action plan for Black women. It brought together experts in policymaking, labor, economic development, and entrepreneurship. “Black women serve as breadwinners in 80% of Black households in California with over 70% headed by single mothers,” said Kellie Todd Griffin, president and CEO, California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute. Griffin was citing statistics from a report on the State of Black Women in California from 2018 and 2022. “Typically, Black women have higher labor force participation rates than other women, meaning a higher share of Black women are either employed or unemployed and looking for work,” Griffin continued. “However, the economic safety net is not secure as Black women makes less than most of their counterparts making .55 cents to White males, which is one of n Womens’, see page 2