Girl Scouts of Connecticut to honor "Women Redefining STEM" at 19th Annual Breakfast Badge

Girl Scouts of Connecticut will recognize three women “redefining STEM” at this year’s Breakfast Badge on Friday, December 4, from 7:00 – 9:30 a.m. at The Hartford Club in downtown Hartford.

The three honorees –Manon Cox, Joanne Berger-Sweeney, and Kathy Kountze Tatum, will be the recipients of a specially created badge commemorating their outstanding achievements in science, technology, engineering and math. Each honoree has her own story to tell about her career journey in the STEM field. Friends and supporters are invited to join this ceremonial Girl Scout breakfast to celebrate the achievements of these women while joining in support of girls in the Hartford area and across the state.

Manon Cox is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Protein Sciences, and played a critical role in the development of Flublok, a pure choice flu vaccine. Manon has also been a director since 2008, and is a member of the nominating committee. She serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Pall BioPharmaceuticals and iCubed, the Board of Directors of United Way, Meriden & Wallingford, the Netherlands- America Foundation and its Education Committee, and the Board of Trustees of St. Joseph’s University. Manon has held various management positions at Gist-brocades, a large Dutch company specialized in fermentation. She also worked as a Molecular Biologist on the development of a PCR screening test for cervical cancer at the University of Amsterdam.

Joanne Berger-Sweeney has been the president of Trinity College since July 2014. She served as Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University (2010-2014), and previously was at Wellesley College for 19 years as a faculty member, associate dean, and director of the Neuroscience Program. Joanne is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, and a Lifetime Mentoring Award from the Society for Neuroscience (2006). She is a member of the Hartford HealthCare Board of Directors and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and she chairs the professional development committee of the Society for Neuroscience.

Kathy Kountze-Tatum has been the Chief Information Officer at Eversource Energy since January 2010 and is a member of the executive team. As CIO, Kathy provides the organization with vision and leadership to assure the timely, innovative, and cost-effective use of technology when serving her customers. She works with the executive team to establish the short and long-term technology strategies to support the company’s strategic business objectives. She is also responsible for setting the strategic direction for the design, development, and implementation of technology solutions including telecommunications, IT security and risk mitigation and infrastructure, disaster recovery, and more. Prior to her current position at Eversource Energy, Kathy worked for eight years at United Illuminating, a regulated electric public utility based in New Haven, CT.

“This year, we are excited to honor three incredible women who have stepped over boundaries and excelled in the field of STEM,” said Mary Barneby, CEO of Girl Scouts of Connecticut. “These three honorees are incredible role models and show our girls that they can achieve their goals by believing in themselves and having confidence in any career they choose. We are looking forward to an inspirational morning.”

The Breakfast Badge is generously supported by Hartford Hospital, Hartford Steam Boiler, Travelers, Spectra Energy, Webster Bank, ConnectiCare, Virginia and Joel Giuffré, Connecticut Natural Gas, subsidiary company of UIL Holdings Corporation, and Iroquois Pipeline Operating Company.

For more information about the event, sponsorship opportunities, and full biographies of the honorees, visit http://www.gsofct.org/pages/BreakfastBadge.php.