Simone Soso

MSRDC                                                                                                                                              Washington, DC

Assistant Director of Research & Workforce Development                                                       07/2023-08/2025     

Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills:

Thought leader and program manager who designed innovative STEM workforce development programmatic activities, identified funding opportunities, and built federal research enterprise partnerships to engage undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and postdoctoral associates with federally funded contracts and mission-critical research across defense and civilian agencies. 

• Designed and implemented national research and workforce development initiatives in solar, clean energy, and industrial decarbonization, securing $45M+ in funded research opportunities.
• Managed participant experience strategies that engaged MSRDC Network faculty, postdocs, and students from 80+ research institutions, resulting in effective program delivery and federal sponsors cited strong satisfaction with program outcomes.
• Directed and operationalized multi-million-dollar federal contracts ($100K–$4.3M), aligning budgets and resources with programmatic goals to ensure seamless program delivery and participant outcomes.
• Developed and facilitated training conferences, mentoring frameworks, and alumni engagement activities, improving participants’ federal contract management skills by 98%.
• Negotiated and managed a research team, 24 cross-sector research partnerships with DOE, DOD, DHS, and NSF, advancing workforce pipelines in clean energy and technology for those from unemployed, underemployed, and low-income backgrounds.
• Delivered impact reports, data dashboards, and federal briefings to align projects with strategic workforce priorities.

STEM Futures Consulting                                                                                                             Washington, DC

Grant and Research Consultant                                                                                                   02/2021-present

Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills:

Lead national STEM workforce grant development initiatives, capacity-building efforts, and partnership development to advance STEM education and strengthen institutional research competitiveness.

• Advance national STEM workforce competitiveness through proposal development, grant writing, and training workshops for universities (e.g., NYU, UIC, Jackson State).
• Co-Principal Investigator on multiple National Science Foundation (NSF) awards advancing national collaboration and internal network building within scientific society practices.
• Designed and facilitated equity-centered professional development to integrate community perspectives into workforce programs, fostering trust, and increasing stakeholder engagement.
• Organize and facilitate equity-focused workshops and symposia, integrating academic and community stakeholders. Integrating students' lived experiences into undergraduate biology curricula to improve engagement and retention.
• Co-edited a published book on inclusive STEM practices, contributing to the communications and storytelling infrastructure for academic and nonprofit partners.

High-Tech High Heels North Texas                                                                                         Dallas, TX
Evaluation Consultant                                                                                                                11/2020-11/2021

Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills:

Responsible for the development of a comprehensive list of potential collaborators for the development of curriculum, staff, networking, and student identification for a Toyota Foundation-funded STEM educational program for girls in science and technology.

•      Developed evaluation framework for Toyota Foundation-funded STEM education program. Created a complete list of all the existing company’s 102 partners across all chapters: High-Tech High Heels North Texas and High-Tech High Heels Silicon Valley to determine ideal programmatic partners.

•      Developed format and executed RFI to create a list of existing and potential non-profit organizations collaborators.

 •     Conducted mixed methods surveys and analyzed RFI responses from organizations based on defined criteria. This resulted in the identification of over 50 STEM-education-focused non-profit compatible organizations, both locally and nationally, for partnership.

QEM Network                                                                                                                              Washington, DC

Program Director                                                                                                                         09/2020-07/2023       

Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills:

Lead the advancement of STEM education at Minority-serving institutions and various learning communities through the development and execution of programs, grants, and partnerships. 

•      Directed and scaled programs that secured $5M+ in new grants to expand workforce development opportunities at Emerging Research Institutions.

• Built a Network engagement infrastructure through the NSF INCLUDES Coordination Hub and the S-STEM Hub, creating Faculty Spotlight, podcast, and webinar series that reached thousands of participants nationally.
• Recruited and mentored consultants and facilitators, achieving a 30% increase in grant submissions from HBCU faculty trained in proposal development.
• Implemented impact measurement frameworks to evaluate the effectiveness of grants and programs, producing data-driven reports used for new funding and strategy.
• Task Lead for NSF INCLUDES Hub network expansion — increased participation and visibility of underrepresented institutions and those with disabilities in national workforce initiatives, resulting in making it the most active site on the Higher Logic communication platform.

Program Manager and Research Associate                                                                            09/2020-09/2021       

•    Coordinated activities related to the engagement of Network members on the National Science Foundation INCLUDES Coordination Hub. This engagement provided the Hub with an understanding of the need to amplify the voices, work, and collaborative desires of HBCU and other MSI faculty within the network to continue expanding their projects to a national scale. This resulted in the development of the Faculty Spotlight series, the INCLUDES Podcast, and the webinar series, “Equitable Partnerships.” 

•      Identified funding opportunities and managed grant project deliverables from various federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation and NASA. This resulted in the leading of collaborative projects that have received over $90 million.

•     Contributed to the dissemination of knowledge through research by preparing, publishing, and presenting findings in scientific conferences, blogs, discussion posts, and social media platforms. 

•     Designed and conducted evaluation surveys to be used for QEM-wide priorities and initiatives. These outcomes were utilized in the development of grant reports, acquiring new grants, and justifying funding to agencies to continue to support diversity efforts.

American Association for the Advancement of Science                                                Alexandria, VA 

AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow                                                                              09/2018 – 09/2020           

Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills:

Awarded the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science (Science and Technology Policy) Fellowship at the National Science Foundation to work on efforts to support and understand how U.S. scientific advancement and direction is driven by the science that federal agencies fund. 

• Performed qualitative and quantitative program evaluations (i.e., cost-benefit analysis, surveys, observational and individual interviews), providing metrics and recommendations to improve grant delivery and participant outcomes.
• Developed and implemented national diversity and inclusion grant competitions by designing policies and participant experience processes to ensure equitable access, writing and delivering written and recorded advertisements, and social media engagement.
• Used automated systems to monitor progress of organizational performance through CRM analysis of information technology metrics, data queries, reports, ongoing study, and formative evaluations to interpret data and perform online tracking. 
• Fostered cross-agency partnerships by managing planning objectives with internal and external organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health.  

Envision Experience                                                                                                                  Vienna, VA 

Program Manager                                                                                                                     04/2018 - 09/2018           

Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills:

Program manager responsible for monitoring the program metrics by analyzing budget justifications, customer satisfaction, staff performance, and program efficiency to evaluate the success rate of programs.

• Co-developed STEM educational material for summer high school programs and documented long-and short-range planning efforts for program expansion. 
• Utilized qualitative and quantitative analytical methods to evaluate the effectiveness of workforce program operations with a focus on feasibility (i.e., human capital, workload, and time management, etc.) and climate surveying. 
• Directed evaluation of programs by performing the following: 1) Conducting individual interviews, surveys, and observations with staff and customers to gather information about program operations and effectiveness of information systems, and 2) Identifying aspects of administrative operations culture that required change.
• Prepared special analyses reports and presentations to senior management on program status, difficulties encountered, and recommendations for improvements to continue to engage the alumni in future learning activities.

Georgetown University                                                                                                           Washington, DC 

Analyst                                                                                                                                         12/2015 - 03/2018     

Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills:

Responsible for budgetary allocations and grants management of university funds for compliance.

• Collaborated with a team of internal grant officers and external government agencies to ensure grant compliance.
• Utilized automated data systems to manage and track grant budgets, safeguarding against misallocation of funds and promoting financial transparency.
• Served on the Benefits Policy Appeals Committee, applying policy analysis skills to evaluate and resolve healthcare-related cases with fairness and rigor. 
• Presented sound approaches and opportunities for effectiveness and efficiency in administrative methods and policies.

Iowa State University                                                                                                     

Ames, IA

STEM Program Coordinator                                                                                          

05/2014 to 08/2014

Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills:

Developed educational and leadership scientific workforce development activities for underrepresented students pursuing STEM careers; engaged students, faculty, and staff in mentoring and pedagogy-driven programming, which successfully recruited participants from other institutions and retained them as graduate students at Iowa State University, where they completed advanced degrees.

• Developed educational and leadership activities for underrepresented students interested in careers in STEM utilizing teaching pedagogy and engaging in conversations with select students, faculty, and staff, which resulted in interested students who we recruited to, and graduated from, Iowa State University graduate programs. 
• Hired staff, supervised and organized weekly meetings with staff and students to be updated on research progress and housing concerns.  Managed 6 community assistants, 2 graduate assistants, and 27 interns. All interns successfully completed a 12-week summer research program. 

Iowa State University                                                                                                              Ames, IA                                                                           

Graduate Research Assistant                                                                                                08/2010 -0/2015

Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills:

Developed novel sampling and analysis methods for semiochemicals from lions and tigers using multidimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry (mdGC-MS-O), cryotrapping, olfactory analysis, and selective heart-cutting, which resulted in three scientific peer-reviewed articles.

• Received an Indo-US Research in Science and Engineering Fellowship to establish international collaborations for research and training to perform publishable Bengal tiger chemosensory research between the US and India.
• Mentored and trained high school and college freshmen lab interns on analytical techniques and developed mini laboratory experiments for the students to facilitate their learning. This resulted in 90% of interns progressing to undergraduate and graduate programs in STEM at Iowa State and other 4-year institutions.
• Wrote and received 10 funded grants and 1 highly competitive research proposal for environmental science research funding and presentations at conferences. The grant amounts were up to $150,000.

North Carolina A & T State University                                                                                Greensboro, NC

Graduate Research Assistant                                                                                                08/2006 to 08/2009

Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills:

Designed and implemented teaching pedagogy, animal science laboratory exercises, and research projects for undergraduate and graduate animal science courses, integrating hands-on learning into classroom instruction. 

• Conducted data collection and statistical analysis on the impact of parasites during the periparturient period in goats, contributing to publishable research in animal reproduction.
• Supervised and mentored interns and students in the Livestock Production course, providing guidance on experimental design, data management, and applied animal husbandry practices.

The National Zoological Park, Membership Department                                              Washington, DC

Education Program Coordinator                                                                                          08/2005 to 08/2006

Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills:

Designed and delivered conservation-focused educational programs for K–6 audiences, creating lectures and activities adopted by the How Do You Zoo, Snore and Roar, and Birthday Party Programs for over six years. 

•    Recruited, trained, and supervised a team of 120 interns and 15 paid staff for Friends of the National Zoo, achieving a 99% retention rate through effective leadership and engagement strategies.

• Managed program budgets, procurement, and scheduling for Class Aide and Birthday Party Programs, generating 10% cost savings by analyzing expenses and negotiating with alternative vendors.
• Created training materials for staff delivering various educational outreach programs, increasing confidence and expertise of staff by 90%.

*Iowa State University (2016)

Ph.D., Environmental Science

*North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University (2009)

M.S. Animal Health Science

*University of Maryland Eastern Shore (2005)

B.S. General Agriculture with a Concentration in Animal Science