Leshell Hatley is a passionate computer engineer, educator, and researcher who continuously combines these three attributes to create innovative approaches to teaching STEAM+CS concepts to students between that ages of 3 and 73. She has logged over 20 years hours teaching African-American and Latino elementary, middle, high school, and college students in formal and informal educational environments throughout NY, NJ, MD, and DC. As the Founder and Executive Director of Uplift, Inc., a nonprofit organization whose mission embodies her passion, Leshell leads teams of enthusiastic students and dedicated volunteer instructors to achieve award-winning success and national news coverage. Over the past several years, Uplift’s trailblazing work with students in the areas of robotics, mobile app development, and culturally relevant learning technology has provided inspiration, insight, and guidance to similar organizations across the globe.
