Meet Doina Oncel

Doina Oncel earned her Diploma in The Assaulted Women's and Children's Counsellor / Advocate Program from George Brown College. She is the founder and CEO of hEr VOLUTION. In her spare time, she likes to mentor, read and travel.

When did your love of STEM begin?

I developed a love and curiosity in technology back in 2017-18 when social media was relatively new. I decided to teach myself some basic coding skills and saw its power to develop an online presence for organizations which needed to be discovered by its stakeholders. I then learned about the lack of women in STEM, particularly when it comes to women of colour or women with higher positions in STEM. I realized that only a type of people are in STEM and, people who come from diverse circumstances are not given a chance and that's is when my passion for my current profession began and that is to create opportunities for girls and young women who are facing multiple barriers with access to STEM education. My aspiration is to inspire girls and young women to embrace STEM careers.

What is the best part about working in the field of STEM?

 The best part for me is when I see young women from our programs succeed. For example, young women who are thirsty for learning join our programs and then want to learn more, to go further. I love it when I hear that they have gotten accepted in College or University or when they come back to our programs to join committees so that they can help other young women to their road to success in STEM. 
I guess that the best part about working in the field of STEM is to see more young women chose STEM fields as a future career.

What advice would you give young women interested in a career in STEM?

Go for it! STEM isn't scary or challenging. Every profession has its challenges and that's more reason to go for the career you love!