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Diversified Search Announces New CEO for Subsidiary STEMconnector
Leslie Cruz, a seasoned executive with more than two decades of experience building teams and delivering results for entrepreneurial-minded businesses around the nation, has been named the new CEO for STEMconnector. The announcement was made by Dale E. Jones, President and CEO of Diversifi ed Search, the parent fi rm of STEMconnector.
“Leslie is a perfect fi t for STEMconnector and its team because both exhibit the same qualities: a dynamic sense of the marketplace and a passion for bringing innovation and growth to jobs and business,” Jones said. “We are delighted to welcome Leslie into this critical role. At the same time, we want to honor the immeasurable impact that Edie Fraser has had as STEMconnector’s Founder and CEO for the past six years. We are thrilled that she will remain with us in the new role as Chairman, where she will continue to bring her deep experience and wisdom to our thriving STEM business.”
“As anyone who knows me is aware, STEMconnector and its mission of growing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and skills in the marketplace—where fi ve million U.S. STEM jobs will be needed to be fi lled by 2020—has been my passion,” Fraser said. Fraser will work with Cruz and the STEM team as they continue to grow STEMconnector and Million Women Mentors. “And STEMconnector would not be where it is today without our dedicated staff and our many client volunteer leaders and partners. We wanted to make sure that we have leadership in place that would support the current team, and in the years to come continue to blaze the trail. Leslie Cruz is that leader.”
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., STEMconnector is a consortium of companies, nonprofit associations, professional societies, STEM-related research and policy organizations, government entities, universities, and academic institutions concerned with STEM education and the future of human capital in the United States. STEMconnector is both a resource and a service, designed to link “all things STEM” through comprehensive Councils and services that enable talent and jobs collaboration.
STEMconnector client councils and services include: The Global STEM Talent Initiative(GSTS); Million Women Mentors (MWM); STEM Innovation Task Force; STEM Food & Ag Council; STEM Higher Education Council; and initiatives such as Day of Design and the 100 Leaders publication series. A leader with deep experience in the technology field, Cruz has spent the last 20 years as an executive with CEB, an Arlington, Virginia-based global professional services firm that that assists business leaders to develop growth strategies and solutions. She boasts an impressive track record of growing businesses and delivering innovations that provide stellar returns on investment. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, she will assume her new role as CEO of STEMconnector on June 1, reporting to Jones.
“I am honored to join STEMconnector and look forward to working closely with the team and impressive list of participating organizations. The mission and work of STEMconnector and its diverse community of leaders is critical to the country’s human capital strategy and pipeline and our ability to participate in the global economy. I’m eager to help scale the organization’s reach and grow its impact in and across boardrooms, classrooms and communities,” Cruz said. “My thanks to Edie for her tremendous leadership and extraordinary vision. I am excited to assume the mantle now and help expand the impact of this growing and innovative organization.”
