The National GEM Consortium, one of the premier organizations for the best and brightest underrepresented minority STEM talent in the country, has appointed ORNL Chief of Staff Lindsey Twardy as a member of its board of directors.

As a GEM board member, Twardy joins a team of 17 other leaders representing institutions and corporations across the STEM field, such as the Georgia Institute of Technology, NASA and IBM.

“I am honored to join the National GEM Consortium’s Board of Directors and be part of building a diverse pipeline of STEM talent to advance scientific impact,” Twardy said.

GEM is a 45-year-old national non-profit operating with the goal of increasing the participation of underrepresented minority groups in master’s and doctoral STEM programs. The consortium offers prestigious scholarship and internship opportunities to selected GEM fellows through partner institutions, including national laboratories and universities.

This summer, 29 GEM fellows enrolled in graduate programs are completing internships at ORNL.

“As chief of staff for one of the premier national labs in the country, Lindsey Twardy brings a wealth of organizational experience that will prove to be priceless to GEM as the organization continues to grow in scale and impact. We are truly excited to have her join the GEM family,” said Brennon Marcano, chief executive office of the National GEM Consortium.

Currently, Twardy serves as an advisor to ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia. In this position, she works to advance ORNL’s vision, fulfill mission objectives and ensure operational effectiveness by integrating leadership across the lab and fostering a work environment where diversity is essential.

Twardy has worked at ORNL since 2013 in various roles, including currently serving as the interim chief diversity officer. She was part of developing the laboratory’s diversity, equity and inclusion vision, which is to create and foster a work environment where diversity is essential, equity is inherent and inclusion is innate. Today, ORNL is led by the most diverse leadership team in the institution’s history and is taking various actions — including hosting 60 GEM fellows over the past two years as part of its internship program — in an effort to develop a talented and diverse future workforce.