We kick off our 2021 Monday speaker series with Leighann Scott Boland and Kaitlin Ilnitzki, who will be making a presentation STEM and FIRST Lego League, FIRST Robotics competitions, and the role of STEM in education.
Leighann Scott Boland is the President/Executive Director of Virginia FIRSTChesapeake. Leighann has been with FIRST programs for over 10 years. Beginning as part time staff, she has held positions within FIRSTChesapeake as varied as operations, communications, development/fundraising and executive administration. She was appointed Executive Director of FIRST Chesapeake in June 2017. Under Leighann's leadership, FIRSTChesapeake has grown by 45% (196 teams) and today directly impacts more than 8,400 middle and school students in Virginia, the District of Columbia and Maryland each year.
Leighann worked in museums and the performing arts as a program director and fundraiser for 18 years before coming to FIRST via the Science Museum of Virginia. She received her B.A. from Mary Washington College (now UMW), and holds several nonprofit and fundraising certifications from the University of Richmond's Institute on Philanthropy. She graduated from Leadership Metro Richmond in 2017 and has been honored to serve on the Valentine Museum's Richmond History Makers selection committee for many years. Her duties at FIRST Chesapeake include overseeing the organization's administration, programs, and strategic plan, as well as fundraising, marketing, and community outreach.
Leighann is a proud Richmond native and the mother of 3 grown sons. She and her husband live in Ginter Park with their 2 dogs and 3 cats. When she is not living and breathing robots, she spends her free time reading trashy historical fiction, visiting museums, and dreaming of the beach.
Kaitlin Ilnitzki is the Assistant Director of Virginia + DC FIRST LEGO League, located at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. While Kaitlin has been with VA+DC FLL for almost two years, she was an FLL Challenge coach for several years, working directly with students involved in FIRST programs. Previously, she was a middle school educator in Staunton, Virginia for ten years. After teaching Language Arts for six years, she moved to STEM education and taught an interdisciplinary course introducing students to the basics of robotics, programming, and engineering. That switch ignited her passion for STEM education and specifically providing students with opportunities that open up pathways to STEM careers.
Originally from the Hampton Roads area, Kaitlin has lived in Harrisonburg, Virginia for the past 17 years. Six of those years were spent working on undergraduate and graduate degrees at James Madison University. When she isn’t working to progress the mission of VA-DC FLL or playing with LEGOs, she spends as much time as she can in the mountains, camping and hiking with her partner and family!