The annual award recognizes the work of incredible mentors who support STEM education and careers
The Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (TAME) congratulates our beloved, long-time community leader and champion, Annie Carter, who accepted this award today from the Texas Girls Collaborative Project.
Part of a 50-state national effort, TXGCP is a statewide partnership of community-based organizations, K-12 schools, higher education, companies, and individuals all committed to supporting more women and girls to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
From Lego robotics to building underwater robots, Annie has done it all! Spending between 10 and 20 hours a week on STEM education volunteer activities, Annie has led Saturday learning sessions with students, taught classes and camps, supervised STEM competitions, attended conferences with students, and provided mentorship for countless Texas students interested in engineering. She has also served in leadership positions on TAME’s Board of Directors (2006-2013), Advisory Board (2013 – present), as well as Chair of the TAME Golden Triangle Chapter (2006-present).
“Annie has engineered a true collective impact that is supporting more underrepresented students in Texas to pursue STEM education and careers. Annie has brought together school districts, postsecondary engineering programs, industry, as well as families and the community to support pathways to engineering futures for more students,” says Andrea Herrera Moreno, Executive Director of TAME.
“We’re grateful for TAME’s partnership with TXGCP and their work to elevate the issue of women and girls in STEM. This award is a great honor, and there is no one more deserving than Annie. Her breadth of perspective expertise and deep commitment combine to make her a powerful advocate for girls in STEM.”
Annie first connected with TAME early in her engineering career when she attended a TAME event in 1981. She was immediately compelled by the mission, and more than 40 years later she is still involved with the organization.
Annie tries to connect engineering concepts to real-world challenges to pique students’ curiosity and challenge perceptions about the engineering field. “Part of what I do is try to change the discussion around engineering. It’s often seen as mechanical and not as a people-helping profession – even though it very much is,” says Annie.
“I tell students that as an engineer, as a scientist, you have a chance to make life better for so many people. It’s an important connection to make for young people.”
As a student, Annie herself gravitated to math and science. Her teachers directed her toward the most challenging math and science courses in high school. 
But when Annie and a group of other students wanted to study physics, her high school didn’t offer it. Annie and other students approached the principal and asked for physics instruction, reasoning that it was important for what they wanted to study in college. The principal agreed, hired an instructor, and Annie and her peers took physics their senior year.
Annie attended Texas A&M University, where she was one of the founding members of the Texas A&M chapter of the National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE). Texas A&M had 35,000 students when Annie attended, and fewer than 100 of them were students of color. She graduated with a degree in civil engineering and later joined Chevron Phillips (then Gulf Refinery) where she worked for 35 years until she retired in 2013.
“It’s my hope that at some point TAME can sunset, that our work would no longer be necessary, but we aren’t there yet,” Annie says.
“While the engineering pipeline does have more individuals of color and women than I have ever seen, it’s not the growth that we would expect or that we have seen in the medical field. About 50% of the medical school applicants are female; in engineering programs, it’s nowhere near that.”
There’s certainly more work to do to close the representation gap among women and people of color in engineering education and careers. Yet with advocates like Annie Carter, whose influence is paving the way for the next generation of diverse engineers, the future seems bright.
Check out the video of the awards recognition on TxGCP’s channel: https://youtu.be/kXQtWqvYLks?t=230.
About the Texas Girls Collaborative Project (TxGCP):
The Texas Girls Collaborative Project (TxGCP) is a statewide network of advocates and educators from non-profits, K-12 schools, universities and colleges, and companies across Texas and beyond who are committed to motivating and supporting women and girls to pursue and thrive in careers in STEM. TxGCP leads the annual Texas Women & Girls in STEM Summit, disseminates curriculum and effective practices, and supports a network of collaborators, resource sharing and STEM communications throughout the state. Led by Women in STEM (WiSTEM) at The University of Texas at Austin, TxGCP is a state collaborative of the National Girls Collaborative Project.
About The Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (TAME)
The Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (TAME) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students from underrepresented groups – including Black, Latinx and Indigenous communities, as well as girls – to explore futures in engineering. For over four decades, TAME has worked in broad partnership with our statewide network of Chapters, Clubs, schools, volunteers, higher education, and industry partners to spark students’ interest in engineering topics and support their educational pathway. Learn more at www.TAME.org.
