Fostering Solutions

Karen Anne Abrams is Dr. Foster’s guest on this episode of Fostering Solutions. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Howard University and an MBA degree in Marketing from California State University at San Francisco. Ms. Abrams spent more than ten years as a Technology Executive in Corporate America working for Atlanta based Mindspring Networks and later Southern California based, Earthlink Networks.

Karen is the pioneer who championed the introduction and national expansion of STEM Robotics, targeted to school aged children in Guyana.  Abrams was determined to ensure that Guyanese youth be granted access to the same opportunities and preparation in technology education that is routinely afforded young people in wealthier countries and more frequently to youth from nearly all countries in the world.

To that end, in 2016 Ms. Abrams worked with The First Lady’s Office, the Diaspora, her own children and various public and private agencies in Guyana to introduce four robot building and programming camps at the Lusignan and Buxton villages and at two locations in Georgetown, Guyana.  More than two hundred children and ten future club coaches were trained and certified in Lego Mindstorm robot building and programming under this program.  

Those seeds of technology planted, gave birth to an expansion to over seventy STEM clubs across all ten regions in Guyana and more than one hundred unanswered requests for club expansion into far flung communities: resulting in the exposure of thousands of Guyanese youth to robotics. In March of 2017, Ms. Abrams recruited and helped to prepare a novice Guyana national robotics team, to a tenth-place world ranking out of one hundred sixty countries at the July 2017 First Global Robotics Olympics held in Washington DC.  In 2019, the Guyana robotics national team won the prestigious Albert Einstein gold medal award from among one hundred ninety participating nations at the First Global Robotics challenge in Dubai.

Karen Abrams also helped to pioneer the development of a Ministry of Education sponsored National Grade Six Assessment test preparation mobile app and a national pilot Robot building and Scratch programming league, to engage and educate Guyanese youth in robotics and coding. All of the STEM initiatives organized by STEM Guyana, an organization co-founded by Abrams and her college-aged children, will strengthen collaboration, conflict resolution and communication among youth, while developing their creative, problem solving, technical and academic skills.

Ms. Abrams’ history of giving back goes back to representing Guyana at the National Level in the Caribbean National Basketball championship for more than 5 years; helping to win the National Championship for the Guyana Women’s team in 1992, introducing a high school basketball league to Guyana back in 2008, investing in call center business in the 2000’s and 8 years of contributing to the private sector development with her weekly column in Stabroek News business section.  Karen was also recently presented with the prestigious Guyana 2018 Golden Arrow Of Achievement award for her work with STEMGuyana.

Karen Abrams is married to former National Basketball Player Leon Christian.  They have four children, three of whom are in college at Stanford University, Cornell University and New York University.  The entire family remains committed to making ongoing contributions to the growth and development of Guyana.

Shamaya A. Morris is Dr. Foster’s guest on this Episode of Fostering Solutions. Shamaya is currently a Production Group Leader at Toyota Motor Manufacturing in WV (TMMWV), a two million square foot facility producing engines and transmissions for Toyota and Lexus. Her previous role as a production engineer was to provide system solutions and engineering technologies for the transmission assembly line she supports. 

Shamaya earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from West Virginia University. As a West Virginia native, Shamaya has lived in WV her entire life and loves doing life here as an engineer in the manufacturing field.

Dondel C. Moorman, PharmD, BCPS is Dr. Foster’s guest on this episode of Fostering Solutions. Dondel is a native of the East End of Charleston, West Virginia. She obtained her Doctorate in Pharmacy from West Virginia University in 2005, completed of a Pharmacy Practice residency in 2006, and obtained her Board Certification as a Pharmacotherapy Specialist in 2007. Dr. Moorman has practiced pharmacy in various settings including hospital pharmacy, community/retail pharmacy, and pharmacy education. She is currently a Licensed Independent Practitioner at the Beckley VA Medical Center where she cares for our nation’s veterans through managing chronic diseases. Her newest and most important role is that of raising the sunshine in her life, her daughter, Dayana Simone. She plays an active role in her community as a member of First Baptist Church of Charleston, the Charleston-Institute Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Charleston-Institute (WV) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, and Project C.A.R.E. (Community Advocates Ready to Empower). 

Petia Abdur-Razzaaq is Dr. Foster’s guest on this episode of Fostering Solutions. Petia is a Speaker for the Grow with Google Professional Trainer program. She began her career during the launch of The Boston Globe's website boston.com, where she developed effective online marketing campaigns for major clients such as Dunkin Donuts and Fleet Bank. For the past 10+ years as Principal of The Stylista Group, Petia and her team have developed and implemented digital marketing plans that have produced outstanding measurable results.

The firm has a niche focus that helps legacy lifestyle and luxury brands to connect with present-day customers by harnessing the power of their brand stories and collaborating with micro-influencers. Their legacy brand clients over the years have included Vera Moore Cosmetics, Isoplus Hair Products, and Castro Convertibles, to name a few.  She is also one of the Co-Founders of Mosaic Mommies, a community of multi-ethnic moms and micro-influencers who share information about their favorite everyday products and services.

She holds an MBA in Marketing Management from The Lubin School of Business at Pace University as well as a BA in Management/Marketing from Simmons College, Boston, MA.

Dr. Foster chats with Dr. Chantel A. Perry in this episode of Fostering Solutions. Known as Dr. C, Chantel is an award-winning data scientist, Amazon best-selling tech author, and data and technology advisor. A native West Virginian and West Virginia University graduate, she currently works at a Fortune 100 bank leading the successful development and deployment of advanced fraud detection solutions. Dr. C also runs a part-time consultancy to show current and aspiring leaders how to leverage technology to enhance business performance and make a positive, widespread impact on society. In her 11+ year career, she has teamed up with members from various backgrounds to utilize the power of data & technology to help leaders gain funding to open 6 healthcare facilities, protect the financial security of over 14 million banking members, and empower 1,000+ aspiring leaders with knowledge to succeed in the tech industry.

In this episode Dr. Foster chats with Marcia McIntyre. Marcia is a results-oriented Technology Professional with over 25 years of technology, software engineering, project portfolio management, application development and people management skills.  She is experienced at leading technology initiatives from initial strategy through to implementation, operations support, process improvement and benefits realization. Over the years, Marcia has been aligned with Technology organizations across the Energy, Financial and Information Services industries.  Marcia is a native of Guyana, South America.  She currently resides in Atlanta and enjoys traveling, and spending quality time with family and friends.

In this episode Dr. Foster chats with Vivien Rayam. Vivien is a business coach, international bestselling author, STEM advocate, and co-owner of Code Ninjas Snellville in Georgia. She works with youth to help them develop a love of computer programming and foster an interest in STEM careers. In Vivien’s private coaching practice, she guides new and emerging women entrepreneurs to build a roadmap for success and build a sustainable business model that can weather any storm.

In this episode, Dr. Foster chats with Karen Leak, Early Career Program Manager, tasked with providing leadership to accelerate the acquisition and retention of key technical talent. Karen is a proud graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering. 

Through partnerships with Greater Cleveland Schools and STEM-based organizations, Karen recruits skilled technical talent, focusing on underrepresented groups. She then crafts individualized mentoring programs that lead to success for these groups. And she doesn’t stop with recruitment. Karen encourages all young people to consider technology in some form for their future. Helping people realize their potential is her goal and she believes there are opportunities in STEM for all.

Fostering Solutions with Dr. Michelle Foster - Dr. Kristi Williams Dumas: Thriving As An Entrepreneur In Appalachia. Dr. Dumas is a forensic psychologist and entrepreneur. A California native who now calls Beckley, West Virginia home, Kristi is certainly an inspiration for women who are considering business ownership.

On today's Fostering Solutions with Dr. Michelle Foster: Saran Nurse comes on the show to discuss thriving as an entrepreneur in urban America.