Engineering Solutions for Education: Assemblywoman Luz Rivas on her Experiences from STEM to Politics
Originally from Los Angeles, Assemblywoman Luz Rivas was an engineer and non-profit founder before becoming an elected official. Largely, her work stands at the intersection of engineering, education, and public service. She received a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT and a master’s in education from Harvard.
Her experience as an engineer made her recognize the importance of supporting women in STEM and led her to found DIY Girls. DIY Girls offers after-school and summer programs that allow girls to gain hands-on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) experience. Directed towards girls in 5th to 12th grade, DIY Girls inspires the next generation of women in STEAM by providing educational experiences and support networks to encourage and help girls succeed.
Now, as a politician, Assemblywoman Rivas draws from her past experiences to better serve her community in different issues around tech and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). She currently serves on the Assembly Committees on Budget; Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Resources and Transportation; Jobs, Economy Development, and the Economy; Labor and Employment; Local Government; Revenue and Taxation; and is co-chair of the Legislative Ethics Committee and Chair of the Select Committee on STEM.
Seoyoung Hong (BT): You studied Electrical Engineering at MIT and then went to get a master’s of education at Harvard. What led to your decisions in pursuing a master’s degree and shifting away from engineering?
Luz Rivas (LR): After I graduated from MIT, my first job was as an engineer. I worked for Motorola in Chicago. While I was working as an engineer, I started volunteering at a community center, tutoring kids in the evenings. They had a program for teenagers, and I found that a lot of them didn’t know what an engineer was and what I did. They weren’t very interested in math, science, and technology, and they weren’t learning this in school. It made me realize that if we want more engineers in industries, especially women and underrepresented minorities, we need to start early to get them interested in engineering. So, I became more interested in that topic and trying to find ways to do that, which led me to pursue a master’s of education at Harvard.
BT: What was your inspiration for founding DIY Girls?
LR: When I moved back to California, I was already working in STEM education. I ran STEM programs to get more young people interested at the California Institute of Technology and other universities. I was also working for another STEM non-profit in Los Angeles.
When I went to visit my elementary school in Los Angeles, that is when I realized that it was in elementary school that I became interested in STEM. I saw that the school wasn’t doing much around STEM, and I thought about all the girls there that could potentially be interested. So that’s how I ended up starting DIY Girls. I started it at my elementary school for fifth-grade girls.
BT: What kind of impact has the programs had on encouraging women to enter STEM fields both academically and professionally?
LR: I think any STEM program, whether it is for K-12 students or professionals or college students, is beneficial for women at any point in their journey to becoming a STEM professional. Whether that be engagement at an early age that gets them interested or later in their educational career that provides a support network or a group to help them to continue studying STEM.
“A lot of what you need to do when you run or start a non-profit is to raise money. It’s not the easiest. It’s not about posting a link online, and suddenly lots of donations will come in. You have to be very active in developing relationships with donors and learning how to write grant proposals.”
BT: What were some of the challenges you faced when starting DIY girls?
LR: One, you have to learn a lot about what it means to run a non-profit organization. I found a lot of resources here in Los Angeles to help me. The major challenge is raising money. A lot of what you need to do when you run or start a non-profit is to raise money. It’s not the easiest. It’s not about posting a link online, and suddenly lots of donations will come in. You have to be very active in developing relationships with donors and learning how to write grant proposals. It’s a lot of work and takes a lot of time. Unless you or your family have a lot of money that will be donated to your organization. That wasn’t the case for me, so I really had to work at finding donors and making a pitch to them to invest in the organization.
BT: Can you speak to how the dynamics of the field are changing? The discussion around women in STEM is probably very different now then it was 10-15 years ago.
LR: It is very different from 10 years ago. There’s a lot more awareness in people, parents, teachers, educators, and politicians. A lot more people are aware of the importance of encouraging women to pursue STEM careers. When I was in college, there wasn’t this awareness. People used to say, “I can’t believe you’re in STEM and engineering. Why would you do that?”
Now anybody is encouraging. I think it has to do with the larger number of non-profits that are working in this space. Now that I am an elected official, even our representatives at all levels are also very interested in this issue. I think that this comes from the advocacy of organizations that work on encouraging women and girls to pursue STEM.
“Everything I’ve done in my past career has been very helpful now that I am a politician. For example, engineering is about solving problems, and that’s what I think we are all trying to do. We are all trying to work on solving problems. Now, as an Assemblymember, I feel that I use the same process as engineers to think about problems and solutions.”
BT: Now you are an Assemblywoman working with Budget, Resources and Transportation, Jobs, Economy, Taxation. What has the transition been like from engineer to founder to politician?
LR: Everything I’ve done in my past career has been very helpful now that I am a politician. For example, engineering is about solving problems, and that’s what I think we are all trying to do. We are all trying to work on solving problems. Now, as an Assemblymember, I feel that I use the same process as engineers to think about problems and solutions.
BT: Are there any aspects of being a founder of a non-profit that has extended into your current work?
LR: One is running an organization. When I became a politician, I had to hire staff and quickly grow my team, and I already had experience doing that with starting a non-profit. So, I found that very helpful.
The other aspect is fundraising. No one gets elected without raising money. We have to communicate our message. During my campaign and for my reelection, I continued to raise money, and that’s a lot of what I did as a founder of a non-profit.
BT: More into your work in politics, how do you see technology changing the dynamics and needs of policy?
LR: We have so much tech here in California, in Silicon Valley and all across the state, so California has been the leader in cybersecurity and privacy. I think it also allows us to become a leader in establishing policy. There was a big bill that California passed in 2018 on data privacy on online applications.
A lot of other states and the federal government look to California to see what we’re doing in terms of tech policy and then evaluate whether they should be doing it too. I think California will continue to be the leader in this area.
BT: Are there any issues that you think will rise in the intersection between tech and policy?
LR: There’s tech bias or issues with using software for hiring. We have a lot of organizations that are advocating at the Capitol to work to eliminate this bias.
“I think any STEM program, whether it is for K-12 students or professionals or college students, is beneficial for women at any point in their journey to becoming a STEM professional.”
BT: Where do you see your political work going moving forward?
LR: I think that this is an excellent time to serve as a state representative in California because it is the leader in state legislation. A lot of people look to us. Even as an Assemblymember, who has been in office for almost 2 years, we can come up with an issue area and work on legislation.
I’m looking forward to making a difference in issues around tech and STEM, and maybe things others are not working on in California.