Mission

Educational Foundation

Evelyn earned her Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she also completed a minor in Comparative Media Studies. She continued her engineering studies at UCLA, earning a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering, before pursuing her passion for education at Harvard University, where she completed a Master of Education in Teaching and Curriculum along with a teaching credential in high school mathematics.

Teaching Across Contexts

Throughout her career, Evelyn has demonstrated versatility and excellence in teaching across diverse educational settings. As an Adjunct Professor at Pasadena City College, she designed and delivered foundational engineering courses including Introduction to Engineering and Engineering Statics, creating comprehensive curricula that emphasized hands-on learning, computational tools, and real-world applications. Her teaching experience spans from college-level instruction to high school physics and mathematics at Lakeview Charter High School, where she developed differentiated curricula and assessments to meet the needs of diverse learners, including English Language Learners at East Boston High School.

Beyond traditional classroom settings, Evelyn has led educational programs in makerspaces, after-school programs, and community-based learning environments. As Executive Director and Director of Programs at DIY Girls, she created and implemented passion-based learning frameworks that served over 1,500 girls from low-income communities, guiding students through authentic engineering challenges that connected academic learning to social impact.

Invention Education Leadership

Evelyn is a nationally recognized expert in invention education, having served as Invention Education Administrator for the Lemelson-MIT Program from 2019 to 2023. In this role, she partnered with school districts, high schools, and national out-of-school providers to successfully integrate invention education into STEM and Career Technical Education programs. Her work included advising on makerspace infrastructure and tools, conducting comprehensive assessments of existing STEM ecosystems, and collaborating with stakeholders to develop strategic plans for program growth.

Evelyn has developed interdisciplinary curricula specifically designed to expand invention education reach to elementary schools and has co-hosted the Massachusetts Invention Convention, bringing invention education opportunities to 158 students from 21 different schools across the state. Her curriculum development work emphasizes project-based learning environments that foster innovation, creativity, and the confidence to tackle real-world challenges.

Through her guidance, young inventors learn to identify problems in their communities, develop creative solutions, prototype and test their ideas, and iterate based on feedback—all while building critical technical skills and developing an inventor's mindset. Her approach to invention education centers on creating supportive learning environments where failure is viewed as a productive part of the learning process, and where students are empowered to pursue solutions to problems they care deeply about.

Community Impact and Recognition

Evelyn's commitment to educational equity extends beyond her professional roles. She has served as a School Committee Member for Belmont Public Schools, where she spearheaded the establishment of an Equity Subcommittee and allocated funds for a racial equity audit. She was also a Town Meeting Member in Belmont, Massachusetts, and an Education Policy Fellow with the Rennie Center, where she drafted anti-racist educational policies responsive to local, state, and national needs.

Her work has been featured in NPR, Mashable, CBS LA, The Huffington Post, and in Ken Bain's book Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning. She has been recognized with numerous awards including the Los Angeles City Council Pioneer Woman of the Year (2017), the Lemelson-MIT Excite Award (2016), and the JCPenney Leaders of Tomorrow Award (2015).