Meet our Team

Christy Anderson brings more than 20 years of communication and operations experience in for-profit and non-profit enterprises to Project Scientist. As a product of girls programs, including athletics and afterschool, she is passionate about providing encouragement, support, and practical skills to girls to help them achieve their goals. Christy holds a Communication degree from Chapman University. Her favorite woman in STEM is Amelia Earhart because of her undeterred passion for aviation. She pushed against early barriers and paved the way for other women in commercial flight as well as shifted the public's perception of commercial aviation. She is also attributed to Christy’s favorite quote “Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn’t be done.” 

Noeleen Acosta holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Emerson College. She spent a number of years working behind the scenes at Universal Studios and Warner Bros. overseeing various aspects of operations. After the birth of her first child, Noeleen became passionate about creating a world where all children can thrive, and has become a devoted advocate for students. She comes to Project Scientist from Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles, where she served as a Product Program Manager for the largest Girl Lead business venture in the world, and carries her passion for the empowerment of girls and young women to her role here as Director of Programs. At the end of the workday, Noeleen might be found curled up with a good book, playing board games with her kids, or pushing furniture aside to make room for a little East Coast Swing dancing with her husband. She believes that small moments and persistence create lasting effects and can in fact change the world. That is why, Kati Kariko, whose groundbreaking work led to the development of mRNA Covid-19 vaccines, is her favorite woman in STEM.

Rebecca is a STEM Girl, who received degrees in Natural Resource Conservation, Soil Science, and Plant Biology. Throughout college and graduate school, Rebecca coupled her coursework with outreach opportunities where she gained an expanded understanding on the issues that prevail in STEM education across all self-identifiers, particularly those related to gender.Rebecca is passionate about giving a young and diverse community an opportunity to explore their STEM curiosities and view a different future for themselves as she once had the opportunity to do. Rebecca is delighted at the opportunity to be a part of the amazing Project Scientist team where through advocacy, mentorship and education we can create a community where all children thrive! Rebecca's favorite woman in STEM is entomologist Dr. May Barenbaum.

Maria Mundaden began her career as an Electronics Engineer and worked in the Telecom Industry for 3 years. There she was the single girl on a 9 member team and always wished there were more female engineers. This personal experience motivates her even more to further the mission of Project Scientist in the hope that today's young girls will get to work with more female engineers and scientists in the future. Maria's interest gradually shifted from engineering towards the business side of things and she went on to get her MBA from Illinois State University and later completed a Digital Marketing Certification from the Univerity of Washington. For the past four years, she has been working as a digital marketer with social impact-focused organizations. She employs a research-based and data-driven approach to the marketing decisions she has to make on a daily basis. Maria currently lives in Seattle with her family and enjoys traveling, paddle boarding, and cooking up the next best dessert! Maria's favorite woman in STEM is 2020 TIME Kid of the Year, Gitanjali Rao.