WHO WE ARE

Mission and vision described

GOAL FOR 2022-23

SciTech Institute is focused on cultivating an ecosystem of conscious STEM communities through awareness, connections and empowerment.

Dedicated to supporting STEM education across the region and the world.

As a nonprofit organization that strives to connect the STEM community and inspire individuals to pursue STEM-related career paths and get engaged in STEM events, the team at SciTech Institute is dedicated to enhancing and promoting STEM engagements for everyone in the community by developing and implementing programs, fairs, bowls, projects and festivals that highlight a variety of STEM careers and awareness. Strong connections with nonprofit organizations, industry and academia allow SciTech Institute to serve as the catalyst to align assets, grants, resources and support for building a world-class community with an understanding of STEM.

Imagine building tomorrow’s global leaders by empowering individuals today. Imagine working directly with industry and community leaders to envision the future workforce and address the lack of qualified workers. Then imagine the impact we can leverage in a two-way communication pipeline for sharing knowledge and engaging others. Finally, imagine the results of millions of people around the world collaboratively addressing some of society’s toughest challenges. Together, we can make it happen!

CONNECT WITH OUR TEAM!

SciTech Institute (formerly known as the Arizona Technology Council Foundation)
offers a variety of top-notch STEM programs, including
the Arizona SciTech Festival and Chief Science Officers.

Steve Zylstra

President & CEO

Jeremy Babendure

Executive Director
claire conway

Claire Conway

STEM Ecosystem Co-Director

Kaci Fankhauser

STEM Ecosystem Co-Director

Eileen Healy

CSO International Program Manager

Mark Paulsen

Workforce Development Coordinator

Vanessa Thompson

Finance Administrator

Tifanie Lewis

Individual Giving Assistant

1547748933133

Bailey Lozevski

Salesforce Integration Specialist

Ciara Ware

Office Support Specialist & Little Free Libraries Coordinator

Sarah C

Sarah Cundiff

CSO International Program Coordinator

Ty Jarvis

Ty Jarvis

CSO Alumni Program Coordinator

Ashton Grove

AZ CSO Program Coordinator

Jake Lounsbury

Director of Global Partnerships
Lynette Clark

Lynette Clark

Coconino County STEM Hub Coordinator

Aleksey Hicks

Yavapai County STEM Hub Coordinator

Roxanna Green

Pinal County STEM Hub Coordinator

Tom Wilson

Pima County STEM Hub Coordinator

Lisa Ristuccia

Festival STREET Team Member

Darrol Heashot

Darrol Robinson

Community Engagement Specialist

Amanda Rincon

AZHACS Program Coordinator

destiny

Destiny Madaje

STEM Events & Resources Manager

Brithany-32 (002)

Brittany Sweeney-Lawson

Marketing & Communications Manager

Antonio Salazar

Communications Coordinator 

Makenna Littell

Event Coordinator

Taylar Cook_CSO AZ Cabinet Coordinator

Taylar Cook

AZ CSO Cabinet Coordinator

Murphie

Office Mascot

Nova web

Nova the Gecko

Community Outreach Mascot

Steve Zylstra

President & CEO

Jeremy Babendure

Executive Director

Kelly Greene

Chief Operations Officer, Director of Student Success

Jake Lounsbury

Director of Global Partnerships

Katy Reno

Community Outreach Manager

Kaci Fankhauser

Ecosystem & Enrollment Coordinator

Nikki Micale

Arizona CSO Regional Lead

Angelica Espinoza

Bookkeeper

Enrique Garcia

Street Team Coordinator

Dominique Browning

Alumni Association Coordinator

Caillou Peña

Government Relations Specialist

MEET THE FOUNDATION BOARD

Bob Witwer

President of Board

Jeff Unruh

Angie Harmon

Dave Alberty

Dianna McMahon

Renee Levin

Lorenzo Chaves

Lorenzo Chavez

Director

Arizona Community Foundation

Nitasha Chopra - Board Member

Nitasha Chopra

Director

Intel

David Felix

Director

SRP

Rita Lloyd Mills

Director

Freeport-McMoRan

Charleean Smith

Director

State Farm

Rowan Smith

Secretary

Messner Reeves 

Katie Stringham

 Director

AVNET

Jeff Unruh

Treasurer

Alerion Capitol Group, LLC

Wilman

Wilman Vergara

Director

KNOSIS Health

Bob Witwer

Chairman

Retired – Honeywell

Steve Zylstra

President & CEO

AZ Technology Council

ORGANIZATIONAL PARTNERS

Connecting, empowering, and engaging tech companies across the state of Arizona.

The Arizona Techology Council, the SciTech Institute’s parent organization, was established in 2002 after the Arizona High Tech Industry Cluster merged with the Arizona Software & Industry Association. It has since grown to over 800 members and counting, representing a diverse community of science and technology companies, professional service vendors, academic organizations, and non-profit entities. With offices in Phoenix and Tucson, the Council provides tremendous value to technology companies and offers business networking in Phoenix, Tucson and Northern Arizona.

The leading economic development organization for growing and strengthening Arizona’s economy.

The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) is the state’s leading economic development organization with a streamlined mission to grow and strengthen Arizona’s economy. The ACA uses a three-pronged approach to advance the overall economy: recruit, grow, create – recruit out-of-state companies to expand their operations in Arizona; work with existing companies to grow their business in Arizona and beyond; and partner with entrepreneurs and companies large and small to create new jobs and businesses in targeted industries.

MAC6 is a Community of Flexible Spaces (and more) for Growing Businesses

At MAC6, our Community Membership is all about flexibility to meet the needs of rapidly scaling businesses. Rather than a traditional landlord-tenant relationship, MAC6 offers flexible space options, flexible membership terms, and growth opportunities for growing businesses. If we are unable to meet your needs for growth, including space, people, connections or finance, you can terminate your Community Membership and we’ll help your business find a new home, guaranteed.

Not Integrated. Unified.

Inspired by the Agile methodology, we’ve built a new way to work that breeds collaboration across employees and clients alike, provides deep transparency into the work and provides a level of planning not typically found in our industry. Best of all, our advertising and digital marketing specialists are now unified by a framework that helps brands win.

After more than four years and a lot of persistence, we’ve seen an increase in revenue, profitability, client and team satisfaction, not to mention an NPS score of 67. For context, anything over a 50 is considered world-class.

Helping organizations clarify, simplify and achieve their vision. Real. Simple. Results.

TractionSquared is a full-service training, facilitation, and coaching company serving leadership teams of small to mid-sized companies across the Southwest United States. Our passion is in helping leadership teams achieve extraordinary results by transforming the way people and businesses operate. At TractionSquared we use a simple, practical approach based on the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). No theory, no magic pills, just timeless principles that enable leadership teams to get what they want from their businesses.