Our Story...

A casual conversation about a young woman's passion for community service evolves into the launching of a program that would help guide female students from underserved areas toward their goal of pursuing a secondary education and career in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields... This is where it all started. Founder Haylie Butler tells the story of how her idea for XCHROM and the club's Sisters in Science program came to life:

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“Haylie, have you heard of Science Club for Girls?” my friend Vera asks me in Spanish as we sip coffee at a small café in Buenos Aires, Argentina. “You would love their mission. You should start a chapter at Holy Cross.”

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I thought nothing of this simple conversation between friends - this idea seemingly mentioned in passing during my five-month study abroad experience in Argentina. However, returning home to the states in December 2015, I could not seem to let the idea go. I passionately began my research of Science Club for Girls, a non-profit organization based in Boston with chapters at a number of locations around Massachusetts (Cambridge, Lawrence, Newton, Brookline). I fell in love with their mission - “to foster excitement and confidence in STEM for girls in underrepresented communities” - and knew that a similar program was needed in Worcester.  After conversations with advisors, friends, and family, I had no choice but to found XCHROM - an organization I hoped would highlight the important role of quality mentorship in the formation of confident and empowered young women.

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A year after the idea for XCHROM was first conceived, our program began successfully at the College of the Holy Cross and is still growing today! Each female high school student (we call them "LiTTLEs") is matched with a Holy Cross undergraduate ("BiG") who will be able to help their mentee with coursework in specific STEM subjects (e.g. biology, chemistry, physics, math, etc.). LiTTLEs visit campus weekly to spend a few hours with their BiG working on assignments and studying, attending lab demos, exploring the campus, or just "talking shop" (i.e. about super cool sciency things).

 

If you'd like to learn more about how to get involved with our Sisters in Science program, click here or visit our "Get Involved" tab above.