Effective July 15, Dr. Natasha Wilkerson will join FIRST in Texas in the new role of “Executive Program Director”, reporting directly to Eric. In this role, Natasha will assume overall responsibility for program and event delivery with a particular focus on driving growth, participant satisfaction, volunteer engagement, and reducing our average cost-to-serve.

Natasha holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and began her career with the Department of Defense before earning a master’s and PhD in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in STEM education. While working with Communities In Schools of San Antonio, she launched four FLL teams and a Space Club program that engaged over 1,500 students. In this role, she led five city-wide events and secured $1.6 million in grants and sponsorships. These initiatives led to the founding of a nonprofit organization that scaled Space Club to over 1,000 schools worldwide and hosted three international large-scale events, reaching more than 25,000 students and supported by 520 volunteers. Natasha is also the co-founder of Vivify STEM, a remote team of education specialists who have developed more than 250 STEM lessons and professional development courses.

We believe that Natasha is a great fit to lead the program delivery portion of our organization and builds our leadership bench strength for the future.

Read the full announcement on the First in Texas website here.