Lee Ann Kline

(Tashia Peterman)

President & Founder
STEM Advantage

Lee Ann Kline began her career as a programmer at IBM, where she quickly recognized the lack of gender and racial diversity in technology. Driven to create change, she founded STEM Advantage in 2012, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing equity through education and career development in STEM fields. In 2020, Kline left her position at EY to focus full-time on STEM Advantage, serving as president, founder and executive director pro bono. STEM Advantage mentors, prepares and inspires women and underserved communities, primarily first-generation college students from low-income families, for careers in STEM. The impact is significant: 975 scholars have graduated, with an average starting salary of $75,000. The program has awarded over $2.7 million in scholarships and was named Diversity, Inclusion + Equity Nonprofit of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal.