Elizabeth Kennick, MS IFOA

Elizabeth Kennick, MS IFOA is President of Teachers in Space and Executive Producer of Yuri’s Night NY.
 
Teachers in Space is a nonprofit educational organization which stimulates student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by providing their teachers with extraordinary space science experiences and industry connections. Their professional development workshops for STEM teachers include personal and experimental flight opportunities, hands-on work with data sensors and remote device control, opportunities to meet and interact with scientists and developers at NASA and commercial space companies, and unique teaching materials and design contests to take back to the classroom.
 
Teachers In Space sparks a transfer of passion for space science and exploration from teachers to their students, preparing and encouraging students to pursue further education and exciting, rewarding careers in the emerging space industry.
 
A member of the Space Frontier Foundation’s Board from 2009 to 2013, Liz was previously Vice President of Client Technology at Morgan Stanley with a $2M annual budget for 1,700 software users. She holds degrees in Information Systems / Operations Analysis, English, and Education and is certified as a Project Management Professional and as a Network Engineer. Liz is cofounder of NYC’s Software Process Improvement Network and has produced Yuri’s Night NY, a space-themed party for 200+ guests, annually since 2008, and TEDxMidTownNY, as space-themed speaker series, in 2010–2011.
 
Liz created the Space Frontier Foundation’s Business Plan Bootcamp for the 5 finalists in the foundation’s 2011 Business Plan Competition, and was a judge at the 2011 SEDS Student Business Plan Competition. She created Escape Guesthouse LLC, a boutique bed and breakfast in Brooklyn, New York in 2006 and sold it in 2013 for three times the purchase price.
 
She has flown on ZeroG, experienced centrifuge and hypobaric chamber training, scuba dived to 70 feet, and climbed Cotopaxi, Earth’s highest extinct volcano. Liz is a frequent speaker on The Space Show, The Invisible World, Rotary Club, and TEDx events, and at conferences such as NewSpace, SpaceVision, Project World, and the International Space Development Conference (ISDC).
 
Liz earned her Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature at Towson University in 1981 and her MS IFOA, Information Systems / Operations Analysis at University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1995.
 
Watch Space Travel Gets Real: Elizabeth Gallager Kennick at TEDxBergenCommunityCollege and The People of NewSpace: Elizabeth Kennick — Teachers In Space. View her Facebook page. Read her LinkedIn profile. Follow her Twitter feed.