Bianca Chavis

Undergraduate Student, IUPUI

Bianca Chavis is from Indianapolis, IN and is a current S-STEM recipient in the Leading Informatics for Tomorrow (LiFT) Scholars Program at Ivy Tech Community College (Ivy Tech) and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Bianca began her higher education journey in 2014 with interests in public health and psychology. However, after taking time off to work full-time, Bianca found her way to Ivy Tech in 2017 and discovered her aspirations to pursue an associate’s degree in informatics with the long-term goal of completing a bachelor’s degree in informatics from IUPUI. Since then, Bianca has engaged in multiple internships including: serving as a Business Analyst Intern at Sondhi Solutions, a Database Analysis Intern at the Indiana Office of Technology, an IT Application Support Intern at Ivy Tech, and most recently a Software Development Intern at Launch Indy. Bianca was interested in technology in high school but did not explore this initial interest. By supporting underrepresented/underserved students in informatics, LiFT allowed her to “see” herself in the information technology field through industry speaker presentations and industry visits to tech companies around the greater Indianapolis area. Bianca is especially committed to supporting underrepresented minorities and women in technology as well as current LiFT scholars. Beginning in fall 2019 Bianca will serve as a peer mentor for LiFT as she transfers to IUPUI through this S-STEM project. As a returning college student, Bianca looks forward to offering advice on the importance of connecting with industry professionals and never giving up on your dreams!