
Susan (Betsy) Payne
Manager, Philadelphia STEM Ecosystem
Working for equity and diversity in education has been Betsy’s lifelong pursuit. As Philadelphia STEM Ecosystem Manager, Betsy coordinates PEF’s backbone organization responsibilities and relationships as well as works with the Philadelphia STEM Equity Collective, a 10-year initiative in partnership with GSK.
Before joining PEF, she managed the Women In Natural Sciences (WINS) program at the Academy of Natural Sciences for more than 11 years, where she worked closely with a cohort of 60+ high school girls annually. As part of WINS, Betsy traveled with them as close as the Philadelphia Waterworks and as far as Mongolia. Betsy previously worked as the Garden Educator for the Camden Children’s Garden, Interpretive Specialist at El Yunque National Forest, Manager of Las Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve in Puerto Rico, and as a biologist with the Institute of Neurobiology of the University of Puerto Rico.