Lynx, a Charlotte chapter of 60 Black women professionals, has partnered with NSBE for 26 years, awarding over $200,000 in scholarships and logging 3,000 service hours annually. Members describe how the group funded their paths to aerospace engineering, dentistry, and other fields while running programs like a mobile dental van for elementary schools.
The Lynx have a partnership with NSBE, the National Society of Black Engineers.
My ambition is to be an aerospace engineer. I want to go to NC State and I want to get my master's from there, and also I want to either work for a company like Boeing or NASA.
I want to major in chemical engineering. If it wasn't for Lynx, I wouldn't be going to the college I'm going to right now, which is my dream school.
Our chapter is made up of 60 women who have on average over 3,000 documented hours of community service every year. We are professionals like doctors and lawyers, we're entrepreneurs, we're homemakers, we're educators. We are friends more than anything. We've been established for 26 years here in Charlotte, making a difference in the lives of African Americans and people of color.
We're a chapter that's One of the longer-lasting projects that we have is a dental van, which several times a year goes to elementary schools in underserved areas and provides dental checkups for those children.
One of the opportunities that we are able to provide to students who have an interest in the classics, vocal performance, We support them through classes, through training, and even exposure to a master who can foster their support so that they sing with confidence. They start sometimes a bit hesitantly and then blossom into a, a beautiful and powerful performance that really sets them up for professional success. Since the inception of our chapter, we've granted over $200,000 in scholarships both to individuals as well as a sustaining grant to Johnson C. Smith University.
And I got the big money, the $20,000. My mom was crying. She was so proud of me. Right now I'm a major in biology with a concentration in pre-dentistry. I just want to thank the women that gave me this opportunity so I can be as great as they are and just continue to pave the way so I can be as successful.
What Lynx does is they link us all together in friendship and service, making Charlotte a better community.
It means a lot to have them believe in us and, like, give us the opportunity to show them what we can do.
I don't think I would be where I am today. They inspired me even more to want to become an engineer. They're making my dream happen.
