Draft:Nevada Winrow

Nevada Winrow (born February 27, 1971) is the founder, president, and CEO of Black Girls Dive, USA; the 501c(3), the volunteer-based, educational non-profit was created in 2017 to “empower young ladies to explore their STEM identity through marine science, conservation, and SCUBA diving.” As of 2023, the organization has chapters in Maryland - Baltimore County and Baltimore City; Trenton, New Jersey, Wilmington, Delaware; and Atlanta, Georgia.

Black Girls Dive focuses on place-based and project-based learning guided by mentors. Participants learn to SCUBA, design and build their own remotely operated vehicles, and complete a capstone project abroad. Participants have taken part in conservation research and at-sea expeditions.

Winrow founded Black Girls Dive to address the lack of representation of Black women in the SCUBA diving and marine science arenas. Citing Jeff Wiltse, author of “Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America,” the nonprofit’s website points out that the historical lack of access to swimming pools and public beaches due to segregation and systemic racism means that many “African Americans were denied the opportunity to learn how to swim and intergenerational fear of the water stops their descendants from learning now.”

Education
Winrow earned her PhD from Howard University in neuropsychology. She has worked as a clinical practitioner, professor, and administrator in higher education since the late 1990s. Volunteer board service includes work with two historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, Fulbright Scholars Review Board, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, and currently serves on the Board of the Johns Hopkins Medical and Surgical Association. She is a member of Delta Signa Theta Sorority Inc. and Maryland Civil Air Patrol; Winrow is also an FAA-licensed sUAS pilot and serves as an aerospace educator through Civil Air Patrol.

Nevada is a PADI Master Scuba Diver and an associate member of the Women’s Diving Hall of Fame and the American Academy of Underwater Sciences.