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Theresa Nyabeze is a professional mining engineer at Vale Base Metals, a community organizer, children's author, and the founder and CEO of Diversity STEM.

Early life
Nyabeze immigrated to Canada from Harare, Zimbabwe with her family when she 12 years old and spent her teenage years in Sudbury, Ontario. She attended Marymount Academy where she excelled in science and math. Growing up, she assumed medicine was the only career path available to her if she wanted to continue in STEM. It was not until her first year of university that she decided to pursue mining engineering.

Education
Throughout school Nyabeze was particularly skilled in science and math and for years considered medicine her own career option. She finished high school a year ahead of her peers and upon the recommendation from a teacher that she train to become a doctor she began university with a major in biology. During her first year in the program, however, she realized that her own passion for biology and medicine did not compare to that of other students in the course, and she decided to change programs. She changed her major to mining engineering, a field her older brother was already working in. Nyabeze graduated from Laurentian University with a Bachelor's Degree in mining engineering and has undergone some of the coursework for the university's Masters of Business program, as well. Nyabeze noticed early in her degree a lack of diversity and mentor support for minorities in STEM, recognizing that her - mostly white - peers had significantly more mentoring and networking opportunities than she did. Samantha Espley from Vale Base Metals did a presentation for one of Nyabeze’s classes, which motivated her to stay in mining engineering. Espley was impressed with Nyabeze's work and hired her when she was still a student.

Career
Growing up, Nyabeze initially wanted to be a lawyer, citing the show Ally McBeal as an influence, a decision she credits to lack of mentorship in career exploration. After a teacher suggested she pursue a medical career, Nyabeze started a biology degree before turning her focus to engineering. She is currently a Senior Mining Engineer for Vale Base Metals.

Nyabeze is the founder and CEO of Diversity STEM (100ABC), an initiative dedicated and amplifying diverse voices in STEM and creating inclusive design practices. She is also a founding co-chair of the Mining Engagement Conference for Advancement (MECA) Symposium, and in May 2020 was appointed as co-chair of the Diversity and Inclusion committee for the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum.

Nyabeze is also the author of the children's book ''Underground! My Mining Adventure,'' a story about a young Black girl named Maiya who goes to work with her mother for a day in the mine where she works. Nyabeze has said the book began as a way to entertain her kids on a car trip from Sudbury to Ottawa. She gave them a notebook to write down the story as she dictated it to them, which then turned into the first draft of the book.

Awards and recognition

 * 2020 Honoree 100ABC Women (100ABC)
 * Top 40 Under 40 Award (100ABC)