Knatokie Ford

Dr. Knatokie Ford is Founder and CEO of Fly Sci® Enterprise, an education and media consulting organization focused on leveraging the power of storytelling to promote social change, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. A biomedical scientist, social entrepreneur and international advocate for equity and inclusion in education, media, and STEM careers, Dr. Ford has shared her work and compelling story throughout the United States and around the world. She has worked with a number of leading organizations, including YouTube, PBS Digital Studios, and Disney. She served as a science consultant on Netflix’s Emmy-winning series Ada Twist, Scientist, where she also inspired the creation of a Knatokie character modeled in her childhood likeness with her signature snazzy eyeglasses. She was an Executive Advisor for the Association of National Advertisers’ SeeHer movement.

Dr. Ford previously served as a Senior Policy Advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where she designed and led the “Image of STEM” project. Prior to that, she was a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at OSTP with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). In this capacity, she managed concurrent projects on education technology and improving the nation’s healthcare system, in addition to working with OSTP’s STEM inclusion team. Dr. Ford was a postdoctoral fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She also spent time in Los Angeles working in the entertainment industry and as a middle school teacher in an underserved community.

Dr. Ford has served on the Barbie Global Advisory Council, YouTube Kids Global Advisory Committee, Toy Association’s STEM/STEAM Strategic Leadership Committee, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Math Identity Project Advisory Board. She received her PhD in Experimental Pathology from Harvard University and her BS/MS in Chemistry from Clark Atlanta University.