DaNel Hogan is the Founder of braided STEM and a seasoned STEM educator, professional and leadership designer and facilitator, coach, and mentor.

Most recently, DaNel served as the Chief Innovation Officer at the Waters Center for Systems Thinking, where she designed transformative learning experiences enabling PreK-16 educators to integrate systems thinking tools into STEM curricula. She also served as a coach and facilitator for professionals across diverse business and industry sectors, developing them into advanced systems thinking practitioners capable of implementing these approaches in their respective fields. Her work included designing and facilitating a two-year professional learning workshop series for educators in the ASU Arizona STEM Acceleration Project, co-facilitating the Advanced Facilitator Credential program, collaborating with colleagues to train facilitators at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, and presenting at various state and national conferences on systems thinking and STEM integration.

Previously, DaNel served as the Director of The STEMAZing Project for the Office of the Pima County School Superintendent. Before returning to Tucson, DaNel served as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, DC. During her fellowship, she engaged with national-level STEM initiatives, with a particular focus on PreK-Gray Energy Literacy.

Prior to her Einstein Fellowship, DaNel taught physics for nine years, including three years at Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson, Arizona, one year at the Treasure Valley Mathematics and Science Center in Boise, Idaho, and five years at Kuna Middle and High Schools in Kuna, Idaho. Her teaching experience spans Conceptual, Advanced Placement, and Concurrent College Credit Physics. She also taught Physical Science and STEM Research, and served as Science Department Chair for four years while in Idaho.

DaNel brings extensive experience with STEM student competitions, professional teaching organizations, teacher professional development, and organizing STEM initiatives at local, state, and national levels. She has been invited to speak at numerous events, including the Workforce Investment Board meeting, the Southern Arizona Research, Science and Engineering Fair’s elementary-level awards ceremony, STEM night at Mansfeld Magnet Middle School – STEM Plus, and as a guest speaker at various schools including Joyce Clark Middle School in Sierra Vista, Colonel Smith Middle School, and Colonel Johnston Elementary School at Fort Huachuca. She has also been a keynote speaker at the for the Oklahoma STEAM Engine Conference, the Idaho STEM Action Center’s i-STEM Institute, and the West Virginia Science Teachers Association Annual Conference.