Amid a national crisis to recruit skilled professionals to the STEM fields, Kanika Tolver manages not only to represent the scarce number of minorities in STEM, but also emerge as an innovator in information technology.
In November 2012, at the first annual FedScoop 50 Awards, which honors federal technology leaders, innovators and rising stars, Tolver received the Up-and-Comer Award for her contributions to IT in the federal government.
“I got that award based on projects that I worked on within the federal government and (by) leveraging my own personal brand working with other government agencies and people,” says Tolver, who has had a career in the federal government’s IT sector for more than 13 years.
Tolver’s interest in technology dates back to the late ’90s when AOL Instant Messenger was the prevalent mode of virtual communication and dial-up Internet was its source for connectivity.
“I was in high school and I knew that the future of technology was going to be something great,” she says. “I foresaw that it could only get bigger and it was a good fit for a techie like myself.”
Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Prince George’s County, Md., Tolver pursued higher education close to home at Bowie State University.
“Going to Bowie was a great opportunity for me because it allowed me to have an intimate setting,” says Tolver. “A school like the University of Maryland and some of [the] other schools I applied to were too big, and I felt that Bowie was a good fit for my actual needs.”
