When Krystal Cunningham Ph.D. ’19 first moved to Los Angeles from Jamaica as a teenager, she found it strange that there were community and scholarship programs specifically geared toward minorities. She didn’t find it odd because they were not helpful, but that they had to exist in order for a Black student like her and others from underrepresented populations to have a chance to thrive.
Thanks to such supportive initiatives, the now senior engineer at Raytheon Technologies was able to forge a career path of her own despite experiencing imposter syndrome earlier in her academic pursuit.
Growing up in the Caribbean country with her mother and extended family, Cunningham said she was always fascinated with planes. But she had never met an engineer or been introduced to science as a girl. So she thought the next best thing for her future would be to become a flight attendant. It…
