Janice Lao
BIO
Environmental scientist and economist, mother of 2 kids.
Instagram: @janiceillao
Twitter: @janiceillao
Janice Lao
“I’ve learned that I am much stronger, much more persevering and resilient than I thought I could be.”
I struggled with math as a child but eventually, at the age of 18, learned to love the field of STEM through the guidance of my father who unlocked the magic of math for me. From there, I began to be reintroduced to STEM and eventually ended up graduating at the top of my degree class and secured a full scholarship to the University of Oxford.
Since then, I have worked as an environmental scientist and economist, helping businesses become a force for good. At 30 years old, I co-developed a mathematical and economic model for the aviation industry on carbon offsetting. I have been internationally recognized for my sustainability work and been named in Forbes as one of the world’s most influential sustainability practitioners, often as the only Asian, and one of the youngest people in their lists.
I co-authored “Sparky & Benny’s Big Home Mystery”, a children’s book on climate change with my 11 year old daughter, Esther, in 2020. I will be launching my second book with my 9 year old son, Isaac, titled “Penguins Can Fly, Right?” in mid 2021.
As a working mother and a female scientist of color, I have overcome a lot. I grew up in the Philippines (now living in Texas) and had few role models, especially ones who were both mothers and executives.
However, I found support from male bosses who were open to mentoring a young female leader, and I embraced the need to work alongside men and not only support females, but also promising young male leaders to show them not to be intimidated by strong women.
The reality for me has been that I have to work 200 times more than my peers because of the racial, gender and age stereotypes that exist for a person like me. I’ve learned to turn these barriers into teaching moments not only for the people around me, by showing them that race, age and gender defines you. But it is also a learning opportunity for me -I’ve learned that I am much stronger, much more persevering and resilient than I thought I could be.
That has helped push me further that I would have imagined for myself - but a huge thanks goes out to my husband, who is truly an equal partner in raising our family and in building my career. He isn’t intimidated by someone with ambition and grit and that’s a huge factor to my success not only as a scientist but also a mother.