Women in Robotics Newsletter: March 2026

Board Update

Letter from the President

As they say, if you want something done, ask a busy woman to do it! Everything that Women in Robotics does is done as a community of volunteers, so it’s an absolute pleasure to see how we continue to grow, women and non-binary people supporting each other. There are more than 3000 members of the online community and new chapters coming online in Europe, Canada and Australia, and the expansion of US.

Of course that means that sometimes great activities we’ve done in the past, like the mentoring program or online speaker events don’t happen for a year or two, and local chapters go dormant for a while. But something we’ve been working very hard on is trying to create a support infrastructure to share our collective knowledge and help enthusiastic volunteers get initiatives up and running - special shout out to Allison Thackston, Dharini Dutia and Revati Naik. If you’d like to see more Women in Robotics events or programs, please reach out to us!

-Andra Keay

End of Year Review

Our Community, Growing

Everything Women in Robotics does is powered by volunteers. So when we look back at this year, these numbers represent people — organizers, mentors, speakers, chapter leads, and community members who showed up for each other.

• Substack: 2,028 → 2,292 subscribers (+264)

• Chapters: 22 → 25 worldwide

• Slack: 2,859 → 3,850 members

We are now a community of more than 3,000 women and non-binary people in robotics supporting each other across research, industry, startups, and academia.

Joanne Pransky Scholarship

We continue to support the Women in Robotics Scholarship Fund — established in memory of Joanne Pransky, a pioneering voice in robotics who championed both the human and technical sides of the field. The fund exists to expand access and opportunity for people pursuing robotics through education.

The Joanne Pransky Celebration of Women in Robotics Scholarship — open to:

• Female-identifying high school seniors, undergraduates, and graduate students

• Applicants with a demonstrated interest in robotics and its future impact

• Those willing to share their vision for the field, often through a short written submission (e.g., a creative essay on robotics in the future)

This scholarship is made possible through generous contributions from the community, as well as support from the Joseph F. Engelberger Foundation and A3 Robotics / Association for Advancing Automation.

Winners for the Spring 2026 cycle have been announced — thank you to everyone who applied and to everyone contributing to the fund. Your support helps ensure that Joanne’s legacy lives on through the success of future roboticists.

Expanding Our Global Reach

This year we welcomed new chapters in Greece, and Argentina, also revival of the chapter in France. Each chapter reflects local leadership stepping forward to create space — whether that’s hosting a coffee meetup, organizing a panel, or bringing WiR to a major robotics conference.

Chapters naturally ebb and flow as volunteers’ careers and lives evolve. That’s part of being a volunteer-led organization. What matters is that the network remains strong, and that when someone is ready to lead, the community is there to support them.

Robots and Startups spotlight from Andra Keay and Silicon Valley Robotics

In our annual “Women in Robotics you need to know about” list, which comes out in October for International Women in Robotics Day, we feature a cross section of roles in robotics, including women in entrepreneurial and business leadership roles. Because so much of what I do involves supporting startups and investment into robotics, whether with Silicon Valley Robotics, IEEE Entrepreneurship and RAS or my weekly Robots & Startups newsletter, I’d like to also spotlight some of these great female startup founders and CEOs. If they haven’t made our Women in Robotics annual list yet, I’m sure they will soon. However, my selection here is very US and Silicon Valley centric. Please share with me other women leading robotics companies that I need to know about! andra@womeninrobotics.org

Senior Leaders: Vivian Chu & Andrea Thomaz

Andrea Thomaz & Vivian Chu are the cofounders of Diligent Robotics with the vision of creating socially intelligent robot assistants that improve human labor productivity. Diligent’s Moxi The Robot is deployed at more than 25 hospitals and has completed more than 1.25 million deliveries. Since its inception, Diligent has raised over $100 million in financing from investors including Tiger Global, Canaan, and True Ventures. Diligent Robotics has just been acquired by Serve, expanding their autonomous robotics platforms and expanding market opportunity beyond last-mile delivery. Andrea Thomaz will remain as CEO of Diligent responsible for ongoing operation, while Vivian Chu moves into a leadership role across Serve’s robotics groups.

Up and Coming Startup Leaders: Shivani Mouleswaran & Ritika Shrivastava

Shivani Mouleeswaran & Ritika Shrivastava cofounded Ember Robotics in 2024 to solve problems they saw during their time at Tesla and Simbe Robotics working in computer vision and autopilot. Ember Robotics is a YCombinator 2024 alumni and provides a real-time on-device fault detection and monitoring system for robots, IoT and hardware in the field.

Women in Robotics: Conversations

Meet the 2025 Women in Robotics winner who is making “powered clothing” a reality. Kathryn Zealand shares the story of Skip, the engineering behind their ultralight exoskeleton, and her journey from the UN and McKinsey to the forefront of the robotics revolution.

Chapter Highlights

Michigan

By Zahraa Bazzi

In September, the Women in Robotics Michigan Chapter teamed up with the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan (GSSEM) for a workshop designed to spark interest and bridge the gap between curiosity and engineering.

The day featured presentations and a panel where members shared their journeys in robotics and insights into the future of intelligent systems. Following the panel, the WiR volunteers partnered with the Girl Scout participants for a hands-on workshop. They guided the girls through the assembly and programming of Makeblock mBot kits, going from step-by-step instructions to brainstorming and testing creative custom programs with their robots.

The energy and commitment of the team made a lasting impact on the girls. As GSSEM leadership noted, the event was not only fun but truly inspiring, observing moments of discovery and contagious excitement as the girls explored the field of robotics with curiosity and joy. It was a proud moment to see the participants earning their Robot Design badges and taking home the robots they built to continue expanding their technical skill sets.

Following the success of this collaboration, we are thrilled to announce that the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan has selected our chapter as a National Volunteer Award recipient! This honor celebrates our commitment to the STEAM and Robotics Pillar, and we look forward to the formal ceremony in April.

A special thank you to Dr. Shelley Pelton and Lana Jaeger-Barstad at GSSEM for their incredible partnership. We look forward to inspiring the next generation of innovators with them in the future!

Greece

This year marked the official launch of Women in Robotics Greece, and the response has been extraordinary. In just a few months, the chapter has been featured in national media including CNN Greece and Fortune Greece, helping bring visibility to the mission of increasing representation and leadership for women in robotics across the country.

The chapter was founded by Ioanna Karatzoglou with a clear goal: to create a supportive, visible network for women and non-binary people working in robotics, AI, and related technologies in Greece. Through partnerships with universities, research institutions, and industry, the team is building a space for mentoring, knowledge-sharing, and career development.

Media coverage highlighted both the momentum of Greece’s growing robotics ecosystem and the importance of addressing persistent gender gaps in STEM fields. By creating local opportunities for connection and leadership, WiR Greece is working to ensure that more women are not only participating in robotics — but shaping its future.

The chapter is planning a series of meetups, workshops, and collaborative events in the coming year, and welcomes anyone in the region who would like to get involved.