Jill Ott used her 5 years of science teaching experience and her 30 years as a successful executive and entrepreneur to invent and co-found Science Coach, an innovative STEM nonprofit. Based in St. Louis, Science Coach has built a robust research ecosystem that provides critical support/resources for 6th-12th grade level teachers to coach students as they conduct authentic research and guide them through an immersive career introduction experience to help them discover their own STEM career passions.
Jill also served as Ex Director of the Mastodon Fair, the largest art and science fair in the US. During her tenure, Jill expanded the fair’s geographic reach, increased student participation, and created a commercially-available software product, E-Fair for the complete administration of a fair. Additionally, as CEO of an entrepreneurial software development company, Jill raised $3M in venture capital, had one patent awarded, and secured multiple corporate and government contracts.