Danielle Cooper
Danielle Cooper
 

Danielle Cooper

Business Process Manager @ The Chemours Company
Houston TX
danielle.cooper@chemours.com
Close Up Navigating Obstacles Career Pathway Q&A

Two Sentence Story

I am a Chemical Engineer who never imagined I'd move from Pennsylvania to Houston, TX to work in a manufacturing plant! I love that my company, Chemours, values our community and encourages employees to work with youth STEM programs to encourage the next round of engineers to run our country!

Close Up

What I Do

Currently, my role as Business Process Manager is to find any opportunities on the site to simplify processes, increase production, decrease cost, and overall find a way for our site to be as competitive as possible. This includes running an Agile Team of short, small "mini-projects" to solve problems and implement solutions in the production unit.

Why STEM?

My father was a mechanical engineer and one of my older, female cousins was a chemical engineer, so I was aware of engineering at an early age. But it took my AP Chemistry teacher my sophomore year in HS to give me the final push I needed and recommended me for a week-long engineering summer camp at a local university. After that, I never looked back!

School Days

I attended the University of Delaware and have a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering. I also graduated with 2 minors- one in Economics, and another in Psychology.

Best Part

What I like best about being an engineer is that in industry, you have so many opportunities! With an engineering degree, leaders know that you are very capable of problem solving, so this opens up a lot of doors outside of just technical roles. Engineers can be in sales, marketing, leadership, even CEO's!

Proud Moments

I have recently been most proud of the efforts that my company and site has sponsored around community outreach. Chemours is investing $50 Million through 2030 in our communities to increase access to STEM for all. I have led multiple volunteer efforts at local schools; acquired a $200,000, 5-year grant to financially help 5 young women pursue their STEM goals in college; and set-up a multi-year partnership with a Houston-area school around STEM.

My Family

I have been married (to someone else in the manufacturing industry!) since 2014 and have 2 rescue dogs!

Hobbies

My main hobby outside of work is competing in triathlons! I swam and played soccer growing up, but switched to running after I moved to Houston in 2008. After completing 2 marathons, I decided I needed a bit more "variety" and added in cycling and picked swimming back up. I've been doing triathlons for 10 years and have competed on the national level 5 times- 3 in the Olympic triathlon distance and 2 in the aquathlon (swimming and running).

Volunteer Opportunities

I am willing to be contacted by educators for possible speaking engagements in schools or in after school programs or summer camps., I am willing to serve as a sponsor or coach for an engineering club or team., I am willing to serve as science fair judge or other temporary volunteer at a local school., I am willing to host a field trip to my place of employment., I am willing to be contacted about potential job shadowing by interested students., I am willing to be interviewed by interested students via email.

Engineering Careers

Chemical Engineers

Engineering Career Fields

Chemical

Areas Of Interest

Construction Energy Materials

Navigating Obstacles

Addressing disrespect or harassment, Overcoming doubt and discouragement/Imposter Syndrome, Making connections, Building a community, or Finding mentors

Addressing Disrespect or Harassment

Working in a manufacturing environment as a young, female engineer, there were multiple times that I was called "sweetie" or "hun." You have to know when it's being said to purposely disrepect you or when it's someone that maybe doesn't know better. There was a time where a more experienced engineer didn't like the decision that I made and pointed his finger in my face and called me "girl," which was very demeaning and disrepectful. I had to keep my composure in the moment (although I allowed myself to be emotional in private afterwards) and stand by my decision. Luckily, the other male in the meeting knew it was wrong and stepped in as an ally to defend me. You have to stand your ground and sometimes deal with some of these instances, but it's the way that you respond to let people who are intentionally acting this way know it's not ok and hold them accountable.

Overcoming Doubt

Overcoming doubt is part of life- it's about moving into uncomfortable situations and knowing that there's a reason that someone put you in this role or hired you to do this job. They have confidence in your ability, so why shouldn't you? It's easier to overcome doubt the more experience you have in a certain industry or company, but when you do have these types of feelings, it's important to take some self-time to reflect and think about why you're feeling this way. Maybe it's just a simple interaction with someone that caused you to question everything, and you are reading too much into their comments. Having mentors that you can share these feelings with can help prop you up when you're feeling low.

Making Connections

Moving to a new company where I didn't know anyone after 12 years in the industry was intimidating, but I made a point to get involved in the site Outreach team and the company's Women's Employee Resource Group. The involvement with the Women's ERG has allowed me to meet people from all over the globe that have the same passion for women in STEM that I do, but I realize that there's a lot of other things we have in common and it allows me to ask them about their career paths and learn about things they have learned along the way that's helped them at our company. Signing up for a formal mentoring program is always a way to find a mentor within a company, but many other mentoring resources are available- for example, through SWE.

Obstacles Helpful for Youth

Ask the questions! There are no dumb questions- likely, if you have the question, someone else does too. This is a way to stand out among your peers and you get to learn something extra in the process!

Companies Mitigate Challenges

Diversity and Inclusion training is something that can be rolled out to an entire organization that can help educate all employees about what is ok to say and what is not.

Career Pathway

K-12 STEM Opportunities

Engineering or technology class, Calculus class, AP STEM class, Unique Tech- or STEM-related school or school-based program, Out-of-school STEM program

Comments about K-12 STEM

Attended an engineering camp at a local university during the summer between Junior and Senior year of high school.

STEM Learning Opportunities

Public university, Internship

Undergraduate Certification

A Bachelor’s Degree

Undergraduate Field

Engineering

Associate Bachelor Major

Chemical Engineering

Professional Certifications

Engineer in Training (EIT), Other

Other Professional Certifications

Agile Scrum Master

Previous Role Employed

Engineer, Manager

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