When Markie Vicenti was first starting out in her career, she often felt isolated. It wasn’t because she was a woman in the predominantly male field of engineering. It had more to do with feeling far from her home in the Navajo Nation.
“I’d just moved from New Mexico to Minnesota, and I felt like I’d been pulled away from the norm of my community—the language, the religion, the ceremonies,” says Vicenti. “When nobody looks like you, talks like you or grew up like you did, it can be hard to connect with co-workers. It’s an unsettling feeling.”
Then, Vicenti landed her current job as an IT analyst at Boston Scientific. She learned of the company’s commitment to improving opportunities for young people in STEM and knew she could find purpose in joining that cause. She also sought to support other employees who might be feeling as alone as she once did.
Now, as global lead of Fostering Indigenous Resources and Empowerment (FIRE) employee resource group, Vicenti has found ways to advance both goals—including through spearheading Boston Scientific’s sponsorship of the Sequoyah Fellowship, which is awarded each year to students who are committed to giving back to Native communities.
A lifetime of support for an underserved population
This prestigious honor includes lifetime membership to the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, or AISES: an organization that aims to support inroads for Indigenous students in STEM majors and careers by offering them resources, mentorship, scholarships, internships and networking opportunities. Companies like Boston Scientific bestow these memberships based on student applications received each year.
American Indian/Alaska Native people make up only about .6 percent of all employed STEM workers, according to one report. The fellowships are one of many ways AISES helps create more opportunities for students in STEM fields.
Camion Tsikewa, a freshman at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, is a member of one of nearly 200 AISES college chapters across the United States. These hubs create a “home away from home” where students can share experiences and cultural values and engage in conversations about sustainability, environmental stewardship and traditional ecological knowledge.
That’s when he learned about Boston Scientific’s Sequoyah Fellowship application, which asks students to submit an essay explaining what they’re studying and why, and what they would do with an AISES lifetime membership.
For Tsikewa, it was a straightforward answer. “I hope to connect with people that have the same goals as I do, which is to create a world where we don’t keep having to fight for sustainability,” says the 18-year-old, who grew up on the Zuni reservation in western New Mexico.
When he learned he’d been named a 2025 Sequoyah Fellow, he couldn’t believe it. “I was so surprised—and grateful,” he says. “It’s amazing to have a big company like Boston Scientific invest in opportunities for people like me.”
Tsikewa is particularly driven to preserve natural resources. “I enjoy fishing, and when droughts come, fishing spots and rivers dry up,” he explains. “I want to help find ways to make sustainability something that happens naturally so the rivers are there for later generations to enjoy.”
Spreading Boston Scientific’s values beyond its walls
For Vicenti, it’s helping students like Tsikewa that makes her involvement with FIRE so rewarding.
“FIRE was created to give Indigenous employees that sense of belonging at Boston Scientific,” she says. “And being able to sponsor Sequoyah Fellowships is a good reminder that we have a responsibility to help others along the way.”
Learn more about how Boston Scientific supports STEM education and other initiatives in communities around the world.