Brenda Rios Brombacher earned a full scholarship from Verizon as a teenager; now she pays it forward by providing middle school students with access to Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers
In October 2019, Brenda Rios Brombacher was looking to make her next move professionally. After presenting at the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) conference, Brombacher, who was director of entrepreneurial initiatives and community relations at Houston Community College (HCC), had her eye on other sessions to attend. As luck would have it, Verizon had a workshop that fit neatly into her schedule.
Curious to see what the company was up to, she grabbed a seat in the back of the room to learn about Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers, an immersive educational program that helps middle school students across the country build STEM and entrepreneurship skills. It was immediately clear to Brombacher that the initiative would greatly benefit HCC. After all, she knew firsthand how life-changing Verizon’s outreach could be.
Brombacher’s decades-long connection with Verizon began when she and her family emigrated from Mexico to Houston, Texas in 1998. She was 10 years old at the time. Her mother, Sandra Leos, began working in a local call center for a phone company that was later acquired by Verizon.
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