Darlene Gardner was born and raised outside of Cleveland, Ohio in Seven Hills. As a young girl, she enjoyed travelling the United States with her parents and three siblings during the summers visiting 48 out of the 50 states.

Darlene attended The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio and earned her Bachelor of
Science (BS) Degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering.

During Darlene’s professional career she worked as an Operations Executive for companies in the fields of lasers, semiconductor equipment, and medical devices. In her last position as
General Manager and Plant Leader, she led a cutting edge medical device development and
manufacturing plant for W.L. Gore & Associates Inc. She retired from this position after 17 years in 2019.

Darlene’s passion is to help students in a STEM related field to grow and to be prepared for
entering their professional careers. She hopes that her experiences and learnings throughout
her career will help others on their life’s journey.

Darlene lives with her husband, and two fur babies in Rocklin, Ca. In her spare time she enjoys her workouts, reading, and is also on the Board of a non profit organization that provides Veterans and First Responders coping with PTSD with therapy dogs. - Darlene Gardner