Janell Kochevar with Element 3: Connecting STEM, Strategy, & Storytelling

In today’s fast-moving world of STEM education, outreach, and communication, individuals who bridge the gap between technical content and compelling human stories are in high demand. Janell Kochevar is one of those people. Working under the banner of Element 3, she has emerged as a key strategist, communicator, and program administrator whose work has meaningful consequences—especially in the realm of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) outreach.

In this blog post I want to explore who Janell is, what Element 3 does, how she contributes, and why her work is particularly important. If you’re interested in STEM outreach, communications strategy, or program leadership, there’s something useful here.

What is Element 3, and What Context Does Janell Work In

To understand Janell’s role, it helps first to define “Element 3.” In this case, Element 3 refers to the Outreach & Communications component of the Defense STEM Education Consortium (DSEC), which is part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s DoD STEM initiative. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us+1

DSEC organizes its work into several operational elements, each with different responsibilities:

• Element 1: Consortium Management
• Element 2: Program Evaluation
• Element 3: Outreach & Communications
• Element 4: STEM Alumni Management
• Element 5: Strategic Outreach Initiatives dodstem-assets.dodstem.us

Element 3’s mandate includes promoting the DoD STEM and DSEC as coordinated, cohesive efforts; communicating about STEM opportunities; maintaining websites; managing social media and other communications channels; and generally ensuring that stakeholders (students, educators, partners) are aware and can engage with the STEM-ecosystem built by DSEC. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us

Janell Kochevar serves as the Individual Program Administrator (IPA) for Element 3. In that role, she is responsible for planning, executing, and refining the communications, outreach, and engagement strategies that Element 3 uses. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us+1

Janell Kochevar’s Role & Key Responsibilities

Here are some of the concrete ways Janell shapes the work in Element 3:

1. Strategic Communications & Outreach Campaigns
   She helps develop strategic campaigns to raise awareness of DoD STEM and DSEC programs among students, educators, and partners. This could involve content pieces, outreach to schools, social media campaigns, etc. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us+1
2. Website, Content & Resource Management
   Part of her role is maintaining the dodstem.us website, ensuring that resources like “STEM Careers”, opportunity listings, educational materials, videos, and blogs are up to date. Also improving usability, search filters, and ensuring content is accessible. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us
3. Social Media & Multi-Channel Engagement
   She manages participating in and coordinating social media presence across platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc., with partners. Monitoring performance, refining messaging, tracking what engages people most. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us
4. Partner & Stakeholder Collaboration
   She works with other Elements in DSEC (Elements 1, 2, 4, 5) to align outreach, evaluation, alumni work, and strategic initiatives. For instance, updating content for alumni, spotlighting educators or students, supporting partners’ communications requests. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us
5. Evaluation & Continuous Improvement
   Janell is also involved in measuring how effective communications are: tracking metrics, gathering feedback, seeing what parts of outreach are working, what needs adjusting, and ensuring that the outreach work is aligned with DSEC’s overall goals. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us

Impact & Achievements under Her Leadership

Janell’s work within Element 3 has led to measurable outcomes and positive trends in STEM outreach and communications. Some of these include:

• Increased participation: Under her oversight, Element 3’s efforts have contributed to growth in number of students served by DSEC, especially among underrepresented groups, as indicated in the Annual Program Reviews. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us
• Improved accessibility of information: Enhanced website features (search filters, location data), updated content (STEM careers, opportunities) make it easier for students and educators to find what they need. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us
• Stronger stakeholder engagement: More visibility for educators, students, and partners via “spotlight” content, social media, blogs, etc., which helps build community and awareness. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us
• Efficient coordination: By developing protocols for communications materials, coordinating with other elements, and maintaining tools/platforms for partner engagement (e.g. Amaze platform, event tracking) she helps the system work more smoothly. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us
• Emphasis on equity & diversity: The data shows improved reach to underrepresented groups across gender, race/ethnicity, military-connected students, etc. Element 3’s outreach efforts contribute to that. dodstem-assets.dodstem.us

Janell’s Philosophy & Approach

From what is visible publicly, Janell seems to embrace a number of guiding principles in her work:

• Clarity & Accessibility: Ensuring that STEM information and resources are not just available but understandable, accessible, and usable by diverse audiences.
• Data-Driven Decision-Making: Using feedback, evaluations, metrics, web analytics, etc., to guide what works, what doesn’t, and make course corrections.
• Collaboration: Not working in isolation—aligning with multiple partners, soliciting stakeholder input, coordinating across internal teams and external participants.
• Growth & Continuous Improvement: Updating content, improving infrastructure (web search, filters), refining outreach protocols, so things get better over time, not static.
• Inclusivity & Equity: Ensuring that underrepresented students and educators are reached; making sure communications don’t leave people behind.
• Storytelling & Human Connection: Amplifying the voices of real educators, students, alumni; using “spotlight” or “We Are DoD STEM” features to bring lived experience into communication materials.

Why Her Work Matters

It’s tempting to think that communications/outreach is secondary or just fluff, but Janell’s work (and that of Element 3) shows how central it is.

• Bridging the Gap: Many STEM programs or resources fail not because the content is weak, but because people don’t know about them, or don’t find them in a way that resonates. Outreach, communications, and UX help fix that.
• Equity & Social Impact: STEM fields still struggle with underrepresentation, especially for certain racial/ethnic groups, for girls, for students from underserved areas. Good outreach and communication help to lower barriers: making opportunities visible, culturally relevant, accessible.
• Building Trust & Engagement: When students or educators feel included, heard, and represented, it increases engagement and retention. It helps STEM opportunities be sustained rather than one-off.
• Efficient Use of Resources: Without strong outreach and communication, even great STEM programs can underperform. With good strategies, fewer resources might deliver more impact.
• Meeting Evolving Needs: The landscape of technology, education, communication channels keeps changing. Someone who is focused on monitoring trends, updating the approach, using interactive digital tools, etc., helps an organization stay relevant.

Challenges and Considerations

Of course, there are also challenges associated with this kind of role and work. Some things Janell likely faces (or which are general challenges in this space) include:

• Information Overload & Attention Economy: Audiences are bombarded with content; cutting through that noise is hard.
• Diverse Audience Needs: Students, educators, parents, and partners have different information needs, preferences, language, and access. Tailoring for them all is nontrivial.
• Resource Constraints: Even with funding, communication/outreach programs can be limited by staff, budgets, technology, and maintaining momentum.
• Measuring Impact: It can be difficult to link outreach or communications directly to long-term outcomes like increased STEM degrees or career placements; many external factors intervene.
• Technological Accessibility and Digital Divide: Not all target audiences have equal access to internet, devices, or reliable connectivity; so outreach must consider equity in medium as well as message.
• Keeping Up with Trends: Social media platforms, content formats (video, interactive media), tools (data visualization, user experience) evolve fast; staying up-to-date is demanding.

A Day in the Life: What Janell’s Typical Day Looks Like

To make this more concrete, let’s imagine what a typical workday for Janell might include, based on what’s public about her routines and responsibilities:

This blend of strategy, creativity, coordination, and evaluation defines her role and ensures the outreach & communications work doesn’t just happen but improves over time.

Looking Ahead: Future Possibilities & Trends

What might the future hold for Janell Kochevar and Element 3? Based on what is public plus trends in STEM outreach, communication, and education, several possible directions suggest themselves:

1. More Interactive & Multimedia Content
   Video, virtual reality / augmented reality, interactive storytelling, podcasts, etc. These modalities engage differently and may reach people more personally.
2. Customized, Localized Outreach
   Adapting messaging to different communities, considering cultural relevance, language, local contexts. More partnerships with schools, educators in underserved regions for co-design of content.
3. Use of Data & AI Tools for Personalization
   More sophisticated analytics, machine learning models, or automation to personalize content delivery (e.g. recommending relevant opportunities based on a student’s interests).
4. Stronger Alumni Engagement
   Leveraging past participants (students, educators) to become advocates or communicators themselves; storytelling by alumni is often compelling.
5. Cross-Platform Integration & Omnichannel Experiences
   Ensuring consistency across website, email, social, events; creating journeys where the user moves smoothly from one channel to another (seen an Instagram post → clicks to website → signs up for a webinar → eventually participates).
6. Focus on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)
   Continuing to expand reach to underrepresented groups, addressing barriers to access (fees, internet access, device access), inclusive design in communications.
7. Scalability & Sustainability
   As programs grow, ensuring that outreach and communications systems can scale without losing quality; building capacity among partners for local outreach; securing resources to maintain momentum.

Lessons & Take-Away for Others

If you are someone working in STEM outreach, communications, non-profit educational programming, or marketing, here are some lessons from Janell Kochevar’s work with Element 3:

• Don’t underestimate communications & outreach — they can make or break impact.
• Audience research is essential; knowing what people need, where they seek information, and how they consume content lets you shape effective messaging.
• Strive for clarity and simplicity in messaging. STEM topics are often complex; good communication makes them accessible.
• Use multiple channels but coordinate them well. Overlapping messages, but tailored format, works better than scattered, inconsistent content.
• Measure, iterate, improve. What looks good may not perform well; what you don’t measure you can’t improve.
• Engage your stakeholders. Whether students, educators, or partners, listening and involving them in development of materials or outreach builds trust and relevance.
• Keep equity, inclusion, accessibility at the center. Good outreach means everyone who could benefit should be able to do so.

Conclusion

Janell Kochevar’s role as Individual Program Administrator for Element 3 shows how skilled, strategic outreach & communications amplify the impact of STEM education efforts. Her work helps ensure that opportunities are visible, inclusive, and meaningful, and that the programs of DoD STEM and DSEC are not just run, but connected to people’s lives—students, educators, alumni, partners.