SOAR - Buffalo Chapter
SOAR Buffalo joined the SOAR family in September 2024. Buffalo lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River on the Canada–United States border. With a population of 278,349, Buffalo is the second-most populous city in New York state. Buffalo and the city of Niagara Falls together make up the two-county Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 1.2 million in 2020, making it the 49th-largest metro area in the US. The city’s cultural landmarks include the oldest urban parks system in the US, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, the Buffalo History Museum, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Shea’s Performing Arts Center, the Buffalo Museum of Science, and several annual festivals. Its educational institutions include the University at Buffalo, Buffalo State University, Canisius University, and D’Youville University. Buffalo is also known for its winter weather, Buffalo wings, and three major-league sports teams: the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills, the National Hockey League’s Buffalo Sabres, and the National Lacrosse League’s Buffalo Bandits.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Natascha Thomas
President
Natascha Thomas is a Regional Director at Sparq, a tech consultancy. She is a 20+ year veteran in the tech industry and got her first tech job as a video game tester. She is a Southern California native, but relocated to Buffalo in 2022 with her husband to open up the northeastern arm of her company. Natascha graduated with a BS in Neuroscience from UCLA, and still enjoys learning about biochemistry in her free time.
Natascha has always enjoyed contributing to communities outside of work through volunteering time in food banks, tutoring and mentoring.
Faithwin Gbadamosi
President
Faithwin is a second year PhD student in Environmental Health at the University at Buffalo. She is also getting her masters in Geographic information systems (GIS) and doubles as a teaching assistant in the department of Geography.
She teaches GIS and machine learning to undergraduates and graduate students. Her interests include learning new things and exploring. She grew up in Nigeria and relocated to Buffalo in 2023.
She loves to volunteer, meet new people and refers to herself as an ‘Ambassador for happiness’.