Seasons Greetings from the WCEC

As the end of the year fast approaches, we want to express our appreciation for your continued support of the Women of Color in Engineering Collaborative. The WCEC goes into the new year with a generous grant from the National Science Foundation to support the implementation of our strategic plan. The project team is excited to jump start our efforts to address the systemic challenges women of color face in the engineering workforce. We look forward to continuing to work with our partners across professional societies, industries, higher education, and government to create a more inclusive and welcoming engineering culture.

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For now, we close 2023 with good wishes to you and yours for a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year. Take some time to relax, reflect, and enjoy all the festivities that this time of year offers. However you choose to celebrate, we wish you the best this holiday season.

A Look Back at National
Native American Heritage Month

Each November, we celebrate National Native American Heritage Month (NAHM). While the WCEC did not release a newsletter last month, we did not want to overlook this important recognition of the traditions, languages, and stories of Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Indigenous communities.

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For our month-in-review, we feature two Native woman in STEM – one past and one present.

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Mary Golda Ross (Cherokee) was the first known Native American woman to become an engineer. Proud of her heritage, she was an advocate for women and Native people in engineering. She studied aeronautical engineering, became a registered professional engineer in 1949, and worked for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company on numerous projects - many of which are still classified. Read more about Mary Golda Ross on the National Air and Space Museum’s website and in this PBS feature.

Sunny Myers (Sappony/Lumbee) is the Senior Inclusion and Diversity Global Leader for Palo Alto Networks. She was recently featured on the Do We Belong Here podcast, where she discussed representation and diversity within cybersecurity, the need to break barriers for Indigenous women in STEM, and the importance of allyship in fostering inclusivity. Listen to the interview on YouTube.

What is the Women of Color in Engineering Collaborative?

The Women of Color in Engineering Collaborative (WCEC) was created in 2021 as a partnership network of professional engineering societies and STEM-based companies. The WCEC is working to address systemic barriers that prohibit equitable work environments for women engineers of color.

Since its inception, the WCEC has grown to 29 organizations, created a shared vision and mission, and developed a strategic plan that will guide our efforts over the next few years. Thank you for your interest and support of our work. We hope that you will engage with the WCEC as we begin implementing the strategies aimed at tackling the major challenges facing women of color (WOC) in the engineering workplace.

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Want to Get Involved?

Are you interested in having your organization become a member of the WCEC? Read our membership guidelines and fill out an application. Learn more.

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While we don’t offer membership to individuals, we do want to grow the WCEC community! Soon we will begin collecting profiles of amazing WOC engineers for our Inspiring Leaders database. We are also collecting resources from our member organizations to place in our online Resource Center. We will be using this newsletter to get the word out as these activities get underway. Please share the WCEC with your network and invite others to sign up for our newsletter through the Contact Us form on the WCEC website.

Call for Participation

Consider presenting at an upcoming event! Member organizations offer the following opportunities for participation.

ADVANCE Equity in STEM Community Convening Call for Proposals
Baltimore, MD, June 2-5, 2024
Proposal Deadline: January 5, 2024

Advancing equity in STEM requires an intentional focus on creating authentic, sustainable, and inclusive environments while simultaneously cultivating a community that collaborates, shares, and implements promising practices and tools shown to effect change.
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At the 2024 ADVANCE Equity in STEM Community Convening, researchers, practitioners, and change agents have an opportunity to share new research findings and exchange resources; brainstorm strategies; collaborate in novel ways; and demonstrate effective programs and interventions for greater collective impact. Learn more.

Upcoming WCEC Member Events

The WCEC shares the numerous professional activities offered by our member organizations. Member organizations are committed to creating a supportive, encouraging, and inclusive environment for WOC in engineering. Find out more about their events and register to attend!

2024 AAAS Annual Meeting

Denver, CO, February 15-17, 2024

Science and technology would proceed faster and better in an ecosystem free of barriers that currently separate us by discipline, approach, institution, nation, access, wealth, seniority, race, and gender; we shall explore problems, consider solutions, and envision science without walls. Theme of the 2024 AAAS Annual Meeting is Toward Science Without Walls. Learn more & register.

ASCE DiscoverE Engineers Week

Virtual, February 18-24, 2024

ASCE partners with DiscoverE (formerly the National Engineers Week Foundation) to shine a spotlight on engineering. Engineers Week is a time to celebrate how engineers make a difference in our world, increase public dialogue about the need for engineers, and bring engineering to life for kids, educators, and parents. Learn more and access materials.

WE Local Conferences

Las Vegas, NV, February 23-24, 2024

Baltimore, MD, March 1-2, 2024

Wichita, KS, March 15-16, 2024

WE Local conferences take place around the world and are organized by the Society of Women Engineers to bring together participants in all stages of their collegiate and professional journey. The conferences create space for engineers and partners to connect through professional development sessions, inspirational speakers, networking opportunities, and more. Learn more & register.

CoNECD 2024

Crystal City, VA, February 25-27, 2024

The vision of the CoNECD (pronounced, “connected”) Conference is to provide a forum for exploring current research and practices to enhance diversity and inclusion of all underrepresented populations in the engineering and computing professions including gender identity and expression, race and ethnicity, disability, veterans, LGBTQ+, 1st generation and socio-economic status. Learn more & register.

TMS Annual Meeting and Exhibition

Orlando, FL, March 3-7, 2024

The TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition brings together more than 4,000 engineers, scientists, business leaders, and other professionals in the minerals, metals, and materials fields for a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary exchange of technical knowledge. Learn more & register.

NSBE 50th Annual Conference

Atlanta, GA, March 20-24, 2024

The 50th Annual Convention is a four-day constitutional event with over 15,000 attendees, 400+ company career fair and a 5,000+ General Session. During the Annual Convention, the Society conducts organizational business, elects national and regional leaders, holds competitions and provides professional and personal development, networking and celebratory activities. Learn more & register.

SAMPE Conference

Long Beach, CA, May 20-23, 2024

SAMPE 2024 Conference and Exhibition is exclusively dedicated to advanced materials and processes. Produced by the North America Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE), this event brings together leading companies, engineers, scientists, and professionals from throughout the advanced materials and processes industry. Learn more & register

ADVANCE Equity in STEM Community Convening

Baltimore, MD, June 2-5, 2024

Since 2019, the NSF-Funded ADVANCE Equity in STEM Community Convening has served as the convening for NSF ADVANCE grantees in a format that facilitates engagement with change agents within and beyond the NSF ADVANCE community. The ADVANCE EiSCC brings together a variety of change makers from higher education, professional societies, industry, government, and non-profits in an engaged exchange of knowledge, resources, and support to drive systemic change in STEM. ARC is WEPAN's cooperative agreement with the NSF ADVANCE program. Learn more & register.

AWWA ACE24 National Conference

Anaheim, CA, June 10-13, 2024

ACE, where the water community comes together to learn, connect, and be inspired to solve global water challenges. Be a part of the water revolution that addresses critical issues about the world’s most important resource. Regardless of where you are in your career, there is something for everyone at ACE. Learn more & register.

ASEE National Conference

Portland, OR, June 23-26, 2024

The premier event of its kind, the ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition fosters an exchange of ideas; enhances teaching methods and curricula; explores how to manage engagement, retention, and return on learning experiences; and provides unparalleled networking opportunities for engineering and engineering technology education stakeholders, including deans, department chairs, faculty members, researchers, and industry and government professionals. Learn more & register.

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