Happy belated New Year! I hope that you had a rejuvenating holiday with your family and are ready for an exciting 2012!

This is the time of year that I am enthusiastic about, with the upcoming region conferences. I am sad that I will miss the first conference this year in Region C, where I have attended the most conferences; however, I am excited that I will be able to attend the ABJ conference in Honolulu. The luau they have planned will be a wonderful way to celebrate a new section, and I look forward to interfacing with the multitude of members in attendance. If you have never been to a region conference, I highly encourage you to attend. These conferences are wonderful opportunities to network, attend professional development workshops, take tours of an area you may not have visited in the past and get more firsthand knowledge on the Society. The Board and I are working on our “State of SWE” update so we can highlight our progress on our FY12 operational plan and applaud the continued momentum of SWE’s impact on STEM.

On October 19, I participated in the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee discussion on “Economic Security and Women in the Workforce” on behalf of SWE. Then, on December 9, I had the honor of attending the White House’s Champions for Change program recognizing 12 local leaders for their efforts recruiting and retaining girls and women in STEM fields. The SWE team also participated in sessions on changing the stereotypes of girls in the STEM fields, mentoring, and supporting and retaining women in the STEM workforce.

I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the leadership challenge and/or to increasing our new and renewing members. As of the end of December, we had 17,916 members (10,219 collegiate at 49% retention and 7,697 professional at 75% retention) compared to 15,921 active members at this time last year. Congratulations to the collegiate team who have driven their membership up 20% compared to this time last year. Congratulations to the professionals who have driven their membership up 4%; however, I challenge the professionals to keep up with the collegiate team.

I am excited that we are at 81% of our 21,000 FY12 membership goal, but we still have a lot of work to do in the next several months and we need your help. Please talk to your friends and peers about the benefits you gain from your involvement in SWE and encourage them to join. Use Twitter and Facebook to highlight all the great SWE events in which you participate. Together, we can multiply our momentum and grow to 21,000 members.

SWE has memorandums of understanding with the Japan Women’s Innovative Network (J-WIN) and Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN). In December, SWE’s CEO and Executive Director, Betty Shanahan, presented the keynote address at a J-WIN professional development event in Tokyo. I was honored to be invited to the APWEN President installation and am pleased that SWE will be represented by immediate past president Siddika Demir. On behalf of all at SWE, I congratulate Engr. Mrs. Olayinka Abdul on her new leadership position.

At Celebrate SWE!, SWE became a leadership sponsor for Engineering for Change. This program provides a forum to connect, collaborate, solve challenges and share knowledge among a growing community of engineers, technologists, social scientists, NGOs, local governments and community advocates, all of whom are dedicated to improving the quality of life all over the world. We encourage you to join Engineering for Change and consider opportunities to contribute to your engineering expertise. Visit www.engineeringforchange.org for more information and to get involved.

I am looking forward to multiplying SWE’s momentum with you in 2012!

Melissa Tata
FY12 SWE President
president@swe.org