About #GivingTuesday
#GivingTuesday was November 28, 2017. Thanks to a generous anonymous matching donation, SWE’s Board of Directors and Leadership, and SWE’s members and donors, we raised $13,190 yesterday! This exceeded our goal of $10,000 and is, by far, our most successful #GivingTuesday to date.
About the SWE Scholarship Program
In 2017, SWE distributed 233 new and renewed scholarship valued at over $715,000 to women pursuing engineering and technology degrees. In his show, Last Week Tonight, John Oliver highlighted SWE as one of the largest providers of scholarships to only women in the United States. You can learn more about endowing a scholarship here or discover the different scholarships SWE is able to provide each year here.
About Linda A. Freeman
Linda A. Freeman is a SWE Life Member and a Business Development Manager at Rockwell Automation. Freeman also represents Rockwell Automation on SWE’s Corporate Partnership Council (CPC). At SWE, Freeman has served on various committees, held leadership positions, attended Capitol Hill days, and currently leads the awards committee for her employer’s SWE ERGs (Employee Resource Group). She is a multiple SWE award recipient. Freeman volunteers as a competition judge and team mentor for FIRST Robotics.
To discuss the importance of the Scholarship Program and giving back to SWE, we asked Freeman to share why she donates to SWE and the impact she sees the organization having. As she recently started the process to endow a scholarship, Freeman focuses on using her company’s matching gift program to reach her philanthropic goals.
SWE: Why do you donate to SWE?
Freeman: “I have been a SWE member for over 25 years and the impact to my life from my involvement is priceless. I want to donate to SWE to create opportunities for others so they can have the same impact to their lives. Funding programs and scholarships creates those opportunities. I decided to donate now, in my mid-40s, because I will be able to see the impact of my donation in my lifetime. Using company matching contribution and donating over a period of time, I will be able to create a scholarship within a few years and then will have many years in my future to meet the scholarship recipients. It is great to donate, but even more wonderful to see the impact.”
SWE: How does SWE make an impact?
Freeman: “SWE made an impact in my life by creating professional development opportunities for me to learn new skills ahead of when I might have had the opportunity in my workplace, which then exceled my career. The professional development opportunities started for me in college, and have continued through my 25+ year professional career. The skills I first learned from a speaker at a SWE meeting, or planning an event, or being a committee member or leader, would then show up again at work or in my personal life, and I felt more confident because I already had exposure or experience. I have personally seen SWE inspire young children in my personal circles to want to become engineers and keep encouraging and supporting those students through their high school and college years. And the life-long friends I have met through SWE are priceless!!”
Thank you to our FY17 (7/1/2016 – 6/30/2017) Scholarship Donors:
Abbie Garcia
Alicia Courtney
Andrew Schaaf
Audrey Leigh Rowe
Beatrice R. Langmade
Carol Jean Weber
Cecilia Ann Elmore
Chelsea Michelle Powell
Cheri Leigh
Cheryl A. Manning
Chris Williamson
Christina Drouet
Cynthia J. Matthews
Daniel Paul
Debra L. Nelson
Derek Richards
Diane C. LaFortune
Elaine J. Kuehn
Elizabeth Buzzard
Eric Zimny
Erin E. Sun
Frances A. Ferris
Frances A. McNamee
Gabrielle Abeghe Obiang
Greg Raspanti
Jacqueline Vivian Adelfio
James Cooney
Jane L. Driscoll
Jane Mead
Jennifer McFerran Brock
Jennifer Therese Sterling
Jessica L. Asay
Jim Lesko
Jimmy Ho
JoAnn Silverstein
Jodilyn A. Peck
Joel T Patterson
Joyce M. Kraley
Judith E. Nelson
Karen M. Conmy
Kathy M. Bracic
Kenneth Davis, Sr.
Kevin Ford
Laura D Vincent
Laurie R. Ramsay
Lilith A. Terry
Linda Freeman
Linda K. Lanham
Linda O’Maley
Lois C. Stevens
Lydia Watt
Margaret J. Ludowese
Maria Ann Legato
Maria L. Magana
Martha Jaworski
Mary Fan
Mary Virginia Stubbs
Nancy Cook Long
Nicole Wilson
Nicole Woon
Pamela A. Williamson
Pamela M. Morison
Patricia M. Knight
Rena M. Zurn
Rob Wilson
Robert Bowdidge
Robin M. Orans
Ronald Grove
Ruth M. Hupprich
Shirley C. McCarty
Spencer Oldemeyer
Stacey M. DelVecchio
Stephanie A. Balik
Susan Lui
Tom Puiia
Valeta Carol Chancey
Yvonne L. Simms
