This is the first blog in a four-part series that will introduce you to the FY21 SWE Senate sub-teams and the important, strategic issues they are tackling for SWE. If you would like more information on the SWE Senate and what we do, check-out this “Get to Know the SWE Senate” blog from last fiscal year, or visit the Senate website.
The Senate Strategic Planning Sub-team is responsible for a variety of tasks ranging from providing recommended revisions to SWE’s strategic plan to evaluating environmental scan findings, presenting pertinent information at our conferences, and assessing our goals, mission, and vision statements for relevance and alignment with the strategic direction of the Society.
For FY21, the Senate Strategic Planning Sub-team is concentrating on a review of the Society’s mission statement. A mission statement is foundational, formally expressing the high-level who, what, and why of an organization. Because it is so critical, SWE confirms our mission statement during every strategic planning review cycle, typically every 3-5 years. A review may or may not result in an update to the mission as a carefully drafted mission statement can serve an organization for many years. SWE’s mission statement has undergone minimal edits since its adoption with the latest update taking place in FY18. SWE’s mission statement is:
“Empower women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering and technology professions as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity and inclusion.”
Led by FY21 Deputy Speaker of the Senate, Stephanie DeCotiis, the Sub-team is comprised of the following Senators, Directors, and other Society leaders:
- Cecilia Breda, FY21 Senator
- Stephanie Foege, FY21 Senator
- Kerrie Greenfelder, FY21 Director
- Karen Horting, SWE Executive Director
- Rachel Morford, FY21 President-Elect
- Karen Ramsey-Idem, FY21 Director
- Lindsey Roberts McKenzie, FY21 Treasurer
- Anna Sparks, FY21 Senator
- Linda Thomas, FY21 Senator
- Cassandra Zook, FY21 Senator
FY21 was originally slated as a full strategic plan development year, however resource limitations with concerns of the pandemic shifted that full plan development to next year. As the Senate does not want to rush the important work of updating our mission by limiting the timeframe to the same fiscal year when the rest of the Strategic Plan will also be under development, the mission statement review was moved forward. The work performed this year will serve as a basis for any additional cascading changes for the subsequent Strategic Plan and the corresponding Operational Plans, programs, and services.
This mission review encompasses many considerations, including the gender inclusion recommendations made by the FY20 Senate Diversity & Inclusion: Gender Inclusion Sub-team. A full range of options on many topics are being considered – from no change in the mission to small edits to broader changes. All members of the Sub-team have been vocal participants and the group is assessing relevance and considering legal implications of potential updates. Any recommendations made by this team will be subject to a vote by both the Senate and the Board of Directors for approval.
Additional information and background on our strategic planning cycle and process is available on the Senate Strategic Planning website thanks to the efforts of our FY20 Strategic Planning Sub-Team. The Key Performance Indicators Metrics Dashboard, adopted in 2019 to track progress toward accomplishing the Society’s strategic goals, as well as the Environmental Scan prepared by SWE Headquarters staff, help to inform the strategic planning process. The current strategic goals may be found under SWE Strategic Goals. The Strategic Planning website is a great resource if you have questions about how the overall process works, who is involved, and what kinds of metrics and indicators are considered in SWE Strategic Planning.
Please reach out to any of the Senate Leadership Team members and Senators with any questions or comments.
Deputy Speaker: Stephanie DeCotiis
Senators Inbox: senators@swe.org
The Society of Women Engineers’ FY21 Senate Strategic Planning Sub-team produced this blog content.
