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Introducing SWE’s Three New Affinity Groups for FY22

During this first year, these new Affinity Group will be building their community, establishing their leadership teams, and refining their mission and goals.  It is a perfect time to get involved.
Introducing SWE’s Three New Affinity Groups for FY22 -
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The SWE Affinity Groups are an excellent opportunity to build a community, provide best practices and empower like-minded individuals.  As the network of Affinity Groups grows, there are opportunities for SWE members from all over the world to join the community, voice their opinions, and advance the diversity initiatives within SWE.

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Affinity Groups (AG) are communities of individuals who share the same interests and goals.  These groups help build community, provide professional development opportunities and empower and celebrate women from different paths of life.

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Affinity Groups generally align with protected classes under a US Federal anti-discrimination law.  These      Affinity Groups focus on the needs of social minority populations and develop programs tailored to serve their respective communities.

The Business and Interests Affinity Groups are grassroots communities focused on social and networking opportunities around common interests. The focus of these Affinity Groups is loosely centered around the members’ business environment and experiences.

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, three new Affinity Groups were approved under the Business and Interests Affinity Groups.  SWE is proud to welcome:

  • the Early Career Professionals Affinity Group,
  • the Community Colleges Affinity Group and
  • the Technical Career Track Affinity Group.

During this first year, these new Affinity Groups will be building their community, establishing their leadership teams, and refining their mission and goals.  It is a perfect time to get involved.

Early Career Professionals Affinity Group

The Early Career Professionals Affinity Group (ECP AG) was formed to address the gap from collegiate to professional SWE and equip individuals with the support, resources, and inclusive community to excel in the first ten years of their career. The mission of the Affinity Group is to aid in the recruitment and development of early career professionals, and to facilitate their engagement with and participation in the Society. By providing a forum for networking, professional development, and opportunities to promote diversity of thought, the ECP AG aims to empower early career professionals to succeed professionally and personally. The FY22 ECP AG Co-Leads, Amber Kreceman and Mahati Vavilala, are thrilled to lead this community. Collegiate seniors, graduate students, and individuals in the first 10 years of their career are encouraged to join by completing the interest form here.

Community Colleges Affinity Group

The Community Colleges Affinity Group promotes and connects community college women in engineering, engineering technologies, and related STEM fields and raises awareness of their unique challenges and diverse contributions and perspectives, within SWE and beyond.

The Community Colleges AG is aligned with SWE’s core values of an inclusive environment and mutual support.  They will support SWE’s strategic goals around advocacy throughout the engineering pipeline for all women, regardless of their nontraditional STEM pathways or backgrounds.  The Community Colleges AG will support community college students majoring in engineering, engineering technologies, pre-engineering and related STEM fields, and also the faculty, administrators, and staff who teach, recruit and advise them. Areas of opportunity for this AG include  broadening access to mentors, providing members with resources and materials and elevating the voices of the community college women in engineering and STEM fields, as well as the voices of their advocates.

Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh and Rose-Margaret Ekeng-Itua are thrilled to be the first co-leads of this affinity group.  For more information contact ritua@ohlone.edu.

Technical Career Track Affinity Group

The Technical Career Track Affinity Group is focused on supporting or planning for growth down a technical career path as technical leaders. The goal of this group is to promote women to excel on the technical leadership track and expand engagement in the SWE technical awards.

SWE’s core values related to professional excellence and mutual support are the essence of this AG.  This AG will focus on Technical Leadership Advocacy and recognition towards roles such as Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Technical Fellow (TF), Subject Matter Experts (SME), Chief Engineer (CE), System Architect (SA), and Technical Director (TD) which have limited access. The leaders of this AG recognize that not all organizations provide the pipeline and structure to encourage and support women engineers on a technical career path. SWE and this AG can help address this gap by providing individuals and organizations with  tool kits to advocate for technical career progression. Enanga Fale and Linda Freeman are thrilled to be the first co-leads of this affinity group. For more information contact technical.career.track.ag@swe.org.

Opt-In to Receive AG Email Communications Through the Member Portal

Members are encouraged to login to the portal and update their Communication Preferences at the bottom of the My Information tab. Opt in or out of SWE email’s so that you are receiving the marketing and content that most interests you. Check boxes are available to select for each Affinity Group and more, so opt-in today!

The SWE Affinity Groups (AGs) mission is to bring together communities that share similar interests and backgrounds that support the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) strategic goals of SWE. Learn more about SWE AGs online at https://swe.org/membership/affinity-groups/.


Get Involved and Learn More about SWE Affinity Groups

New Affinity Groups Website

The AGs now have a dedicated website! Visit affinitygroups.swe.org to learn more about individual Affinity Groups, their leadership, and contact information.

The DEI AG Lead and BI AG Lead are available year-round to help SWE members develop their ideas for the launch of a new AG.  A call for applications will take place near the beginning of 2022.

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