The Collegiate Leadership Institute (CLI) is a year-round program dedicated to identifying, supporting, and better preparing female collegiate engineering students to become the leaders of tomorrow in STEM. CLI hosts 150 women students in engineering from September to April for virtual speaker sessions with industry and leadership experts, offers access to exclusive curated content on Advance, and includes participation in SWE’s annual WE conference. Next year’s CLI applications will open on July 15th. SWE is grateful for the support of ARDC, Keysight, and GM to make this program possible. Read on for Swetha’s experience with CLI this year! Applications for the upcoming CLI program will open July 15th! Check the CLI page for more info and to apply.
The Society of Women Engineers has played an instrumental role in my Leadership and engineering related activities. I am honored to be in SWE’s FY21-22 Collegiate Leadership Institute (CLI). This year-round program gave me the opportunity to hone my leadership abilities, enabling me to become a future leader in engineering.
I was elated to receive this opportunity and be given the chance to grow my professional development and related skills in multiple workshops. I was able to determine my personal leadership style through CLI.
Between balancing courses in my Graduate studies, moving to a different place leaving my family, and dealing with several other unexpected hindrances, this year has been nothing short of challenging. But CLI kept me going despite the odds. Through CLI, I have grown tremendously by realizing my worth as an engineer and it has also been a way for me to sculpt myself both personally and professionally. These workshops and sessions have given me a sense of community, even virtually, to be surrounded by other female engineers at various levels in their collegiate life. The CLI activities went beyond the academic experience from the kick-off and helped me recognize and develop leadership traits and competencies that are applicable both now, while in college, and for the next steps in my professional career. One of my most favorite session is the “One-of-A-Kind Leadership: Using Unique Abilities to Inspire and Engage” presented by Terra. This session made me to brainstorm ways to improve my unique abilities, and to be most impactful, engaged, and energized.
I am excited to attend more sessions to advance my skills and grow with other engineers, for our current and future success. While my SWE journey is something that I always cherish. I am excited to stay inspired and see what’s next!
