National Native American Heritage Month is celebrated in the United States every November, honoring the Indigenous communities across the country.
At SWE, we recognize their significant contributions in STEM and shine the spotlight on some of the women engineers and allies who are creating opportunities for more Indigenous representation in industry and academia.
Check out our compilation of the top blog posts, podcast episodes, magazine articles, and other helpful resources as we celebrate National Native American Heritage Month with you.
Diverse: A SWE Podcast
- Ep 341: Indigenous Voices in STEM: A Conversation With Sarah EchoHawk, AISES President: Hear from Sarah EchoHawk, president and CEO of Advancing Indigenous People in STEM, as she shares her family’s deep legacy of public service, the role of tribal colleges in reclaiming education, and how Indigenous knowledge systems can help solve global challenges.
- Ep 290: Celebrating Indigenous Voices in STEM With Dr. Teenie Matlock: Dr. Teenie Matlock, professor emerita of cognitive science at the University of California, Merced and active member of the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, shares how her heritage shaped her upbringing, educational journey, and career in the sciences.
All Together Blog
- A Day in The Life of an Environmental Engineer: Phoebe Suina, from Cochiti Pueblo and San Felipe Pueblo tribes along the Rio Grande, is the owner and project manager of her environmental and engineering firm, High Water Mark, LLC. Learn about her environmental engineering work with Indigenous communities and how you can #BeThatEngineer!
- Lonnie Lee and Maria Elena Abernethy Endowment for Native Americans in Engineering Scholarship: This SWE Endowed Scholarship, available since 2013, supports Native American students (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate) pursuing any engineering degree at the University of New Mexico or New Mexico State University.
SWE Magazine
- AISES Honors Longtime STEM Advocate: Marlene Watson, a Sequoyah fellow, was recognized for her unwavering advocacy for Indigenous people in STEM. She received the Ely S. Parker Award in 2024, the highest professional honor from AISES, for creating opportunities for others through education, mentorship, and leadership.
- Sunny Myers Receives Blazing Flame Professional Award: Sunny Myers (Lumbee/Sappony) received the Blazing Flame Award from AISES honoring her commitment to excellence within Indigenous communities and institutionally in her workplace, and for her service as a leader, mentor, and advocate for STEM and Indigenous communities.
- 50K Coalition Reaches Goal Five Years Early: Thanks to the power of collective leadership between SWE, AISES, and other groups representing the nation’s foremost diversity engineering membership organizations, the 50K Coalition reached its goal of graduating 50,000 diverse U.S. students annually with bachelor’s degrees in engineering five years early.
Advance Learning Center
- Bridging the Gap: Empowering First-Generation Professionals for Success: This course explores how first-generation professionals can navigate the unique challenges of building a career that feels both authentic and aligned with their values and provides both first-generation professionals and their organizations with the tools needed to drive success and foster diversity in engineering.
- Inclusive Recommendations: Writing, Requesting, & Assessing Them: Bias can creep into our writing in ways that can influence the careers of engineers. Through this course, recognize the common patterns of bias that show up in letters of recommendation and identify best practices for eliciting them from a linguistic anthropologist.
- Best Practices for Finding and Keeping a Mentor: Having a mentor is an efficient and rewarding tool for navigating one’s career path but structuring a relationship with a mentor is not easy or automatic. Learn how to build a successful mentorship relationship through this course on the basics of how to establish and get the most out of a mentorship relationship for maximum value and benefit.
Indigenous Peoples Affinity Group
The goal of SWE’s Indigenous Peoples Affinity Group is to:
- Share knowledge, concerns, and experiences among each other and our allies
- Mutually support each other
- Advise and educate SWE on issues affecting Indigenous Peoples
- Serve as a resource to SWE members regarding Indigenous Peoples interest
- Serve as a forum for discussion on specific topics aligning with Indigenous Peoples
- Enhance and promote networking mechanisms for connecting members
- Increase understanding and commitment to the value of diversity and inclusion as an integral part of SWE culture
Join their Facebook Group to connect with fellow SWE members. You can also subscribe to their newsletter by logging into your member portal and opting in under Communication Preferences. Membership in any SWE Affinity Group is open to all SWE members interested in participating.
Indigenous Peoples STEM Organizations/SWE Joint Member Organizations
SWE is partnered with Advancing Indigenous People in STEM (AISES) to provide SWE members greater access to these communities by offering discounts on membership. Founded in 1977, AISES promotes the highest standards of education and professional excellence to widen the STEM workforce and grow sector support. AISES offers academic scholarships, internships, professional development and career resources, national and regional conferences, leadership development summits, and other STEM-focused programming.
SWE members will receive membership discount codes throughout the year via email, or you can reach out to membership@swe.org.
SWE recognizes November as Native American Heritage Month, acknowledging that this observance originates in the United States. SWE also honors and celebrates all Indigenous peoples around the world.
