While December 31st marks the end of 2020, it is only the halfway point for this SWE-HA Fiscal Year 2021. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the SWE-HA executive council and teams have been keeping busy! A few highlights from the past 6 months:
- Over 25 events hosted virtually, including coffee chats, professional development seminars, mentoring program, book club, and outreach events
- New Focus Groups program kicked off to connect members with similar interests
- Two SWE members recognized as Women of Excellence at the Federation of Houston Professional Women Gala- Susan Howes and Carolyn Cooper
- Our members and partners donated over $250 for school supplies and over $1,400 for STEM toys. Special thanks to Subsurface Consultants & Associates LLC for their $500 donation towards STEM toys.
- New partnership with Chemours to administer a scholarship over the next 5 years.
- Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day held completely virtually for the first time. Over 100 students were able to attend and learn about engineering and participate in activities with our volunteers.
I am so proud of the work our team has done to not only maintain and adapt our existing programs for a virtual environment, but for continuing to innovate and come up with new ways to engage and support our members. A big thanks to the executive council and all the committee chairs and committee members- they have put in collectively hundreds of hours of volunteer time to make these events happen. Creating a sense of community and connection is more important now than ever, and I hope we have been able to do this.
As we move into the new year, we have an exciting lineup of activities. We will be continuing our book club, coffee chats, and focus group meetings, and doing another series of professional development seminars. Spring is also scholarship season. If you are interested in getting involved planning any of these events, or if you have an idea of something new, or just want to chat, reach out to me at president@houstonswe.org.
Sincerely,
MK