SWE Advocacy:Learn It to Live It

Mary Perkinson Director of Advocacymary.perkinson@swe.org

Alexis McKittrickChair, Strategic Planning Committeealexis_mckittrick@hotmail.com

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SWE will advocate for the inclusion and success of women, present and prospective, in engineering and technology.

Examples in SWE:• Government Relations & Public Policy Committee

– Advocates for policies and laws friendly to women engineers with the federal government

– Trains SWE members to advocate for these policies• Outreach Committee

– Advocates for a positive impression of engineering as a career among young women and girls and their parents and educators

– Trains SWE members to be outreach advocates• Awards Committee

– Advocates for the recognition of women engineers• Corporate Partners Council

– Forum for advocating for women engineers and SWE with employers

SWE Advocacy

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3THE ADVOCACY MODULES

SWE Advocacy 201 focuses on efforts in Washington, DC, giving members a look at the Governmental Relations and Public Policy (GRPP) Committee and how they, too, can get involved

SWE Advocacy 101 provides insight on advocacy at the basic level – providing members information on how they can advocate themselves

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SWE Advocacy 101 Raising SWE Awareness in Your Community

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SWE Advocacy 201 Government Relations and Public Policy

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All Together Advocacy Features

#whyadvocate

LEARN PUBLIC POLICY

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How did SWE get Involved in Public Policy?

• SWE became actively engaged in public policy a decade ago with the publication of two important position statements:– Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative

Action– Application of Title IX to STEM

• Statements have been added on STEM education and most recently, work-life integration

These can be viewed on the SWE website

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What does SWE do to Promote These Positions?

Through the GRPP and several HQ-based initiatives, SWE supports a number of activities to help educate the public about the issues that affect the success of women engineer:

• Sponsors Annual Capitol Hill Day – Congressional visits to bring our messages directly to our legislators

• Published a self-paced advocacy module for members (Advocacy 201), which contains information on public policy advocacy

• Promotes SWE positions through social media, SWE All Together, and our recently launched Legislative Action Center

• Provides advocacy and public policy materials on the web to help individual SWE members who want to advocate locally

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Public Policy at SWE.org

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Public Policy Resources at SWE.org

SWE Position Statements

Resources

Webinars

References

How to Get Involved

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Washington Partners, LCC Washington Partners, LCC is SWE’s Washington Representative. They are focused on three key areas:

• Monitor developments and events of interest and inform SWE and its members.

• Advise SWE on when and how to convey interests and concerns to lawmakers on various policies important to the society

• Support SWE’s Capitol Hill Event in March

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SWE Capitol Hill Day

SWE sponsors a multi-agency annual Congressional visit event, which includes:• Training for meeting with Congressional representatives• Reception and breakfast with inspirational speakers• Meetings with representativesIt is fun, exciting, and feels good to personally advocate for STEM and women in engineering.

YOU can make a difference!

Jan Williams with Senator Martin Heinrich (D, NM)

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Legislative Action Center

You can use the Legislative Action Center to find information about your elected officials (Congressional Delegates and State Legislature)• Office Information• Bio• Staff • Committees

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Legislative Action Center

You can use the Legislative Action Center to:• Make appointments with Legislators• Write your Legislators

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Legislative Action Center – Easy and Quick!

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SWE’s policy on Government Relations and Public Policy restricts SWE sections from supporting public policy.  It does however encourage our members as individuals to support public policy initiatives.  The reason is because SWE is a 501(c)(3) and the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 provides that an organization which is exempt as an educational organization “will not, as a substantial part of its activities, attempt to influence legislation….or participate to any extent in a political campaign for or against any candidate for public office."

1. Members of the society are encouraged to participate as individuals in public affairs activities and this policy is not intended to limit this participation.  But members as individuals must distinguish their personal views on public issues from those that have received the full and explicit support of the society.  

2. Authority to Express Views – If expressly authorized, a member may represent the Society, presenting or explaining approved SWE statements or positions.  Without this authorization, any statement by a member must be identified as providing a personal viewpoint.  Authorization is given by the President or the Executive Director.

Advocating at Work

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GRPP (or to sing-up for the newsletter!):

Elizabeth BiermanFY17 CoordinatorGovernment Relations & Public Policy Committeeelizabeth.bierman@honeywell.com

LIVE THROUGH OUTREACH

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SWE Outreach Serves Four Interrelated Audiences

SWE Members SWENexters (18 years and younger)

Adult Advocates (Families, Educators, Scout Leaders, etc.) Alliance Partners

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Outreach Tool Kit on the Website

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SWE Outreach Incubator Facebook Group

A closed Facebook group where members can share ideas and find answers to questions

Currently 222 members

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Voices From the Field

Webinars to Share Best PracticesContent Since June 2015

1. Visiting a Classroom: What to Expect, How to Prepare, How to Give a Great Visit

2. Outreach Committee Town Hall3. Introduce a Girl to Engineering: A How-To Guide4. Improving Your Efforts Via FIRST Collaboration5. Anatomy of a Computer for Elementary School Kids6. 45 Minutes, 45 Girls, What Do I Do?7. Little Kids Can Engineer: Outreach to Elementary-School Students8. A STEM Mentoring Program for High School Girls9. How to make the Industry Classroom Connection with Project Lead the

Way10. Girl Scouts STEM Efforts11. Backwards Design – What’s Your Goal Before You Begin

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Wow! Innovation Challenge

Contest to win a $500 Outreach stipend by sharing unique, creative approaches to Outreach

Content is then available for others to reapply

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Sharing Information via Articles and Blogs

All Together

News You can Use from the Outreach

Chair

SWEet Wisdom for

SWENexters

Partner Blogs

Actionable Stories

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Outreach Metric Tool

968Outreach Events

Reported,

129% of goal

197Sections

reported an Outreach Event

7659SWE Member

Volunteer Occasions

Our Members are Awesome!

72,410Girls attended events that a SWE member volunteered at

51,140 Parents & Educators

attended events that a SWE

member volunteered at

206Events reported

by Region H

138Events reported

by Region D

25Events reported

by F003 Hartford Section

34Events reported by H054 Illinois

@ Urbana-Champaign

Main Outreach Events Planned & Executed by SWE Sections

22,066Girls Served

537Events

8153Parents &Educators

5526SWE

MemberVolunteerOccasions

3001Non-SWEMember

VolunteerOccasions

70%of events had a

hands-on component

42%of events were run

with a PartnerOrganization

95events reported

in April,the most -reported month

48events with

the Girls Scouts

FY 2015-2016

SHARING THROUGH SWENext

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SWENext

4522 total members

(3854 current members and 668 who recently graduated from high school)

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Please help us improve the SWENext program by telling us what is important to you in the short, optional survey.

SWENexters are interested in scholarships, up-to-date information on engineering, meeting women engineers, and engineering challenges.

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Encouraging Graduating SWENexters to Join SWE

Our SWENext Graduation Card went to 668 graduating seniors in early May, 2016.

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SWENext Newsletters – Up to Date Info for High School Students and Younger Students

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SWENext Facebook Group Meeting Engineers and Receiving Personalized Advice

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SWENext Engineering Challenges

A new engineering challenge is sent each month in the newsletter for younger students

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SWENext Award Program5 SWENexters have been selected to win the award this year.

Application questions included involvement with SWENext, using engineering principles in your life, service to the community, and leadership roles.

SWENexters were also asked to create a YouTube video showing how they lead, serve, or build in their community.

Winners received an all-expense paid trip to SWE’s annual conference for themselves and a guardian, and will be recognized at the WE16 Awards Banquet.

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Help us Recruit more SWENexters!Students 18 years and younger can join

SWENext at swenext.swe.org

TEACHING PARENTS & EDUCATORS HOW TO ADVOCATE

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Parents & Educators Program (PEP)SWE Sections ran 64 events across the country that included Parents & Educators, impacting over 27,000 adults.

Parents listening to a panel discussion on “Why Engineering”

Parents trying their own hands-on engineering challenge

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SWE Member Training on How to Run a Parents & Educators Program (PEP)

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K-12 Educator SWE Membership

SWE’s mission includes encouraging more girls to become engineers, and K-12 Educators can play a role in this mission by sharing our SWENext program with students.

A SWE membership for educators gives access to:• K-12 outreach resources locally, nationally and internationally• SWE’s daily blog, All Together• The award-winning SWE Magazine• Continuing Education Units (CEUs)• Program Development Grants• Reduced registration fees for SWE’s Annual Conference, which

includes K-12 Outreach Tracks

A special reduced membership rate of $20 is available to full-time K-12 educators.

Go to swe.org/join.

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Coming Soon! SWENextEd

Watch for information on the swe.org website, or send an email to SWENextEd@swe.org

A program for educators including:

•A monthly newsletter especially for educators to help promote engineering to students

•A Facebook group with tips for the classroom and resources for educators

LEARN TO ADVOCATE FOR YOURSELF

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• Employee resource groups• Recognize your peers

– Awards– Let them know when they are doing a good job– Celebrate milestones and accomplishments

• Mentor

Advocating at Work

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• Tell people what you are doing• Build a strong network• Take stretch assignments• Get out of your comfort zone• Work life balance

Advocating for Yourself