What is SWE doing in Public Policy?

Elizabeth BiermanGRPP Coordinator

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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 101 Raising SWE Awareness in Your Community

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Why Advocate? Media CampaignA monthly advocacy blog featuring SWE members.

#whyadvocate

ADVOCATE THROUGH 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, 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 for women in engineering.

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Work Life Integration Position Paper at SWE.org

SWE Position Statement on Work & Life Integration Policies

SWE General Position Statement on the Need for Work & Life Integration Policies to Retain Women in STEM

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Washington Partners, LCC SWE has signed a contract with Washington Partners, LCC (WPLCC) to act as our Washington Representative. They will be 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 Capital Hill Event in March

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SWE Capitol Hill Day – March 2-3, 2016

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!

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SWE Capitol Hill Day – Meeting Your Representatives• Most meetings are with staffers, not with actual representatives. • Staffers are friendly but usually on tight schedules.• Meetings are as brief as 10 minutes, as long as 30 minutes. Be

prepared to make your case quickly. – Review materials on the SWE website and what is provided in the training

packet prior to the visit. – Practice what you will say.– Leave a packet (provided by SWE) behind with your contact info.

• It is okay to follow-up later if you don’t know the answer to a question!

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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 Advocacy 201 Government Relations and Public Policy

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SWE Advocacy 201 Government Relations and Public Policy

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Government Relations and Public Policy All Together Blogs and Quarterly Newsletter

Updates on legislation from Washington Partners, LCC.

The GRPP committee has issued the first quarterly Government Relations and Public Policy – Advocacy Spotlight.

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What is Next in Advocacy/Public Policy?

Why Advocate Webinars and PodcastsIn the next few months we will start featuring members in webinars and podcasts sharing their advocacy experiences.

Social MediaPromotion of #WhyAdvocate in social media (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram)

Advocacy WebpageDevelop a SWE Advocacy webpage that features advocacy tools and resources. Resources that have been previously developed by committees will need to be relocated out of the SWE communities and SWE resources.