Inspirational Insights

0.1 CEU/1.0 PDH

Building workplaces that value and drive diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) has become a business imperative for many organizations. However, for organizations with employees, vendors, or customers across different parts of the world, building a cohesive DEIB strategy can be a challenge. Various employees of organizations take on responsibility for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, but what is the role of the CEO and their leadership team? These panelists will describe how they act on diversity and inclusion to drive meaningful change to bring us one step closer to equity. Knowing the difference is an important start. Join these leaders as they discuss how DEIB starts at the top.

After attending, participants will be able to: 

• Describe how they began by setting the tone to champion organization-wide initiatives to ensure DEIB is a top-level priority.

• Identify ways they inspire and organize their organization to close the gap between saying diversity and inclusion are a top priority and actually putting it into practice.

• Recognize the benefits and additional opportunities of DEIB in their organization.

Moderator:

• Karen Horting CAE, Executive Director & CEO, Society of Women Engineers

Karen Horting, CAE, is Executive Director & CEO for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), a 41,000 member organization founded in 1950. SWE is the driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration
for women.

With almost 25 years of experience in association management, Ms. Horting came to SWE in March 2004 from the New York Academy of Sciences where she served as Director of Strategic Planning, overseeing the Academy’s
development activities and long-range organizational planning. Prior to NYAS, Ms. Horting worked at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) managing both marketing and fund development on a global level for Science’s Next Wave, a ground-breaking career development website for graduate students and postdocs in STEM. Her previous experience also includes more than ten years in the paint industry.

Ms. Horting has a BS in Biology from Northern Illinois University. And she earned her MBA from Johns Hopkins University. In May 2008, Ms. Horting earned her Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential from the CAE
Commission of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).

She currently serves on the FIRST Robotics Board of Directors, the STEM Ed Coalition Board of Directors, the Leadership Circle of the 50K Coalition and the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board
(DAAB). In 2019 she received the Association Forum’s Inspiring Leader award.

Panelists:

• Brendan P. Bechtel, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Bechtel Group, Inc. (Bechtel)

  

Prior to being elected chairman in April 2017, Brendan was named Bechtel’s chief executive officer in September 2016. He was Bechtel’s president and chief operating officer from 2014–2016.

Brendan first began working for the company during summer breaks in high school. After joining the company full time, he took on roles of increasing responsibility in field construction, project management, and executive leadership. Brendan is the 5th generation of the Bechtel family to lead the company.

Brendan graduated with a bachelor’s degree in geography from Middlebury College. He also earned two master’s degrees from Stanford: an MBA and an MSE in construction engineering and management.

Brendan serves on the board of directors of the Business Roundtable, where he chairs the Infrastructure Committee. Brendan is a trustee of the National Geographic Society and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and he serves on the board of advisors of Fremont Group. He is also a member of the American Society of Corporate Executives and the Council on Foreign Relations.

• Kimberly Markiewicz, Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, DuPont

Kimberly Y. Markiewicz is Vice President, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at DuPont. She has been with DuPont for 27 years after initially starting her career in state government in Texas. Kim has worked in a variety of roles during her DuPont career, but one constant has been her involvement with diversity and inclusion, including leadership in employee resource groups at the both the local and corporate level.

Kim’s experience in DuPont has included assignments in engineering consulting, capital project management, manufacturing operations, supply chain, human resources, and environmental, health and safety.

Kim has been an avid supporter of diversity and inclusion throughout her career. She has been involved with diversity recruiting and STEM efforts since she started her career and continues today. Kim is actively involved in several professional, non-profit and community organizations. Kim is an active advocate for equal opportunity in education in DuPont’s headquarters state of Delaware. Kim serves on the executive board of the Wilmington Alliance, which is focused on economic development and inclusion, workforce development, as well as violence intervention. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Employees of DuPont Political Action Committee. In this role she is committed to ensuring the PAC’s political contributions are well aligned with the company’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

In July 2020, Kim assumed the role of VP, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Officer. She also holds the position of VP of Human Resources for the Legal, Operations and Engineering functions at DuPont. Kim is responsible for setting corporate strategy to further accelerate DuPont’s progress in DE&I. A high bar for has been set for DE&I as part of the company’s 2030 sustainability goals. Kim is responsible for reporting progress on the strategy to the company’s Board of Directors. Her reach extends beyond the global footprint of DuPont and into the communities in which DuPont operates.

• Mary D. Petryszyn, Corporate Vice President and President, Northrop Grumman Defense Systems

Mary D. Petryszyn is corporate vice president and president, Northrop Grumman Defense Systems sector. In this role, she oversees delivery of full spectrum defense capabilities that provide mission ready, all-domain decisions and effects to a wide variety of national security, military and civil customers across the world.

Previously, she served as sector vice president and general manager of the Land and Avionics C4ISR division for Northrop Grumman Mission Systems sector, and as vice president of Global Strategy and Mission Solutions at the heritage Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems sector.

Petryszyn has extensive global experience in business and operational leadership in government and defense markets. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman in 2013, Petryszyn held leadership roles at Singer-Link, Hughes Aircraft Company, and Raytheon including in areas of profit and loss, program management, strategy and business development, and mergers and acquisitions.

Petryszyn earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Clarkson University and a master’s degree in computer engineering from Syracuse University. She completed advanced management programs, including the Executive Business Leadership Program at the University of Chicago and Indiana University’s Executive Marketing Program. Currently she serves on the Corporate Partnership Council for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and on the Board of Governors of the United Service Organizations (USO). Petryszyn is a fellow life member of SWE and is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In 2021, she received the prestigious Wash100 Award from Executive Mosaic.

Northrop Grumman is a technology company, focused on global security and human discovery. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with capabilities they need to connect, advance and protect the U.S. and its allies. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our 90,000 employees define possible every day.

0.1 CEU/1.0 PDH

Growing up, Deepa Purushothaman saw very few role models that looked like her in the corporate world, but she refused to let it stop her from reaching her full potential. The first Indian-American woman to make partner at Deloitte, Deepa made a point of becoming a national inclusion leader within the organization, whole-heartedly invested in addressing the diversity gap from the top down and helping clients do the same.

Deepa says that the idea that diverse talent is hard to find is a myth. We need to expand our definition of what a leader looks like and consciously seek out diverse talent. Sometimes it’s that companies are not looking for talent in the right places, but the truth is that they may not recognize the untapped potential in the talent that they already have.

This urgent presentation is two-fold: first, drawing from cutting-edge research and methodologies, it will help you evolve your definition of leadership and leadership rules—an early step to creating a company culture that fosters belonging and true inclusion. Then, it will give you concrete and actionable strategies for finding, retaining, and advancing people of color within your organization.

After attending this session, you should be able to:

• Develop a definition of leadership and leadership rules

• Identify ways to contribute to an organizational culture that fosters belonging and inclusion

• Recognize untapped talent opportunities within your organization

About the Speakers

Deepa Purushothaman (Per-SHOTH-a-man) is a writer and speaker who recently cofounded NFormation, a company for women of color by women of color which focuses on placing women of color in C-suite roles and conducting high level interventions for women of color in Fortune 100 companies.

Prior to this Deepa was a senior Partner at Deloitte. When she made Partner, she was the first Indian-American woman to do so and one of the youngest people to make partner in the firm’s history. She spent 20 years at Deloitte working with Telecommunications, Media, and Technology clients helping execute global transformations and bet the company projects. Deepa served for four years as a National Managing Principal of Inclusion and the US Managing Partner of WIN, Deloitte’s pioneering, globally renowned Women’s Initiative. In these roles, she focused on acquiring diverse talent and developing strategies to help people stay, belong, and succeed.

Markita C. Riley is the Outreach and Student Programs Manager for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Markita is passionate about people being the best versions of themselves, with no limits to who they can be or what they can do. This passion has led Markita to many career opportunities working with planning committees to build up communities in need, developing future leaders on college campuses and various speaking opportunities around the United States. Her goal is to empower everyone she interfaces with that may feel “outside of the inside”! Markita holds an M.S. in Corporate and Professional Communications from Radford University and a B.S. in Criminal Justice and Sociology from Ball State University.

Even if it is as small as smiling when greeting someone, Markita believes every impact you make helps change the world! She loves working with SWE members to ensure that the highest quality programs, content, and resources are provided to shape our future SWE leaders. Markita is excited to be a part of a team that believes in growing and developing the next generation of women engineers and STEM professionals.

0.1 CEU/1.0 PDH

With stress, uncertainty, and unrest at a record high, Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe’s message is both inspirational and practical. She introduces her theory “Everyday Resiliency: The 5 Pillars” and shares strategies to help foster each pillar within ourselves and others through research-informed, accessible storytelling and real-world applications.

This interactive and engaging Inspirational Insight session will help you regain a sense of calm and order in ever-changing times. You will be inspired and equipped to establish new daily systems to increase productivity and decrease overwhelm.

After attending this session, you should be able to:

• Identify and recognize practices that foster everyday resiliency.
• Recognize how to work with the barriers and facilitators of resiliency.
• Identify ways to decrease stress during uncertainty.
• Explain how to revisit and reaffirm values and priorities for life with work integration.

About the Speaker

Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe is a multi-award-winning psychology and education instructor who specializes in resiliency, navigating stress and change, leadership, and personal wellness in the workplace. Described as transformational, engaging, and thought-provoking, Robyne’s keynotes provide practical strategies grounded in global research and case studies that help foster resiliency within others and ourselves. Robyne is available for consultation, training, and professional development opportunities ranging from one-to-one to company-wide initiatives.

0.1 CEU/1.0 PDH

This isn’t your average executive presence training! Instead of diving into tactics on how you “should” present yourself, we’re going to get clear on what is authentic to you so that you can share your ideas, challenge the status quo, and impact positive change in your workplace – and beyond. After attending, you should be able to:

• Recognize how imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and discrimination get in the way of sharing your authentic voice
• Explain the changes you want to influence with your voice – and why they’re important to you
• Identify concrete strategies and approaches to communicate with greater strength
• Recognize how to create an environment where others are free to share their voices

About the Speaker
Heather Whelpley is a speaker, author, and leadership development consultant that empowers women to let go of perfect and create their own rules for life. Her first book, An Overachiever’s Guide To Breaking The Rules: How To Let Go Of Perfect and Live Your Truth, was published in Fall 2020. Heather has led keynotes and webinars on imposter syndrome, creating your own rules for success, and using your authentic voice to create change with thousands of people at companies and conferences across the globe.

Prior to owning her business, Heather worked in a wide variety of leadership development, human resources, and change management roles at Cargill and Ameriprise for ten years. She has worked in corporate headquarters, remote office locations in the US and abroad, and production facilities (with the steel-toed boots to prove it!). While at Ameriprise, Heather led several programs specifically designed to accelerate the development of high performing women. She has extensive global experience, including living and working in Australia and Latin America. She has a master’s degree in Human Resource Development from the University of Minnesota and is a graduate of the Coaches Training Institute. Heather lives in Colorado, where she spends as much time hiking and exploring as possible. Learn more at www.heatherwhelpley.com.

0.0 CEU/0.0 PDH

The State of Women in Engineering session presents an overview of research on the issues affecting women in engineering. During this special event, Roberta Rincon, Ph.D., will share updates on SWE’s current research projects. Peter Meiksins, Ph.D., will discuss highlights from the 20-year research retrospective published in SWE Magazine’s 2022 State of Women in Engineering magazine issue on topics related to women’s underrepresentation in engineering. Ursula Nguyen, a doctoral candidate at The University of Texas at Austin, will present findings from a collaborative research study aimed at understanding the development of an engineering identity among young women in SWE’s K-12 community, SWENext.

About the Speakers

Peter Meiksins, Ph.D., is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Cleveland State University. Previously he served Cleveland State University as Vice Provost for Academic Programs, Director of the Honors Program, and Chair of the Sociology Department. He has co-authored SWE’s review of the literature on women in engineering for the past 10 years. His research focuses on the Sociology of Work, particularly of engineering work. Peter is the author of Putting Work in Its Place:  A Quiet Revolution (with Peter Whalley), Engineering Class Labour (with Chris Smith), and Changing Contours of Work (with Steve Sweet). Peter is a member of the SWE Research Advisory Council.

Ursula Nguyen is a doctoral candidate in STEM education and graduate research assistant at The University of Texas at Austin. She has a B.S. in biomedical engineering from UT Austin. Her research interest on issues of equity in STEM education at the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender stems from her experiences as both an educator of STEM subjects and as a past engineering student.  

Roberta Rincon, Ph.D., is the Associate Director of Research for the Society of Women Engineers, where she oversees the organization’s research activities on gender equity issues affecting girls and women in engineering, both in education and career. Before joining SWE, Roberta was a Senior Research and Policy Analyst at The University of Texas System in the Office of Academic Affairs. Roberta received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, an MBA and an M.S. in Information Management from Arizona State University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning from UT Austin.

Hope Shimabuku is Director of the Texas Regional United States Patent andTrademark Office. As the Regional Director of the Texas Regional United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Hope carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, and is responsible for leading the Texas regional office. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, she ensures the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region’s unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders. Hope brings to the USPTO nearly two decades of experience as an engineer and intellectual property attorney.

0.1 CEU/1.0 PDH

The world’s transition to cleaner energy is largely enabled by engineering advancements to develop and deploy innovative solutions for carbon emission reduction. The latest technologies include sustainable biofuels, methane reduction technology, wind and solar energy, and a more efficient and reliable power grid. Engineers from companies on the forefront of the conversation to a carbon-reduced future join SWE for a discussion about the wide range of technologies being deployed to achieve this goal. These experts will also discuss navigating related industry regulations and how engineers in the field can meet the needs of this lower carbon future.

After attending this session, you should be able to:

• Identify the role of engineers in clean energy solutions.
• Recognize innovative solutions being used to transition to a lower carbon future.
• Describe ways to navigate industry regulations related to the latest clean energy technologies.

About the Speakers

Moderator: 

• Alysia Green, General Manager IT Engineering, Chevron

Alysia N. Green is the General Manager of Information Technology Engineering, a position she has held since October of 2020. She is responsible for leading, developing, and inspiring IT resources across Chevron.
Previously Green was General Manager of Information Technology for Upstream. During her tenure with Chevron, Alysia has worked in the Downstream business in a variety of IT and business roles, in the central IT company in leadership positions, in the Midstream business as the IT Strategy manager, in the Upstream business as Information Technology and Business Development & Planning Manager, in Upstream Asia South Business unit as General Manager Information Technology and General Manager of Information Technology for Midstream, Development and Global Corporate Functions.

Alysia was a part of the initial leadership team of Chevron’s Black Employee Network and currently serves as an advisory board member for Chevron’s XYZ and women’s network. She serves as the Chevron Management sponsor for IT recruiting for SWE, HENAAC, SHPE, and NSBE. She also sits on the advisory board of the Lawrence Hall of Science and recently received a position on the Techbridge Girls National Board. A nonprofit educational re-engineering STEM organization for girls

Green joined Chevron in 1991 as a programmer analyst. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Mathematical and Computational Sciences from Stanford University, California, that same year.

Alysia and her husband, Henry, live in Tomball, Texas. They have a twenty-four-year-old daughter, Jazmyn, who is a 2020 graduate of Wake Forest University.

• Molly Laegeler, Vice President, San Joaquin Valley, Chevron

After graduating from the Missouri University of Science and Technology with a degree in Petroleum Engineering in 2000, Molly began her career at ExxonMobil as a reservoir engineer working offshore oil fields in Nigeria and Equatorial New Guinea. She joined Chevron in 2005 and continued with challenging positions in the Angola, Congo, deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Indonesia and the Permian. Molly is now Chevron’s Vice President leading the San Joaquin Business Unit in Bakersfield, CA.

Molly completed her MBA from Tulane University in 2006 and is currently a member of the Missouri University of Science and Technology’s Advisory Board, and the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Molly recently established a nonprofit organization, Little Bit, focused on educating the public on sustainable practices and products.

In her spare time, Molly enjoys traveling and participating in outdoor activities with her husband and two sons.

• Anne Lillywhite, VP Engineering, Electrical Sector EMEA & Eaton European Innovation Center, Eaton

Anne Lillywhite is vice president, Engineering, Electrical Sector for Eaton’s Europe, Middle East and Africa Region (EMEA) and Eaton European Innovation Center. Named to this role in November 2020, Anne focuses on aligning Eaton’s regional technology portfolio and capabilities for organic growth, as well as taking responsibility for both Eaton’s European Innovation Center in Prague, Czech Republic, and the company’s Electrical Sector engineering directors across EMEA.

Anne’s wealth of experience in product development and commercial leadership spans a wide range of industries. Before joining Eaton, she was senior director of Customer Experience at Honeywell Aerospace— leading customer and product support activities for airlines in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India. In addition, Anne spent three years as Honeywell’s director of engineering in Prague, leading a team of 300 engineers on international projects for aviation manufacturers that included the development of cockpit systems, navigation solutions, and sensors.

Prior to joining Honeywell, Anne spent eight years with Collins Aerospace in various program management, sales, and strategy roles. Anne has also held management and engineering positions at Freescale Semiconductors, Motorola, and Interphase.

Anne holds an Electrical Engineering masters degree from INSA Lyon in France, and is currently based in Morges, Switzerland.

• Jenica Butler, Group Manager – Toyota Logistics Services, Toyota North America

Jeanica Butler is a Group Manager for Toyota Logistics Services North America. She oversees the operations responsible for strategic planning and coordination of the transportation of a finished vehicle from the assembly line to our North American dealers and global distributors via truck, rail, and over ocean.

Jeanica’s team partners with over 55 large and small US transportation corporations to provide daily operational support to Toyota’s 14 Vehicle Distribution Centers nationwide that process over 2 million vehicles annually.

Jeanica is an experienced management leader who has served in both operational and strategic planning roles. She joined Toyota in 2005 starting as an Engineer in the Production Engineering Division and has spent most of her career as a Project Manager for future vehicle project planning and management. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and a Master of Engineering Management degree from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

• Missy Stigall, VP, Fab Operations, Wolfspeed

Missy Stigall is responsible for the strategy and direction of the Wolfspeed North Carolina Fabs, developing innovative production solutions, building dynamic manufacturing and engineering teams, and delivering on-time quality execution that meets customer needs. In addition, she sponsors our Management of Change initiative, is responsible for several initiatives in the Global Ops organization, and has a passion for driving critical conversations that result in solutions that evolve inclusion and diversity.

Missy has 23 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, encompassing a wide range of roles. She graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BS in Electrical Engineering and from Kettering University with a MS in Engineering Management. 

0.1 CEU/1.0 PDH

We’ve all heard about technology trends such as the Internet of Things, robotics and artificial intelligence, and Virtual Reality. These technologies will impact us profoundly as individuals and as communities, and will connect us by providing the ability to have shared experiences. As we augment human performance, will this result in a Borg collective or in shared and collaborative experiences that bring a collective empathy to society? Dr. Lathan explores the impact of these technologies on us as humans and how we can shape the human-technology interaction to have a positive impact.

After attending, participants should be able to:

• Define emerging technologies and the impact they have.

• Describe the entrepreneurial journey from the perspective of an engineer.

• Recognize how inventing is an art form and muscle that needs to be exercised.

About the Speaker

Dr. Cori Lathan is a technology entrepreneur who has developed robots for kids with disabilities, virtual reality technology for the space station, and wearable sensors for training surgeons and soldiers. She is a global thought-leader in the relationship between technology and human performance and believes in a future of benevolent cyborgs.

Founder and CEO of AnthroTronix, she has led projects from agencies such as DARPA, NASA, NIH, and NSF and recently developed one of the first FDA-cleared digital health platforms, winning a prestigious Gold Edison Award. For this work, she was named a Woman to Watch by Disruptive Women in Health Care. She also joined the WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s Women’s Leadership Council to address the most dangerous threat facing women today. 

Dr. Lathan is a social advocate and actively involved in STEM educational outreach programs that empower women and minorities in science and technology. Dr. Lathan is on the boards of the KID Museum Makerspace and Engineering World Health, which provides opportunities to college students to support the emergence of healthcare technology in the developing world.

0.1 CEU/1.0 PDH

One of the most common associations that people have when they think about negotiations is a battle. Almost as soon as the thought of negotiating arises, you likely begin putting on your armor, ready to battle with your counterparts. In this session, Margaret Neale will explain techniques to reframe negotiation from an adversarial battle mentality to one of collaborative problem solving. She will explain (1) how our expectations about negotiations influence our choice of when and whether to negotiate, (2) the power of justifications to influence, and (3) examples of what we assume about negotiation that are unhelpful in effectively negotiating with others.  

After attending this session, you should be able to:

• Recognize how to create value through identifying synergy between competitive others in a collaborative problem-solving process.

• Predict the likely behavior of a counterpart to develop plans which incorporate that behavior in an effort to create value.

• Identify common misperceptions about negotiation to get (more of) what you want in your negotiations.

About the Speaker

Margaret A. Neale is the Adams Distinguished Professor of Management, Emerita, at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. She was honored with the Distinguished Educator Award from the Academy of Management in 2019, the Robert T. Davis Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business Award for Contributions to Executive Education. She has served as the Academic Associate Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.  She is the author of over seventy articles, one research series, and four books, including Getting (More of) What you Want. She is the faculty director of Negotiation and Influence Strategies, Managing Teams for Innovation and Success, and the Executive Program in Women’s Leadership executive programs at Stanford.