​SWE's Global Programs are growing!  And the Leadership Coaching Committee is working to support our Global Affiliate organizations around the world.  SWE currently has over 80 Affiliates in more than 25 countries, serving members and future members.  All SWE's Global Affiliates are less than ten years old and are mostly in some phase of affiliate start-up or early existence. 
 
Beginning in FY21, the LCC created a Global Lead position and started providing leadership coaching to Affiliates.  We continue to add more Global Coaches and now have 34 Affiliates assigned an LCC Coach who can advise them on Affiliate operation - recruitment, retention and engagement of members; event planning; fundraising, etc.  The need is growing and there are still a dozen more Affiliates who have requested a Coach that we haven't yet been able to assign to one.  We hope to be able to recruit more Coaches for the coming year and support all our Affiliates. 
 
Many Global Affiliates have been started by ex-pat SWE members or by Companies with strong SWE ties who want to provide benefits and support to their overseas employees.  Our Affiliate leaders are smart women who are passionate about the mission of SWE.  While they face the same challenges as any SWE Section, they also contend with additional challenges.  Without a strong brand recognition outside the US, SWE is less well-known to potential members and sponsors.  Finances are a huge challenge as our Global Affiliates do not have the financial autonomy that US Sections have.  SWE is working to provide better financial resources to our Affiliates, but for now, those without strong corporate sponsors struggle.
 
SWE has made great strides in producing materials in common languages: Spanish, Portuguese, and simplified Chinese, but there are many more languages that our Global SWE members speak. SWE has two annual WELocal conferences outside the US: one in India and one in the EU.  These events help connect our global members to the greater SWE Community - something that most would say is the best benefit of being a SWE member!  It would be worthwhile for all SWE members to learn more about our Global goals and programs and help welcome them into the SWE community.  You can check out the full list of Global Affiliates on SWE's global website: https://swe.org/membership/global-programs/affiliates/ and you can connect with them on social media. 
 
If your company sponsors an Affiliate or you have colleagues located globally, there's an opportunity for you to connect with SWE around the world!

Written by: Amy Gelsinger, LCC Global Lead

​LCC_Global@swe.org

You may be struggling to find section meeting ideas to keep your members active and involved.
While the last couple years have been a strain on many SWE Sections, it has also encouraged us to be creative when it comes to meetings and activities.
 
Thus, I’ve collected a list of awesome meeting ideas from section leadership to share with you. Use these for your section as is or with your own creative modifications:

1. Leverage your members: Feature a member and have her present the specific technology, product, or service she works with in her engineering career. Ask her to include its impact and what her role is. 
2. Invite a local employer, entrepreneur, community leader, historian, or celebrity to come and speak. Have them share their career story and offer advice.  
3. Arrange a tour of a local company, factory, engineering firm, or other organization that employs engineers. 
4. Arrange a virtual tour of same as above. A virtual tour doesn’t have to be local. Choose a facility with a technology, business and location of interest.  
5. Invite a SWE society leader to share her experience and talk about opportunities in SWE. Or to do a SWE Leadership training session. Other topics she may present are a workshop on Affinity Groups or submitting abstracts for conferences.  
6. Hire a trainer, coach, or consultant to give a professional development session. Topics could be career visioning, goal setting, communication, networking, self-care, or decision-making.  
7. Focus a meeting on an article, conference presentation, keynote speech, blog post, podcast episode, TED talk, ALC module, etc. Summarize or watch/listen to the subject at the beginning of the meeting and follow-up with related discussion and activities. Some sections have turned this idea into a “wine-and-webinar” event!
8. Hold a leadership interchange where current and past section leaders share their responsibilities and experiences and inspire others to get involved in leadership. Encourage interaction and questions. This works well if you tie it to a group social event, such as a museum visit, happy hour, or outdoor cookout.
9. Schedule a weekend community service activity and have members contribute an hour of their time. Follow up with a lunch discussion.
10. Partner with another section and have a joint meeting. This could be a neighbor section, an international section or affiliate, or one across the country – in person or virtual, as appropriate. It could be a professional or student group. For example, you can:  

• Exchange ideas, best practices, and lessons learned regarding SWE membership and leadership.
• Provide mentorship to or answer questions from students.
• Emphasize DE&I by sharing geographic and cultural differences between your sections.  

Our section recently had a successful service event at 2 non-profits in the area that provide professional clothes to people who need them for interviews or getting started in a new job.
 
When planning for meetings, remember to keep it simple and focus on what’s in it for your members. Plan a variety of activity types to interest a broader segment of your members. And delegate meeting responsibilities to increase engagement.
 
Here’s to a more successful and vibrant SWE section!
 
Mary E. Kinsella, PhD, F.SWE
SWE Leadership Coaching Committee
Leadership Coach
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
 
Dr. Mary E. Kinsella is a career strategist and CEO at Her Engineering Career, helping women engineers confidently command greater influence and impact. Find more info and listen to her podcast at HerEngineeringCareer.com. Dr. Kinsella worked for 30+ years as a government project engineer in materials and manufacturing technology. She serves as board secretary for the Entrepreneurs’ Center in Dayton and is a fellow of the Society of Women Engineers.