Heather Santangelo

Background in SWE:

I joined UW SWE as a freshman, starting as Content Creator of the High School Outreach team. After enjoying my work with the team, I took on the leadership role of High School Outreach Director this school year. In this role, I maintained the committee’s email address, managed a group of six committee members, organized local outreach, and more. I have had the opportunity to go to WE Local in Portland, volunteer at our fundraisers, and grow as a leader. I have also been involved in SWE families both this year and last.

Describe a leadership experience that challenged you. What did you learn from it and how would it influence your work on the SWE executive board?

As a leader, I am still learning delegation. The entire experience of being a High School Outreach Director this school year has challenged me and helped me improve my ability to effectively pass on tasks. I initially found it difficult to step back and trust others with the responsibilities I was previously used to taking on myself, but I came to realize that strong leadership is not about the ability to do everything. It is the skill of enabling others to contribute and grow themselves. By working on communication, defining expectations, and breaking down tasks, I worked to help support team members in their own roles. On the SWE executive board, my improved confidence and continued growth with delegation will allow me to better support my peers, work effectively, and create an environment where everyone feels empowered to contribute. I aim to continue building on this skill to ensure my contribution is both impactful and sustainable.

What is one change or new initiative you would like to implement in SWE next year and why?

I would love to see the mentorship program brought back, but with some updates to make it more impactful based on our previous feedback. This year, the High School Outreach branch has been receiving inquiries about a mentorship program from local high school students, so I think it would be well-received. Pairing UW SWE members with local high school or middle school students based on interest with mini-projects could create a meaningful, long-term relationship, helping us inspire the next generation of women in engineering. In the past, we partnered with a school that already had a lot of strong STEM programs, but I think focusing on schools that do not have the same opportunities would be more meaningful, both for the mentor and the mentee. This could also be a cross-committee branch project, bringing all of SWE closer together.

What ideas do you have to increase member participation/retention and build stronger community within SWE?

One idea I have for increasing member participation and retention is revitalizing the mentorship program. As I mentioned previously, there is already a high-schooler interest in such a program, and creating structured mentor-mentee relationships would give members a consistent and meaningful way to stay involved. By including clear expectations, regular check-ins, and progress tracking, I would work to ensure that members get consistent engagement. As secretary, or VP of Community Outreach, I would help handle the logistics, communications, and scheduling, helping facilitate this as a cross-team mentoring within SWE.

What challenges do you think women in engineering still face today, and how can SWE help address them at our university?

One challenge I see women in engineering facing to this day is being undervalued and feeling imposter syndrome within a male-dominated field. At our university, SWE can help address these problems by creating a supportive and uplifting environment for women in engineering. Inclusive cultures, mentoring, and peer support are known to reduce feelings of self-doubt by validating someone's achievements. By working to foster a sense of belonging, UW SWE can help set up women and nonbinary UW engineering students with a supportive background to succeed in their future careers.

The SWE executive board works as a team to plan events and initiatives. How would you contribute to creating a positive and productive team environment?

As a team member, I pride myself on my effective communication and structured organization. I believe open communication and strong organization foster a positive and productive team environment, allowing members to share their ideas while getting things accomplished. I value a space where team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas, clarifying any questions they may have, and collaborating effectively. By staying organized through shared documents, structured planning, or clear timelines, I aim to help ensure team goals are met efficiently. I also strive to be a supportive team player, checking in on fellow SWE executive board members, offering extra help when wanted, and encouraging a collaborative atmosphere.

If you could plan any SWE event with unlimited resources, what would it be?

SWE has a lot of wonderful networking and industry events that develop someone's soft skills. These events are incredibly valuable to focus on, and I believe that branching into hard-skills-based events in tandem could be beneficial for UW students to sharpen their skills for future careers. UW classes are not very hands-on for first-year SWE members taking their prerequisites, and some members may wish to improve or learn skills that may fall outside of their own coursework. With unlimited resources, we could offer a wide range of workshop-type events for students to attend. Some potential topics could include CAD, coding applications to data analysis, and working with equipment at the MILL or other on-campus makerspaces.
An event of this type could also open up more collaboration with other UW ESOs, including the other UW engineering societies such as ASME, BMSE, ASCE, and so on. Skill-based events can be costly depending on the materials, but a partnership could lessen the burden and increase member participation for both clubs. I recently helped plan a CAD workshop for ASME, and we had a wonderful turnout with many students leaving more confident in their skillset. With unlimited resources, I would expand this idea to reach more students, offer more hands-on opportunities, and create a lasting impact on the UW engineering community.