VP of Membership
Alison Tea
Jessica Zhang
Jessica Zhang
Why are you running for this executive position?
I am choosing to run for a SWE executive position because I strongly believe in SWEs values of an inclusive environment, trust, mutual support, integrity, and professional excellence. The UW SWE website states that SWEs mission is to provide a supportive environment for people of all genders to network and grow as engineers as well as support the challenges that women face in today's STEM field. What stands out to me is the focus on a supportive and inclusive community, and it is why I am specifically running for VP of Membership. I am an out-of-state student, so as an incoming freshman, I knew no one. I was worried about making connections both within UW and career-wise. However, upon joining SWE I was given countless opportunities to meet with a diverse group of engineers that I could relate to, share stories with, and learn from. SWE has allowed me to grow as an engineer and I want to give back by becoming involved as the VP Membership to continue growing this community.
What is your past involvement with SWE at UW?
I have been involved with UW SWE since my freshman year. I was a part of the middle school outreach committee during my first year. In this role, I worked with other committee members to plan monthly STEM-focused lessons for middle schoolers. We drove to schools and taught it to them in person which allowed us to interact with them and answer questions. This experience encouraged me to continue my involvement with SWE I saw how much effort SWE puts into reaching out to younger generations in hopes of sparking interest in STEM as well as fostering an inclusive environment for them. Currently, I am the EOY Director which is under the membership branch. Throughout this entire year, I have been planning an event to be held in May, which will help celebrate all members of SWE, Engineers, and neighboring communities. My responsibilities include running weekly meetings with my committee members, assigning tasks, contacting venues and caterers, event planning, and updating the VP of my branch as well as the exec team. This position has allowed me to grow in many areas and many of the skills that I have gained from this are applicable to the VP of Membership Position. I also had the opportunity to attend WE22 in Houston Texas this past fall. I traveled with some of our exec team and officers to the world's largest engineering and technology conference for women, and the experience was incredible. During that time I was able to attend speeches and network with companies. It is my favorite memory with SWE.
Alison Tea
Why are you running for this executive position?
Coming into UW as a freshman my fall quarter, I was immensely overwhelmed by the huge campus and the great amount of RSO’s here. As an Engineering Undeclared major, I was also struggling to navigate through the 11 engineering majors offered and figuring out which one I was most passionate about. It wasn’t until I decided to spontaneously join a SWE general meeting in the beginning of the school year that I realized this was the community for me where I could discover where I belonged in the engineering cohort at UW, while making valuable friendships and connections with like-minded women! I am also so grateful for the professional and leadership skills I’ve gained from my involvement in SWE and how this club has further ignited my curiosity and passion towards the engineering field.
All the improvements in my professionalism and support I’ve felt from being surrounded by such ambitious and driven women in SWE has empowered me to become a more confident and motivated student in my classes and in networking events. I am sure this is a common feeling every member experiences during their SWE career as we are given so many incredible opportunities to learn new skills through events like hackathons and conferences. I aim to ensure that every current and new member continues to feel that special moment where they realize how much they have grown as a student both professionally and academically. Ultimately, my passion in building strong bonds within a community of women that are working towards the common goal of improving their professionalism is why I want to give back to the SWE community.
What is your past involvement with SWE at UW?
During the past two quarters I’ve had being apart of SWE, I have gained the amazing opportunity to be the SWE Representative in the Engineering Student Council (ESC) for the College of Engineering and be involved in the Forward with SWE’s mentorship program as a mentor for high school students.
As the SWE representative, I’ve learned how to advocate for SWE’s concerns and needs, while effectively communicating important information about events and opportunities between ESC and SWE. My strong organization skills have also been showcased as I create neat meeting summary notes for the SWE President to review after every ESC meeting. I’ve also appreciated being able to network and connect with other engineering RSO representatives that this role has given me the opportunity to.
As one of the mentors for Forward with SWE, I have created valuable connections with female and nonbinary high school students and have enjoyed providing mentorship regarding the college experience, studying engineering, and any questions or concerns about the STEM-field. Making these special relations with high school students was really remarkable to me because it reminded me of my younger self when I found my passion in STEM and engineering related hobbies.
Through these two roles, I have grown immensely as a leader by improving my communication, organization, and creativity skills while building strong relationships with both members of SWE and others that I’ve met through this amazing organization! I plan on translating my skills as VP of membership to create that same environment where new and current SWE members can grow their professional skills to become transformative leaders in their personal and engineering careers!