IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2020 - 38

out, "We need to think more holistically;
responsibility when taking on roles withit's not just access to an opportunity
in marginalized communities.
but also the tools to take advantage of
She also advises people who are
the opportunity," citing the reliance on
advocates and sponsors to learn and lishigh-speed Internet as one current way
ten with empathy. "You first need to
people of privilege are able to work and
be a good ally, and being a good ally is
go to school from home while
a lifelong journey of learning,
others are not.
with occasional missteps
This discrepancy is
but growth along the
Her book
very much on Tedway and just using
coming out the
rick's mind when
everything within
same year that protests
she evaluates her
you to advance
over racial and social
role as a volunopportunities for
teer and mentor.
others," she says.
justice grew louder in the
She ha s been
"The deeper your
United States added an
both a workshop
sense of empathy,
extra layer of focus to
technical assisthe better your
her mission-and a
tant with BGC and
efforts will be."
a career mentor at
Regarding women,
platform.
P-TECH in Brooklyn,
especially women of
New York, since mid-2018
color, Tedrick urges them to
and recently was named to the
put themselves out there. "Don't
steering committee of NPower, a nonget in your own way. You have talent and
profit that does vocational training for
skills and the rest of the world needs to
military veterans and underserved comexperience that," she advises. "Don't wait.
munities, including women of color.
If you have the drive, the spark, the curi"When I interact with my mentees at
osity, just go for it."
P-TECH or the girls at BGC workshops,
Finally, Tedrick says, everyone needs
I see a lot of myself, and to some extent,
to have compassion right now. This year
the things I wish that I had had, such
didn't turn out the way she saw it going,
as access to people who look like me
either, but that's okay, and there is still a
that are doing great things in tech," she
lot we can each do to support one anothdescribes. "I didn't have that during my
er. "These are hard times, weird times.
public school years, it was more about
We need to give each other the grace not
self-reliance and needing to figure it out
to be okay, and the kinder we are to one
on my own."
another, the better."
It's important to her that these young
- Leslie Prives
women not feel left on their own, and
that's why she is very intentional about
being present in their lives, whether that
means going to events in person or holding a regular schedule for meetings. "For
so many of these students, they don't
Castillo eyeing a more
have consistency. Maybe they meet with
regional approach
someone one or two times and then that
person is no longer available to them,"
she says. "Having consistent people in
As we turn the corner into 2021 and her
your life is a huge contributor academione-year term begins, Jenifer Castillo
cally and professionally." Although an
is still processing her new role as IEEE
in-person presence has been difficult over
Women in Engineering (WIE) Comthe past year with first writing and then
mittee chair. "It's a dream," she says,
promoting the book as well as her work
explaining that when she took her first
travel and now the pandemic, Tedrick
tries to maintain consistent interaction
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2020.3020453
and encourages others to consider that
Date of current version: 4 November 2020

Meet the New Chair

IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE

DECEMBER 2020

IEEE leadership position as chair of her
WIE student Affinity Group (AG) at the
University of San Buenaventura, Bogotá,
she never imagined she would make it
to this level of leadership. "I'm as excited
as I am accountable," she continues. "I
know this is a big responsibility."
By that, Castillo doesn't just mean
the responsibilities of WIE volunteer
work but also her status as a representative figure: the first Latina to hold the
committee chair seat. Born and raised in
Colombia and now living in Puerto Rico,
she says it is very important to her to
"get this right."
She plans to do that in three ways: by
continuing to support initiatives already
underway thanks to the "amazing leadership of predecessor Lisa LazareckAsunta," introducing some new ideas
of her own, and continuing to gather
information from members about other
areas to address. One of her initial plans
is to look at the Student-Teacher and
Research Engineer/Scientist program
and how it can be enriched by the initiatives that the IEEE Educational
Activities Board has in place. "We have a
liaison at this point that is doing a wonderful job, and we want to keep supporting her, but also, can we make it wider,
such as summer camps to empower
girls," says Castillo, as an example.
Another area that could be expanded
is the International Leadership Summits, not only into different regions but also
in terms of scope. "We want these summits to have a taste of what
the ILC [International
Leadership Conference] is, and I would
like to see them
become more consistent across the
10 events globally,"
says Castillo.
Jenifer Castillo
Furthermore, she
highlights strengthening the
relationship between IEEE's Technical
Activities Board (TAB) and WIE as a priority. "We have voting members and a
long list of liaisons between TAB and our
committee, but I think we can empower
them all further and that would benefit
both sides."

IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2020