IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2022 - 30

35 countries, so while it was heavy and
demanding, it was also rewarding. " With
a few adjustments based on lessons
learned, the ILC Committee will determine
what the conference of the future
will look like but should be very proud
of what they've done so far, says Castillo.
A second major change, this one to
WIE governance, is the addition of the
chair-elect position, which went to Celia
Shahnaz. The creation of the position
allows for the chair and chair-elect to
work together on ongoing initiatives and
plan for the future. " Something I had
not seen previously in WIE was a fiveyear
strategic plan, but now I've created
a strategic planning committee that
includes not only Celia but also other
past and present leaders, emerging talents
of the WIE Committee, and our
treasurer Anne Costolanski, giving the
transparency needed to the process, "
reveals Castillo. " This is because we
want to have a review of our goals, our
mission, our vision, and even our logo
because 'Women in Engineering' does
not represent all that we do. " The idea
of the five-year plan is to focus on all of
these items to ensure that WIE keeps
pushing forward, expanding, becoming
more diverse, and evaluating how it will
continue in the right direction for the
next 25 years.
Looking Back-and Forward
Turning to WIE's 25th anniversary this
year, Castillo is extremely proud of how
much attention was given to women
tackling different issues in STEM fields.
She shares that she had multiple conversations
with committee members
throughout 2021 about the ideas for
the 25th Anniversary Celebration, but
Cinzia da Vià was the one who really
put things into action. " It's important
to empower women everywhere, but in
STEM we really need to show that it
works, that you can invent and change
the future, " she adds.
" I think we nailed it-all the activities
were outstanding-for example, the
Women-to-Women Tech Ideas, " continues
Castillo. Citing the example of
the airbag that did not work for women
when it was invented because there was
no testing done on female bodies, she
notes the importance of representation
and diversity in the invention of soluJenifer
Castillo with Dr. Heather Quinn (in blue) and other ILC attendees. Dr. Quinn
gave a yoga session during a break of the Energize session.
tions that will particularly help women.
" We really believe that Women-toWomen
can become something in the
future because there are many issues
that affect women specifically that can
be solved through technology, " she says.
However, the responsibility should
not fall solely on WIE to pursue and
should instead span IEEE's Societies.
" I think it's lovely that we also recognized
the extraordinary men who support
women, " adds Castillo. " These are
not efforts that are only undertaken by
women, this is a vibrant community trying
to make a change. "
She hopes this passion is something
Jennifer Castillo gives closing remarks during the 2022 International Leadership
Conference.
30
IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2022
future committees will continue to pursue
and shares a few other forthcoming
(or newly announced by print time)
initiatives: the new IEEE Women in
Technology and Leadership Award to
recognize an individual for outstanding
contributions to engineering and
technology and empowerment of diverse
populations, increased outreach to
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2022

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