From our inception, one of our key goals has been to connect with other women and Women in Engineering groups in the industry and hear about their aspirations and initiatives. While we have welcomed several women guest speakers to our monthly meetings, we had yet to connect with another women-focused group… until now. An opportunity came to us from our blog subscriber, Amber Gass, PE, Senior Electrical Engineer, who started a women in engineering group at Cleary Zimmerman Engineers in Texas. Amber, an enthusiastic fan of wom(EN)gineer, reached out to introduce herself, learn more about Women in Engineering at Altieri, and explore ways to work together. Recently, our groups met! In our first Zoom collaboration we exchanged ideas, discussed experiences, and learned how we are creating opportunities for women to connect, grow, and lead.
Both Women in Engineering groups share a mission of empowering and supporting women. In this first meeting, we talked about successful initiatives to date, various approaches to advocating for ourselves and each other, hopes and dreams, and more.
It was incredible to meet a similar group in the same professional environment. Hearing about their meeting agendas and the opportunities and support systems they’ve developed was inspiring. One idea that stood out was their practice of meeting ahead of annual performance reviews to discuss how to prepare and advocate for themselves. I believe these shared insights will help us grow as a group and strengthen the support we provide to women at Altieri and beyond.
Kate Eldridge, PE, Altieri Associate
Creating a Culture of Support
Cleary Zimmerman gave a shout-out to Altieri’s dedicated Women in Engineering webpage as an impactful way to communicate our commitment to women in the industry. When redesigning our website a few years ago, we intentionally created this page to highlight our initiatives and demonstrate that women at Altieri are not only important to our firm but have a strong support system aimed at helping them achieve their goals. We also shared how we have engaged male allies within our firm by encouraging them to attend our annual WIE JEDI sessions, inviting them to write blog posts, and fostering greater awareness of how their interactions can help create a more inclusive environment for women in engineering.
It is inspiring to see another group provide this safe space and uplift one another in an industry that is predominately male. We always talk about wanting to see a woman engineer in leadership and, when we met with Altieri, we were able to see this; it’s encouraging to see a goal of ours be a reality for their team. I would love to continue to meet with Altieri’s group, to speak about how they extend their group mission throughout their entire company through fundraising efforts and other initiatives. Overall, I hope to continue having opportunities to connect with Altieri and with fellow women in the MEP industry. It’s great to build friendships, foster partnerships, and uplift one another, to strengthen our industry and inspire the next generation of engineers.
Jocelyn Moreno, Cleary Zimmerman Electrical Engineer
Sparking an Interest in Engineering
Altieri women engineers were excited by Cleary Zimmerman’s commitment to inspire the next generation of women in engineering through outreach and education. The firm welcomes young girls to the world of engineering by participating in STEM Girl Day at The University of Texas Austin. STEM Girl Day is an event that introduces K–8 students to STEM fields through hands-on activities and interactions with industry professionals. Each year, Cleary Zimmerman women engineers help participants build a cooling system, giving them an opportunity to experience engineering firsthand. One of the most rewarding aspects of the event is watching the girls’ excitement as they see their creations come to life, sparking curiosity and showing them what’s possible with a future in STEM.
We hope that this initial exchange of ideas and experiences is just the beginning of an important friendship between our Women in Engineering groups.
It was exciting to meet peer engineers in the AEC industry. In future meetings, I hope we have a chance to discuss our individual paths in the industry further. It was briefly touched on, but there were so many different stories. From women with 20+ years of experience to new graduates, to moms, to women who have taken hiatuses! I look forward to getting to know the Altieri team more and learning from their experiences as a WIE group.
Brookell Schott, PE, Cleary Zimmerman Mechanical Engineer
Our first WIE to WIE meeting was a great success and reinforced the importance of fostering partnerships with other WIE groups, learning from each other, and having some fun too. Already our CT team is working on matching Cleary Zimmerman’s Texan cowboy hat vibe!
