Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee

Vision 

SEAOI is an advocate for equity, diversity, inclusion, and engagement within the structural engineering community.

Mission

• Promote equity, diversity, and inclusion within the SEAOI Organization through diverse representation and active agency, including the Board of Directors, Committees, Events, and Membership. 
• Advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout the profession by actively leveraging our network to provide more opportunities for networking, mentoring, and training. 
• Increase our membership’s engagement in programs at the university level and high school level to shepherd a more diverse group of students to careers in structural engineering.
  

Current Membership

Get to know the EDI Committee

What is the mission of the EDI Committee?

The Equity Diversity Inclusion (EDI) Committee advocates for equity, diversity, inclusion, and engagement within the structural engineering community.  Our mission is to:

• Promote equity, diversity, and inclusion within the SEAOI Organization through diverse representation and active agency, including the Board of Directors, Committees, Events, and Membership. 
• Advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout the profession by actively leveraging our network to provide more opportunities for networking, mentoring, and training. 
• Increase our membership’s engagement in programs at the university level and high school level to shepherd a more diverse group of students to careers in structural engineering.
  
  

What has the EDI Committee done for me/the structural engineering community lately?

We held a panel discussion on Sept 24th, 2021 titled "How to Design an Impact Load on Social Change." The discussion was held between leaders of non-for-profit student outreach organizations, who work to introduce and guide underrepresented students to enter STEM fields.  Leaders from ACE, Project SyncERE, and Project Exploration spoke of how they work to create diversity to positively impact our profession. This is also a call to action to encourage our fellow structural engineers to volunteer for these great organizations. 

We held a free Bystander Training virtual event in January, 2022 that was transforming and well-attended.

What’s coming up from the EDI Committee?

Keep an eye out for an upcoming Implicit Bias Training event in 2022.  

What is the greatest hope for the EDI Committee? 

We hope that others will find representation and a voice through SEAOI to strengthen and unite our structural engineering community through equity, diversity and inclusion.

What is the biggest challenge facing the EDI Committee right now?

Since we are a young committee, there may be structural engineers that are not aware we exist.  Our biggest challenge today is spreading the word and inviting anyone interested in joining us.  We are here and have exciting initiatives we are tackling. The more members we have, the more diverse we are, and the more voices we have to speak through SEAOI. Interested in joining?  Send an email to staff@seaoi.org.  We look forward to hearing from you!

How can the SEAOI Membership help the EDI Committee?

If you ever hear of a great speaker, event, or organization that promotes EDI in both the professional world and in student outreach, we would love to hear about it!  We can work to hold panel discussions, training events, or partner with other organizations to learn about how they are promoting EDI.  

Comments from current EDI Committee Members:

1. Why did you join the EDI Committee?
Cathleen Jacinto - To do my part to raise awareness to EDI initiatives and foster inclusive working environments, to ultimately strengthen our SE community and business success.

2. Why is the EDI committee important to you?
Rose McClure - To me, it’s all about attracting and retaining the best talent in our profession. 

3. What EDI initiative are you most proud of?
Jennie Traut-Todaro - I’m most proud of our first Checking the Pulse discussion that really kicked off our organization’s open discussion about diversity.  Since then I have been able to meet and work on initiatives with members who I may not have worked with before for the benefit of our membership.  I find that the most rewarding.