About SWE Central Illinois
What is SWE?
The Society of Women Engineers (SWE), founded in 1950, is a non-profit educational and service organization. SWE is the driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women. SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and receive the recognition and credit for their life-changing contributions and achievement as engineers and leaders. For more than six decades, SWE has given women engineers a unique place and voice within the engineering industry. Our organization is centered around a passion for our members’ success and continues to evolve with the challenges and opportunities reflected in today’s exciting engineering and technology specialties. SWE’s mission is to stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity.
The Central Illinois Section of SWE was chartered in 1992. This vibrant section has been recognized on multiple occasions at the regional and national level. There are well over 200 members from companies throughout the region such as Caterpillar, State Farm, Chillicothe Metal Works, Peoria County Highway, Bradley University, Hallmark, and Rockwell. The diverse membership includes women who are just entering the work force, women who are staying home to focus on family, and more experienced women who are high level managers and technical experts.
CI-SWE Section holds a variety of events for its members. There are typically two to three events per month, ranging from professional development presentations to outreach activities to networking lunches and social outings to technical tours and work/life balance events. Past events included an interactive panel discussion on “Work life Balance: Realistic or Idealistic”, a hardhat tour of the new Peoria Airport Terminal building, a membership happy hour at Kelleher’s, and hosting an activity table at the Riverfront Museum for Engineering Week. For members wanting to get more involved, the Executive Committee meets monthly, and all members are welcome to attend.
For more information about our section, email the Central Illinois SWE Section at SWE.central.Illinois@swe.org.
SWE Mission
- Empower women to achieve their full potential in careers as engineers and leaders
- Expand the image of the engineering and technology profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life
- Demonstrate the value of diversity and inclusion
