SEAoNY Diversity Committee Presents:
Navigating Diversity & Inclusion at Your Firm: A DEI Knowledge Exchange
DATE: January 24, 2023
TIME: 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
PLACE:
Primary
26 Broadway, New York, NY 10004
Over the last few years, the structural engineering community has increasingly recognized the importance of advocacy for the inclusion of marginalized and underrepresented groups. Individual engineering firms have pursued an array of actions to “solve” the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) problem: by hiring external consultants, providing wage transparency, marching in parades, and more. The most common “solution” firms turn towards when supporting DEI is to create an internal DEI organization. This DEI group, or groups, is often the touchpoint of real change in the office - from providing a safe space for challenging conversations to pushing for equity in all forms, such as pay and benefits. However, conversations and initiatives formed within an internal DEI organization will often just stay within the firm. This leads to the valuable lessons learned in one firm being continually relearned as other firm’s form their own DEI groups.
SEAoNY Diversity invites you to join our DEI Knowledge Exchange for firm-based DEI groups. Participating groups will share a brief presentation summarizing how the group functions within their firm and discussing their firm’s recent DEI initiatives. The presentations will be followed by a networking session for all attendees. This is an in-person only event.
SEAoNY Members – $15
Non-Members – $25
Presenters:
Jennifer Mahan, Thornton Tomasetti Mosaic
Jennifer leads Thornton Tomasetti’s multicultural employee network group (ENG) Mosaic, which she helped establish in 2020. She is also a member of the firm’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee, working alongside other ENG and executive leaders. As a project director in Thornton Tomasetti's Resilience practice, Jennifer combines her interdisciplinary structural engineering experience with a focus on resilient design and construction. She specializes in designing solutions to mitigate the effects of natural hazards and is well-versed in post-disaster investigation and assessments.
Safiya Townsley, Hilti Affinity Groups
Safiya currently serves as the Senior Organizational Development Manager at Hilti North America (HNA) and the Chair of the HNA Black Affinity Group (AG). As part of the Organizational Development Team, she is responsible for driving and shaping the desired organizational culture and values in alignment with the strategy of the CEO office of Hilti North America. As Chair of the Black Affinity Group, Safiya is an integral part of the mission to educate Hilti employees on the importance of challenging biases and suspending assumptions. She also uses her extensive background and lived experiences at Hilti to help team members utilize the learnings and experiences shared in the Black Affinity Group to dispel misconceptions about people who are different from each other.
Safiya advocates for others and aims to create safe, inclusive, and engaging environments for team members to learn and grow throughout their careers.
Sharon Jankiewicz, Silman Coalition for Justice
Sharon is a Senior Engineer in the NY Silman office. She has recently relocated from the DC office where she primarily worked for the past 6 years on the National Air and Space Museum Revitalization on the Mall, which has just recently opened the Phase I galleries. Sharon is now focusing on developing technical resources for the office as part of the Silman Technical Advancement Group and helping younger engineers succeed in their careers. She was previously involved in the SEA-MW SE3 Committee and is a member of Silman’s Coalition for Justice in Design and TYLin BUILD (DEI Group).
Chi Chi Truong, Arup
Chi Chi is a Senior Civil Engineer in Arup's New York office with extensive experience in stormwater management, sustainable site design, and sea level rise mitigation projects. He is heavily involved in community efforts focused on urban development, civic engagement, and resiliency.
Even as a student, he was designing disaster-relief housing for Habitat for Humanity International in Haiti. He represented Purdue University at the United Nation's World Urban Forum in Nanjing, China which sought to address issues of rapid urbanization and sustainable growth. In his spare time, he serves as the East Geography Representative for AsPIRE (Asians & Pacific Islanders Rising and Empowering Employee Resource Group). He is also a co-chair of ConnectOut (LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group) in the New York office and participates in both Arup's ConnectOut Americas and Global steering committees
Registration ends 12:00 pm, January 24, 2023
