Mission, Objectives, and Strategies

Mission Statement:

Provide concrete support to help women to gain regional connections and global impact in STEE fields:

• Promote, advance, and develop WiSTEE as leaders, achieving their full potential and making a profound difference in the academic units and communities they serve.

• Develop leadership and strategic thinking skills for the WiSTEE.

• Provide a socializing networking environment for the WiSTEE to understand the academic and industry culture, environment and grow into their professional lives.

• Provide an anchoring point for regional universities, professional societies, and industries to strengthen its strategic diversity positioning.

Objectives:

WiSTEE Connect aims to provide concrete support to its members in the following areas:

• Local and global connectivity
  • Provide an integral platform to connect women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Entrepreneurship across Rochester and upstate New York region, nationally, and internationally through collaborating with regional universities and global professional societies.
• Informal mentorship:
  • Identify women role models in different levels; provide a forum to forge informal mentorship among students, junior, mid-career, and senior women faculties/researchers/engineers.
  • Publically recognize female role models or male professionals who take the time and efforts to mentor the junior ones.
• Professional development
  • Help WiSTEE to be aware of the specific challenges and potential subtle barriers at different stages of their academic / professional career;
  • Create resources and demonstrate methods to deal with problems or issues;
  • Teach the necessary strategies and steps to achieve successful careers.
  • Provide concrete support for balancing career and life.
• Entrepreneurship knowledge and advice
• The ultimate goal is to have a solid pool of women role models, effective process, nourishing and rewarding environment to establish mentoring relationships between high school girls and women faculties and graduate students in STEE.

Implementation strategies:

• Provide a half-day leadership workshop for WiSTEE every year.
• Organize monthly networking events with various discussion themes for WiSTEE to connect and to potentially build collaborations.
• Provide a platform to match mentors and protégés within WiSTEE.
• Organize lectures on Women Leadership in Science and Entrepreneurship.
• Have joint events with the student-focused groups "Women in Engineering" and "Women in Science" to connect women faculties/scientists with women students in STEE.
• Collaborate with Center for entrepreneurship/ technology innovation centers at regional universities to bridge the gaps between Science, Technology and Business.
• Develop strategic alliance with similar groups at other universities or enterprises in local community to learn best practice and make broad impact.