Society of Women Engineers Rocky Mountain Section

A nonprofit organization

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE), founded in 1950, is a not-for-profit educational and service organization that empowers women to succeed and advance in engineering and be recognized for their life-changing contributions as engineers and leaders. SWE is the driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career for women through an exciting array of training and development programs, networking opportunities, scholarships alongside outreach and advocacy activities. It consists of women and men who are graduate engineers as well as those with equivalent engineering experience and/or those interested in supporting SWE’s mission. SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and be recognized for their life changing contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders.

SWE originated when small groups of women engineers and women engineering students began meeting independently in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Nearly 50 women from these groups came together on May 27, 1950, in New Jersey at Green Engineering Camp of the Cooper Union and formed the Society of Women Engineers.

The Denver Section of the Society of Women Engineers was chartered in 1954 and renamed the Rocky Mountain Section (RMS) in 1986. In 1994, the Pikes Peak Section was chartered to serve the growing number of engineering professionals in the Colorado Springs and other communities in Southern Colorado.  The Pikes Peak and Rocky Mountain Sections work cooperatively to provide a variety of both continuing development and career guidance activities to members throughout the states of Colorado and Wyoming. 

Mission

Empower women to achieve their full potential in careers as engineers and leaders; expand the image of the engineering and technology professions as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity and inclusion.

- SWE will raise awareness of the transformative work engineers engage in, provide solutions to problems, and improve the quality of life.

- SWE will be a prime facilitator for creating personal relationships, support systems, and networking between women in engineering and technology. SWE’s global network of professional and collegiate members can share best practices and new technologies and bring awareness to issues that affect women and the engineering profession.

- SWE members will show females of all ages that engineers work to solve real-world problems and improve the quality of life. By demonstrating the impact that engineering can have on lives around the globe, engineering will be seen as a top choice of education and an attractive profession for women.

- SWE will be recognized for building leadership skills, providing leadership experience, and creating opportunities for exposure to top industrial and educational leaders for both collegiate and professional members. The engineering profession will routinely value SWE to provide influential leaders and contributors, and women will be recognized for their contributions to their schools and workplaces.

- SWE will be a driving force for promoting a diverse workforce and inclusion of all, not limited to engineers. SWE will actively work to create a community where the profession welcomes and respects individual, personal, and career choices among all cultures.

Background Statement

SWE's vision is a world with gender parity and equality in engineering and technology.

SWE’s Objectives

Goal 1: Professional excellence – SWE will develop women engineers at all stages of their personal and professional lives.

Goal 2: Globalization – SWE will be recognized as a global, inclusive organization that promotes diversity and inclusion and serves women engineers wherever they are.

Goal 3: Advocacy – SWE will advocate for the inclusion and success of women, both present and prospective, in engineering and technology.

Goal 4: SWE will champion diversity in the engineering and technology professions and promote an inclusive environment.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Society of Women Engineers Rocky Mountain Section

Year Established

1954

Tax id (EIN)

84-1127067

Category

Science & Technology, Education, Youth Development, Civil Rights, Social Action & Advocacy

Organization Size

Small Organization

Address

1090 S WADSWORTH BLVD UNIT C 7201
LAKEWOOD, CO 80226

Service areas

CO, US

WY, US

Phone

7205306764

Social Media