New Women-in-IES Ambassador Program Launched in 2024
By Ya-Jun Pan – Chair of the Women-in-IES Committee
At the end of 2023, IES Women in Engineering (WIE) Committee called for applications from worldwide for Women-in-IES Ambassadors. The program is now launched at the beginning of 2024 after a thorough review for all applicants by the IES WIE committee and with the strong support from Dr. Antonio Luque who is our IES VP Membership Activities. As shown in the list below, there are 20 excellent experienced volunteers recently appointed by the WIE Committee across 18 countries from Asia, South Africa, Europe, North America, and Australia. The ambassador program is a part of the mission of our Women-in-IES committee, and the IMPACT (Inspiration, Mentorship, Participation, Assistance, Change, and Technology) initiative proposed back in 2023 by Dr. Ya-Jun Pan. We are dedicated to empowering and promoting gender diversity, inspiring students and young professionals, and promoting women of excellence in industrial electronics and informatics.
There is a subcommittee formed to support this program with Dr. Ya-Jun Pan, Chair of the Women-in-IES committee, Dr. Jie (Jenny) Sheng, the leader of the new ambassador program, and Dr. Leila Parsa as the third subcommittee member. Till now, we have received several proposals from the ambassadors to carry out various local activities in different countries. We look forward to a very successful Women-in-IES ambassador program in 2024.
The program will offer a gateway of Women-in-IES community into the IES global community, offering mentorship, networking, and support to the local Women in Engineering community in IES. In addition to the events organized by the Women-in-IES committee in 2024 such as conference events and Extraordinary Women-in-IES Webinars (https://www.ieee-ies.org/membership/wie/wie-events), ambassadors will promote IES membership, organize local Women-in-IES activities, and facilitate the growth of Women-in-IES members in local communities worldwide.
The Ambassador Program will focus mainly on:
- Engaging with the local WIE Community: through hosting Info Sessions and/or Flyers/Posters to spread awareness about the IES benefits and programs. Reaching out to Colleges, Universities, local IES Chapters/Sections, WIE, and industry to host networking events, career development, and seminars.
- Bridge to the Women-in-IES Community: working closely with Women-in-IES Committee on various global programs.
- Social Media Presence: help disseminate the Women-in-IES information through different social media channels.
At the end of the program, the top performing ambassador will be formally recognized by the program.