OUR STORY
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The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Toronto connects and supports women engineers and engineering graduates in Toronto, Canada, enabling them to rise together as a community. We encourage meaningful and engaging conversations through a series of meet-ups, speaker series and workshops.
Globally, The Society of Women Engineers has given women engineers a unique place and voice within the engineering industry for more than six decades. In January 2017, SWE Toronto became an official international affiliate. SWE Toronto envisions a world where women engineers and engineering graduates are successful and thriving by getting the support they need to become leaders in solving tough problems for our world. |
OUR MISSION
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Our mission is to contribute to the continual professional growth of women in engineering by:
To read more on how our governance accomplishes our mission, please find our bylaws here. |
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
AKHILA SRINIVASANPRESIDENT |
Akhila Srinivasan studied Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC), specializing in the Geotechnical field. She's been in the industry for 7 years, having gained experience in a multitude of areas such as mining, construction, consulting, government institution, and labs. She first joined SWE Toronto in 2017 as a way to meet like-minded women who experienced similar hardships in her field. She is passionate about increasing retention and improving the gap for women in STEM. In her spare time, she loves to focus on improving other areas of her life such as health & wellness, running her side hustles, growing her social group, attending industry events, and keeping up knowledge through podcasts and reading. |
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Elaine works as an environmental engineering consultant at GM BluePlan Engineering where she combines engineering planning, asset management and her love of data to solve how cities will continue to grow and adapt with aging infrastructure and climate change pressures. She is a passionate advocate for women in engineering. In 2018, she co-founded EngGirlProblems, a website dedicated to starting difficult conversations about challenges women in engineering may face throughout their careers. Working to improve the workplace for women in engineering has obvious parallels to the SWE Toronto mission. While continuing the presence of EGP online, Elaine joined SWE Toronto to connect and grow with her local community of engineers in Toronto. She is excited to develop a mentorship program over the course of this year. |
ELAINE SAMUELPRESIDENT-ELECT |
ALESSANDRA MASSARO
PAST - PRESIDENT
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Alessandra Massaro is a Civil Engineering graduate from McMaster University and currently works as a Transportation Planner and Engineer-In-Training (EIT) at the Canadian-owned engineering firm, CIMA+. She is an avid advocate for women’s rights in the workplace and a strong supporter of Diversity and Inclusion initiatives, having spearheaded the Toronto Women in Engineering Coffee Club in 2017. Believing in the power of synergy and teamwork, her organization joined forces and merged with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Toronto Affiliate to provide well-rounded programming that aims to connect women in engineering, build their networks and support their successes. Alessandra has been involved with the SWE Toronto Affiliate for 4 years, playing a pivotal role in setting the strategic plan for the organization and growing the SWE community. She is an active member in several other engineering organizations in the city, such as Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO), the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) and the Women Transportation Seminar (WTS) Toronto. She is currently serving as SWE Toronto Affiliate's Past President. |
MAY MAREFATDIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS |
May Marefat has a PhD in Chemical Engineering. Over the years she has been involved in multidisciplinary industry-driven projects from Oil Sands Tailings Water Treatment, Pipeline Transport Processes to Implantable Bio-engineering Technologies and currently working as the business development manager in a biotech company.
May has 10+ years of experience in volunteerism and community service for many organizations and groups. This diverse experience has given her a strong insight into planning and organization of various events as well as a robust understanding of the team dynamics and workflows. May hopes to bring this knowledge to Programs Committee at SWE Toronto and contribute to SWE’s efforts to create a safe and supportive community for women in STEM to overcome their everyday challenges. As Director of the Programs Committee, May works with a team of 20+ passionate volunteers to organize a series of events such as monthly Coffee Clubs, SWE Speaks speaker series, workshops, and webinars which allow engineering and other STEM professionals to connect and engage in meaningful conversations, and build their support network. May’s vision for this year’s Programs Committee is to expand SWE Toronto’s reach and potential by focusing on diversity when inviting speakers from different disciplines to discuss their career paths and showcase their stories. |
FAROKH LAQA KAKARDIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS |
Farokh laqa Kakar is a PhD Candidate at Civil Engineering department of Ryerson University and Professor at George brown College in Toronto, Canada. She is the program Director at SWE-Toronto. Also, she serves as the president of Canadian Young Water Professionals at International Water Association (IWA) and Vice President of Young Professionals in Canadian Association for Water Quality (CAWQ).
During her graduate studies at Ryerson, Farokh has won the most prestigious PhD scholarship in Canada (Vanier) and she has joined more than 20 conferences playing different roles, winning Seven best presentation (first place) awards. She was part of the organizing committee for 10 of these conferences, chairing two of these conferences. She has been initiating/organizing workshops, networking events, and social events in her role as chair of YWP-Canada which give her great experience in event management and organization. Farokh was co-leading the SWE coffee club since 2019 and has become the Coordinator of the Coffee club in 2020. In coffee club meeting women engineers from different discipline, regions and background but sharing same problems and pain in terms of diversity and inclusion, inspired Farokh to serve this community further becoming part of the board members, creating more opportunities for the women in engineering at Toronto empowering, encouraging and inspiring women in STEM. |
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Alex is currently the Membership Director at SWE Toronto. She and her committee organize and conduct preliminary screenings and volunteer interviews as well as develop initiatives for member recruitment and retention. Alex currently works at Stephenson Engineering as a structural designer and is enjoying getting to know people in the engineering field outside of work. Before entering the consulting field, Alex spent seven years on the National Badminton Team and competed in the 2012 Olympic Games. Having already gone through a career transition, she knows the importance of creating a good network and support system. |
ALEX BRUCEMEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR |
SUNILA ZEHRADIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
SAMIRA AHMADIANDIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS |
Sunila is a recent civil engineering graduate with a focus on water services. Her passion for the water industry began while she was volunteering abroad in a village where civilians lacked a very basic human right: access to clean water. She is on a mission to make clean water and basic education accessible for all. Sunila has worked in the realm of customer service for 7+ years and volunteered for several organizations. With direct experience in research, marketing and communications, fundraising, event planning and public speaking; she is committed to expand SWE Toronto's public outreach and amplify our message! On her spare time, she will take any chance she can get to travel (Even if it's just a few hours from home). She is adventurous, curious and loves to expand her perspective. Samira holds MASc in power electrical engineering from York University. She is specialized in renewable energy system interface design and their optimization. She has professional experience in several engineering sectors such as renewable energy systems, high voltage transformer station and manufacturing. Currently, she works as an Electrical/Instrumentation Engineer-In-Training (EIT) at SNC-Lavalin, where she is focused mainly on supporting mining and metallurgy group as a multidisciplinary specialist. Working at various industries in a male-dominated field has helped her understand the challenges women in STEM are facing. This has made her an avid advocate for women’s rights at workplace. She believes in diversity and inclusion as a key factor to improve overall work performance. Her passion to empower women in STEM has led her to join SWE Toronto in 2019. She is currently serving as Communication Committee Director on the board of SWE Toronto. Her goal is to expand the reach and to promote SWE’s mission, events and programs strongly throughout Canada. |
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Born in Spain, Ainhoa Negrín earned a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the Complutense University of Madrid before moving to Canada to pursue work and later a master's degree in Engineering Design from McMaster University. With experience in a number of fields such as research, processes and HVAC, she continues to hone her skills in optimization and process design, but is aware of world issues and the systemic problems that many are facing. Ainhoa understands the challenges faced by women who have immigrated to Canada for work and school through her lived experience and hopes to apply this to assist others. She believes that inclusivity and diversity in the engineering workforce will enhance overall work performance, facilitate increased innovation and allow for the development of inclusive solutions. As an Industry Outreach Director, Ainhoa connects with industry groups and secures partners to support SWE TO programs through both in-kind donations and special collaborative events. She aims to bring women in the engineering field together to facilitate each other’s personal and professional development to build a better future together. |
AINHOA NEGRININDUSTRY OUTREACH DIRECTOR |
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Afsoon has a PhD in Physics from Washington State University and currently leading machine learning developers and Data Scientist in CBC to develop state of the art recommendation system for CBC contents. Afsoon co-founded an award winning software company, IRYStec, recently acquired by Faurencia. Afsoon is very passionate about empowering women, specifically science and technology. She volunteers her time for mentoring founders and individuals in their growth. Serving on SWE board to support and empower more Women Engineers in Toronto and connect industry partners in the region to this great organization. She would like to create more opportunities for Women and move one step closer to creating diversity and equity for women in the workforce. |
AFSOON SOUDIINDUSTRY OUTREACH DIRECTOR |
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