OUR STORY
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
Our mission is to contribute to the continual professional growth of women in engineering by:
  • Connecting women in engineering across various stages of their careers
  • Building a community of engineers, professionals, and industry partners that support the success of women in engineering
  • Supporting the retention of women in engineering through outreach, ​events, and personal development

To read more on how our governance accomplishes our mission, please find our bylaws here.

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MAY MAREFAT

PRESIDENT
Holding a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering, May Marefat is currently working in the Integrity Management team at Enbridge. May has 10+ years of volunteer experience through executive and leadership positions, such as Vice President and Board member at Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Toronto; Chair, Toronto Chapter at YEIP – Young Energy Infrastructure Professionals; Co-Chair at YPI – Young Pipeliners International; and Co-Chair at Engineering & STO-Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce Team at Enbridge. Through these roles May has contributed to the organizations’ success and has shown a track record of planning and leading successful programs and events attended by 100+ each and 1000+ collectively local and international professionals. These diverse experiences have given her a strong insight into non-for-profit organizational structure as well as a robust understanding of the team’s dynamic and workflows. 

After two very exciting years as Programs Director and VP at SWE Toronto, May looks forward to contributing further to the SWE Toronto mission through a new leadership role as President this year. May will be leading the board to ensure organizational success. May’s focus this year will be on Volunteer Engagement and Retention, SWE Toronto Branding in national and international spaces, and SWE Toronto Succession Planning. 

Janelle is a Project Manager with a control system engineering background. She has worked in airport automation and automotive manufacturing. In her role she combines her interests in problem solving and connecting people.

She is passionate about women succeeding in engineering, science and leadership roles, which motivates her to try and reshape the field through work with a variety of age groups. As a student, she never felt there was a space for her within engineering, driving her to try and show that the title of engineer can be held by a variety of people. She volunteers as a mentor for university students at multiple institutions in Canada and works with the Microsoft TEALs program, operating as a teaching assistant in local high school computer science classrooms. Through her work with SWE she aims to support women in her field and help them to feel successful in their careers.

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/janelle-somerville

  JANELLE SOMERVILLE

PRESIDENT-ELECT

ELAINE SAMUEL

PAST - PRESIDENT

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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.
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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. ​

ELIZABETH MAGGS

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS

​Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Applied science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Toronto. Currently, she works as an environmental consultant, specializing in air quality and sustainability.
Aside from being passionate about all things surrounding environmental preservation and sustainable development, Elizabeth is passionate about empowering women in engineering and STEM fields. She feels it is extremely important to foster inclusive environments and help provide women in these fields with the tools and resources to help them feel supported. For the past two years, Elizabeth has been a dedicated volunteer within programs. Now she is looking forward to being one of the Programs Directors for 2022-2023 and implementing exciting events and programs aimed at supporting and empowering women in the SWE Toronto community. 

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AMANDA ROCHON

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS
Amanda is a Civil EIT working in the consulting industry. Her background is in roadway design, having worked on many road construction projects throughout Ontario. 

Amanda is a firm believer that engineering is a team sport and that she would not be in her position today, without the many amazing friends, mentors and allies who supported her during her degree and early career development. Since joining the workforce, Amanda has strived to emulate those who had supported her by fostering positive connections, support networks, and developing mentor-mentee relationships to help other women navigate the engineering world. When joining SWE Toronto, Amanda was excited to continue this journey and to give back to the community that has given so much to her. As one of the Programs Directors for 2022-2023, Amanda is excited to put on events aimed at connecting and supporting women in the industry, especially those newly joining the workforce and those interested in exploring new opportunities in their career. 

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Winnie is a Civil EIT working in the consulting industry. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Civil engineering from the University of Toronto and currently works in Land Development, where she works on roads, servicing and stormwater management design. She is passionate about environmental engineering, including low impact development and building sustainable communities.
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Through SWE Toronto, Winnie aims to be involved in connecting and providing support for other women in Engineering or STEM fields and help them navigate through their careers. As Membership Director for 2022-2023, she is excited to help recruit and contribute to a collaborative team of volunteers as SWE’s volunteers are fundamental to the organization’s success.

 Winnie Zheng

MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR

ALEX MATYAS

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
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​Alex is a global entrepreneur and works closely with her network to create solutions for everyday living. As a Mechatronic Systems Engineering Graduate, she utilizes multiple platforms to engage her passions of Travel, Sport, Technology and Engineering. These industries connect her to new opportunities and promote innovation and international collaboration. Alex founded a start-up company and designed a wearable technology that was launched globally. Within the Engineering community, it is important to stay connected and grow your network as well as take advantage of opportunities. 
As a SWE Toronto volunteer on the Communications Team, Alex has successfully led marketing campaigns to engage the Engineering Community on top of recurring events and long-term initiatives. She is an advocate for her community and plans on working closely with the volunteers to engage with women in the STEM field and create a fun environment to connect, grow and support each other. As Communications and Marketing Director, Alex will continue to lead and support new ideas for program initiatives while streamlining the communications process to take SWE Toronto to the next level as Communications Director.


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AYAT HAMA SALEH

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
Ayat holds a Master's of Engineering degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering specializing in Artificial Intelligence. She has 10+ years of extensive experience in Electrical, ICT, Lighting Control, Security, and Building Intelligence engineering and currently working as Building Intelligence Engineer at Mulvey & Banani. She firmly believes that volunteering is the best way to give back and positively impact our community. She joined SWE-Toronto in 2019 to volunteer within the Communications and Marketing Committee in which she served as the Eventbrite and Social Media Lead for two consecutive years.
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This year she will contribute to the organization further as Communication and Marketing Director. In addition to her volunteering with SWE-Toronto, she volunteers with the Ad-Hoc Climate Change group to help engineers, and practitioners set a vision and work on action plans and strategies for Climate Change mitigation in Ontario. She is also a liaison officer with the East Toronto Chapter of PEO, organizing several events for Engineering and STEM professionals.
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Shailza Tangri is a skilled Agile Human Resource professional with 9+ years career overseeing human resources operations, including employee relations, recruitment, policy & program administration. Well-versed in benefits administration and legal compliance. Forward-thinking with superior conflicting situations management and building relationships. Additionally, she is a proven expert in organization and a consistent collaborator. Her HR roles have strengthened her communication and customer service abilities, including focused attention to detail and accuracy. Also, her journey at SWE Toronto has been incredible as a Volunteer for Coffee Club events and for NEM event 2021. She enjoys facilitating the sessions , providing comfortable and safe environment where all attendees are encouraged to participate in the discussion actively.  As an Administration Officer, her goal is to provide seamless support to all the members to achieve their goals and contribute to the overall success of the organization. 

Shailza is passionate about making other’s dream come true through her Event Management knowledge and skills. She likes to proceed in organized way towards her objective in any role she gets into. In her spare time, she enjoys photography and spending time with her friends and family.  

SHAILZA TANGRI

ENGAGEMENT LEAD/ADMIN OFFICER

TASNEEM NAHEYAN

FINANCIAL OFFICER

Tasneem is pursuing graduate studies at York University; her research is in computer vision and AI. She completed her undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at the University of Kentucky. She was involved in the University of Kentucky's SWE chapter and served as the Co-conference Chair for one year. Prior to starting graduate studies, she interned at the Stop TB Partnership in Geneva, Switzerland and worked on projects exploring global healthcare technology. SWE Toronto is a growing network of women in STEM, and Tasneem would like to contribute to its growth by connecting engineering professionals, students and others looking to step into the field of engineering.

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Mikaela is a Civil Engineering graduate from Ryerson University and is currently working as a Structural Designer for a consulting firm in Toronto. Mikaela worked with Ryerson University as a Research Assistant, where she worked under respected members of the Civil Engineering department on advanced structural design projects. Mikaela used the connections she made through SWE to help her transition into her career. 

Mikaela was the first female employee in her firm, highlighting the importance of aiding women in transitioning from university to the workplace with SWE, working towards PEO’s task force of 30 by 30. As an immigrant, a mother, and a minority Mikaela understands how anxious and stressful it is to be a woman in engineering, balancing home life and searching for work after graduating while ensuring the final year is a success. 
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As University Outreach Director, Mikaela connects and supports women engineers and graduates to help them succeed. She understands that it is essential to prove herself to her peers since women are constantly underrepresented and underappreciated in engineering. Mikaela’s goal is to share her experience as a new graduate and help women make meaningful connections between students and engineers to utilize as they move forward into meaningful careers.

UNIVERSITY OUTREACH DIRECTOR

MIKAELA COELLO MENA
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Sophia is an enthusiastic and passionate Electrical EIT who graduated from The University of British Columbia. Her vast background in renewable energy and power systems have given her an open mind into the world of electrical engineering and has given her inspiration to advance her career and pursue chartership and become a professional engineer. Sophia is currently working as an Electrical Designer for a consulting firm in Toronto.

Sophia is extremely passionate about assisting students and new graduates to promote a smooth transition from the academic environment to the work industry and will do this through her role as the University Outreach Coordinator. During her time at university, Sophia was a student mentor where she provided individual, academic, and personal support and assisted student in working towards increased independence. She supported students to identify any barriers to learning and developed strategies to address them.
Sophia Shereni
​University Outreach Interim Director

INDUSTRY OUTREACH DIRECTOR

RAISSA MYAOUENUH
Raissa Myaouenuh is a graduate of Civil and Environmental Engineering in France.
After her engineering programs, she obtained an MBA -Project Management and Inclusive Engineering of projects based on the Sustainable Development Goals- in France.
Her love for sciences was instilled in her early on by her middle school mathematics professor, a woman whose face was shining when teaching geometry, statistics and number system concepts.
Raissa loves the challenges, problem solving and researching. She enjoys interacting with the public and external sources to come up with solutions in all stages of project management.
Raissa is also passionate about diversity, inclusion and encouraging others.
In this new leadership role at SWE Toronto, she will be responsible for connecting SWE Toronto to companies and industry groups for partnerships. 

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Karma is a 4th year Chemical Engineering student at the University of Toronto. She is currently on a co-op term and works at Scotiabank as a Trade Floor Technology Consultant.

Through travelling and growing up in different cities in the world, the most interesting thing for Karma was seeing how different cultures utilize technology. She has always been fascinated by the way technology shapes everyone’s world and decided to pursue Engineering.
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In her role as Industry Outreach Co-Director, she is excited to help industry partners form genuine connections to SWE Canada.
Karma Sadhwani
​INDUSTRY OUTREACH DIRECTOR
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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.
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