Past Offerings
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Bridges to Prosperity (Past Offering)
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January 27, 2022, 10 AM - 11 AM - WTS MN
Many WTS MN members have dedicated their careers to improving transportation access, services, and infrastructure for the communities we serve and we are excited to showcase the work of Bridges to Prosperity (B2P). B2P envisions a world where poverty caused by rural isolation no longer exists. They work with isolated communities to create access to essential healthcare, education, and economic opportunities by building and promoting the installation of trail bridges over impassable rivers. To do so, They partner with local communities and governments and - to date - they have helped construct 380 bridges that connect over 1.3 million people.
Come to the WTS January program to hear Nico Turrini, Manager of Global Corporate Partnerships and East Africa Marketing, share information about this non-profit organization. Nico will share about B2P's approach, community impacts, elevating women in their organization and communities, as well as cooperate sponsorship and volunteer opportunities.
As a structural engineer, Nico has always been interested in bridges. After his studies in Modena (Italy), his engineering career started in Madrid with FHECOR Ingenieros Consultores, and continued in Nicaragua, Scotland and Rwanda with B2P. He has lived in Kigali (Rwanda) since 2018, carrying out the role of engineering manager and, from 2021, managing B2P's international corporate partnerships. In his free time, he likes playing music, taking photographs, playing tennis and studying French.
In addition, Tara Olds, Acting Executive Director of MnDOT's Connected and Automated Vehicles Program will also share about her previous involvement with B2P as a university student in South America and as an employee working in Central America. She will share about her experiences with the organization and highlight how her experiences have shaped her work throughout her career in Minnesota.
The WTS Public Agency Partner program is designed to encourage public agency employee participation at WTS events. MnDOT, Metro Transit/Met Council, and Washington County are the current WTS Minnesota public agency partners, and their employees are welcome to register for WTS Minnesota events for the same cost as general members.
Racial Justice Training Course (Past Offering)
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Are you interested in supporting racial equity and being a better advocate for racial justice in the workplace and across Minnesota? Are you interested in exploring how your identify impacts this work? Have you ever wondered what to say when you see discrimination or microaggressions in your world? Learn about these topics and much more with the WTS Minnesota Racial Justice Training Series. Interested participants can also pursue antiracism work in a supportive group setting following the training series.
WTS Minnesota is offering a workshop series that will provide participants with the tools and a professional network to support Diversity and Inclusion in transportation. We are contracting with a professional DEI training firm, PositiveHire, which helps employers retain talent and create more inclusive and diverse organizations with diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings. The series will include six events total, with three class sessions and three mediated group discussions. The classes and small group discussions will alternate every other week over the course of three months. The cost of registration is greatly subsidized by WTS Minnesota and the fee for the course is $50 (actual training cost of $200 per participant-actual value, limitless!). This course is designed for people in the transportation field and open to all (you do not need to be a WTS member). If you or your employer is unable to pay the course fee, please email Liz Morice ([email protected]) for a registration code that will waive the fee. No questions will be asked, and you do not need to submit any sort of application.
This course qualifies for 9 AICP credits.
Purpose
The series is designed to create a support network and community where participants can learn and challenge themselves and each other. To this end, PositiveHire will mediate three 1.5-hour small group workshop discussions for WTS Minnesota members to discuss their breakthroughs and challenges in making changes in their views and behaviors as they relate to diversity, intersectionality, and intervening as a bystander when witnessing harassment.
Trainings
Three modules which each include a training session (1.5 hours) and a small group workshop discussion session (1-1.5 hours):
Module 1:
Understanding Intersectionality As Women
Thursday April 8 & 22, 2021 from 11:30-1PM
Intersectionality is understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. To better understand how underrepresented women and white women experience the workplace, we'll discuss different aspects of intersectionality.
Module 2:
Diversity Recruiting & Retention
Thursday May 6 & May 20, 2021 from 11:30-1PM
According to underrepresented women in STEM professionals, employers are missing the mark in attracting and retaining them. I'll share PositiveHire's survey findings and actions employers can take to retain underrepresented talent in science, tech, and engineering.
Module 3:
Bystander Intervention
Thursday June 3 & June 17, 2021 from 11:30-1PM
Are you wondering how to stop harassment? If you've been struggling with not knowing how to interrupt everyday sexism, racism, and other microaggressions, then you're in luck! Attend this workshop and we will help you develop a greater understanding of workplace harassment.
Click here to view this event online!
If you or your employer is unable to pay the course fee, please email Liz Morice ([email protected]) for a registration code that will waive the fee. No questions will be asked, and you do not need to submit any sort of application.
Training Team: PositiveHire
Michelle Heyward
Michele Heyward is the founder of PositiveHire, a tech company which helps to recruit and retain experienced Latina, African-American, and indigenous women STEM professionals into management positions. The software assists these women in finding the best fit employer for them to advance their careers. This in turn helps employers retain diverse STEM talent longer. PositiveHire is a tech company engineered to bridge the gap between management roles and underrepresented women in STEM. Michele's vision is to not only help women of color in STEM find inclusive workplaces, but to prepare enterprises to receive them, and help those enterprises recruit them. This approach makes PositiveHire, the premiere recruiting platform for women of color professionals.
Michele is an experienced project manager in the energy sector armed with technical sales and technology transfer experience. She holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering and M.S. degree in industrial management, both from Clemson University. A South Carolina native, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, Toastmasters, and making connections personally and professionally.
K.C. Atha
K.C. Atha is a servant leader who has over 15 years in the federal government and non-profit sectors. She is bilingual and has worked abroad with the US Peace Corp. Her work focuses on two main areas: supporting free speech, human rights, and democracy via digital security and on conscious leaders to evolve their organizational structures to cultivate equitable and inclusive workplaces.
K.C. was a co-organizer for the Latinx community working and pursuing tech careers in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. She has a Master's of Arts degree in International Administration, Development and Human Rights.