President's Message: September/October 2020
Dear WTS-DC Chapter Members and Friends,
Happy fall! During these unprecedented times, WTS-DC remains dedicated to creating a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable transportation industry through the global advancement of women. Now, more than ever, it is essential to advance and support women in transportation. Transportation YOU and scholarship are two ways that WTS-DC continues to uplift members of our communities. At WTS, we work to shape future generations of transportation leaders.
For many of you this month, you are embarking on a new (virtual) school year. Transportation YOU is an interactive, mentoring program that introduces high school girls to a wide variety of transportation careers through spotlight speakers, field trips, and professional development activities. The WTS-DC Transportation YOU Committee offers programs and activities that spark girls’ interest in transportation and encourage them to take courses in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), which are the stepping stones to exciting careers that can change the face of the transportation industry. Our chapter partners with local D.C. schools: Dunbar, McKinley Tech, and Cardozo. This school year, our Transportation YOU Committee will be engaging in virtual programming. Speakers include professionals from the Federal Aviation Administration, Vaughn College of Aeronautic Engineering, Aviation and Technology, National Transportation Safety Board, and more. If you are interested in volunteering, being a virtual speaker or providing a virtual tour of your transportation facility, please reach out to us!
This is also the time of year when WTS-DC focuses on our scholarship season. True to our organization’s mission to “attract, sustain, connect, and advance women’s careers to strengthen the transportation industry,” our chapter annually awards scholarships to deserving women who are studying transportation at undergraduate and graduate programs in the D.C. area. At WTS-DC, we feel that education is a vital tool to facilitate the advancement of transportation professionals and we believe that giving scholarships is one of the most important things we do as a chapter. At this time, we are seeking donations to our Scholarship Fund, and we encourage you to please consider donating. Individuals can contribute directly on our website and organizations can find more information about opportunities on our scholarship page. We hope you will join us in sponsoring young women pursuing transportation.
Our chapter’s success relies on the contributions of our corporate members, and we are grateful for their support of our chapter! If your organization is not yet a corporate member of WTS-DC, please consider supporting our efforts to fulfill our mission and vision, and reach out to me with any questions.
To all the parents of school-aged children, I am wishing you well with virtual learning!
Thank you for your continued support of WTS-DC, and we look forward to engaging with you soon!
Best,
Neela Babu, Ph.D.
President, WTS-DC Chapter
Contact Us!
If you or your organization are interested in contributing to WTS-DC and would like to know how you could do so, please contact us. You can reach us through any of our social media channels listed below, or you can email me at president.wts.dc@gmail.com.