Findings from the 2018 national survey of structural engineers suggest that the design profession is becoming increasingly diverse. ​
SEAONC SE3 Committee is excited to collaborate with SEAONC Young Members Forum and AIA East Bay to host a fun and engaging event this fall to celebrate diversity and to work together to improve awareness on equity issues and inclusivity in the building design profession.
​
This program features a presentation from an expert on change management, employee engagement and “tactical implementation” of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives.

What to expect

  • Younger professionals will gain insights on how they can help peers gain a sense of belonging, augment relationships and environments to enable people to find and express their authentic self.
  • Attendees will leave this workshop energized, empowered with the tools to enhance discussions and interactions, influence change in recruiting practices at their firm, to help improve engagement and talent retention in our profession.
  • ​Participants will identify and discuss relevant issues through facilitated discussions, and will collaborate on solution finding.

The event concludes with continued conversations and networking. Appetizers and refreshments will be provided.

This initiative is brought to SEAONC SE3 by a generous award from the National Council of Structural Engineers Association (NCSEA).
Working together to build workplace environments where everyone feels welcomed and valued.

Workshop Program

5:30 PM Registration & Networking
6:00 PM Opening Remarks | Zahraa Saiyed & Maito Okamoto
6:05 PM Keynote Address | Kay Martinez
6:45 PM Q&A
7:00 PM Interactive Session & Discussions | Kay Martinez
7:30 PM Closing Remarks | SE3 Committee Chairs & SEAONC President
7:35 PM Networking Social
8:15 PM Close

Relevant Discussion topics

  • ​Diversity without inclusion - creating a functional program, how do you bring about inclusion? 
  • Impact of EDI on firms' success & culture 
  • How to promote & increase diversity, inclusion, and equity
  • How do you introduce EDI to your staff and/or managers?
  • Since like tends to hire like, how do you break the homogeneity cycle? 
  • Do people change culture, or does culture change people? How do you define culture? 
  • How do you lead change when your firm is already successful?
  • How to measure progress of creating an inclusive workplace 

Thought Leaders, Featured Guests & Event Coordination Team

Kay Martinez, M.A.
Awaken | Content Creator & Facilitator
KEYNOTE SPEAKER & FACILITATOR
(Pronouns: they/them)

​​​Kay Martinez is an Afro-Latinx Gender Non Conforming educator & disruptor originally from Boston. Kay has a Masters degree in higher education from Boston College and they have led a variety of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives at Harvard University, Stanford University and Tufts University. As a writer, they have published research on the current climate for QTBIPOC (Queer Trans Black Indigenous People of Color).They have been featured in the Huffington Post, Wear Your Voice Magazine, Them and they were recently named to DapperQ’s 100 most stylish list of 2019. They love boxing, dancing, food and clothes.
Awaken is a leading provider of modern, interactive, and action-oriented diversity and inclusion training workshops (unconscious bias workshop, allyship). They empower leaders and teams to lead inclusively and authentically, addressing tough diversity, inclusion, and culture issues head-on.

Zahraa Saiyed, P.E.
Principal + Co-Founder, Scyma Design & Consulting
​2018-2019 SEAONC SE3 CO-CHAIR & PROGRAM FACILITATOR
(Pronouns: she/her)

Zahraa Saiyed, P.E., is a co-founder of Scyma Design + Consulting, a research associate with MIT’s Urban Risk Lab, and Adjunct Professor of Architecture and Community Design at the University of San Francisco. Zahraa’s work in disaster risk reduction includes projects with the Urban Risk Lab and the World Bank in Peru, Haiti and San Francisco. Zahraa is a promoter of seismic safety legislation and leads the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute's Public Policy and Advocacy committee and sits on the Resilience Education Working Group with the American Institute of Architects and is a Board Director of the Northern California Chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. In addition, she works with the City of San Francisco’s Earthquake Safety Implementation Program on shelter-in-place and building safety for post-disaster scenarios in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. Zahraa has lectured both domestically and internationally on the built environment and disaster risk reduction. In the past, she has in taught at Stanford University in the Geophysics department and at M.I.T.'s Civil and Environmental Engineering department. Zahraa holds a B.A. in Architecture from UC Berkeley, an M.S. in Building Technology and an M.Eng in Structural Engineering from M.I.T.    ​

Maito Okamoto, EIT
Engineer-in-Training, Martin/Martin, Inc
SEAONC SE3 DIVERSITY & INCLUSION CO-LEAD & PROGRAM FACILITATOR
(Pronouns: he/him)

Maito Okamoto is one of the co-leads of the SEAONC SE3 ​Diversity & Inclusion Subcommittee. He is working as an Engineer in Training at Martin/Martin in the Bay Area office. He is a graduate from the Colorado School of Mines with a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering, and a Master's Degree in Structural Engineering. He has been active in a number of committees, board members and societies, including Associate General Contractors (AGS), and Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), and the Colorado School of Mines Chapter of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
Maito facilitated an engaging interactive breakout session at the SEAONC Symposium in May 2019 on Diversity Inclusion.

Natalie Tse, P.E., S.E., LEED AP
Project Manager, Tipping Structural Engineers
SE3 CO-FOUNDER & PROGRAM COORDINATOR
(Pronouns: she/her)

Natalie is a California Licensed Structural Engineer with a broad range of design experience in educational, commercial/retail, residential, science and technology sectors. She joined Tipping Structural Engineers in Berkeley, California as a Project Manager in 2017. Natalie's portfolio includes the structural design, assessment, and seismic retrofit of over 35 school campuses, a mission critical laboratory and office building, and the design of a new wood-framed cathedral over concrete post-tensioned podium. Natalie is passionate about innovative solutions, well-integrated and cost-effective designs, responsiveness during construction, and open communication. She is profoundly committed to learning, mentoring, building strong relationships, family, and giving back to the community.

In 2015, she co-founded the SE3 Project, a project established to understand and mitigate issues of employee engagement/retention, advancement, work/life balance, and gender equity, and the promotion of diversity and inclusion in the structural engineering profession. Natalie received her BSE in Engineering and Mathematics from Queen’s University in Canada in 2002. She is a recipient of the SEAOC Giles Scholarship and the Edwin G Zacher Award.

Ashley Waite, E.I.T.
Structural Designer, Tipping Structural Engineers
​SEAONC YMF TREASURER & SE3 EVENT PROGRAM LIAISON
(Pronouns: she/her)

Ashley Waite attained her Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering and Master's Degree in Structural Engineering from Santa Clara University. She started her consulting career at Tipping in 2017 and is currently managing construction administration on several fast-paced projects, including the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and their campus expansion with the new Bowes Center for Performing Arts. 

Ashley played softball competitively all through her childhood, and has many hobbies, including photography, hiking, crafting, coffee and sweets. She also loves Disney and Pixar.

AWAKEN TESTIMONIALS

"The Facilitators did a really great job taking everyone’s contributions and responding thoughtfully, making people feel heard while keeping the group process and vibe on the rails." 

"I really enjoyed the combination of individual and group work. Very insightful and highly enjoyable experience!"

"I feel grateful to be working at a company that provides a space for us to reflect and learn about ourselves and talk about how to bring our whole-selves to work."

"One of the greatest challenges to overcoming our own implicit biases is our failure to acknowledge them. Having the opportunity to learn the nuances of microaggressions by going through powerful simulations has forever changed the way I confront my own subjective view points and has encouraged me to question those around me. Awaken challenges you to think critically about your thoughts and actions, especially when those implicit biases may have unintended consequences for the social and professional trajectories of others."

"This workshop needs to be taken by every executive and every employee. Seriously."

"I really appreciated all of the tangible, actionable strategies that were based on real examples, as well as the acknowledgement that there isn’t one way to handle any situation, calling compassion into the learning process."