On Thursday, October 17th, SEAONC SE3, Young Members Forum, and AIA East Bay held a joint event featuring a presentation by Kay Martinez of Awaken, an expert on change management, employee engagement and “tactical implementation” of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives.

​The event began with SE3 members sharing testimonials from respondents to the 2018 SE3 survey who had negative experiences due to lack of inclusion in their workplace, to set the stage for why the content of this event was relevant, important, and necessary. The keynote speech discussed tackling inclusivity in the workplace by starting with the individual, first covering the importance of understanding one’s own identity and the privileges that come with it, and then moving on to how individuals can use their privilege to enact change. Kay shared information and suggestions about how to be a good ally in the workplace, through amplifying underrepresented voices, speaking up when one witnesses instances of bias, and being proactive about designing an inclusive office environment. ​

The discussion stressed that change can be sparked by individuals of all ages and levels and experience. Inclusivity starts by creating a culture of respect and civility, where people are trained, coached, and encouraged to work with those who look, think, and behave differently from them. Following the keynote, attendees broke out into small groups to share their takeaways, discuss how their identities have influenced their experiences, and brainstorm how we can begin to address the challenges they have faced. 

The SE3 leadership team and Diversity & Inclusion subcommittee leaders would like to thank AIA East Bay for graciously hosting the event, Hilti for providing food and beverages for this event, and to NCSEA for approving SE3’s request for grant funding. ​

We wish to thank the attendees for providing their feedback to ensure continued conversations about improvements associated with inclusivity in the workplace in the structural engineering profession.

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.

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.

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.