A few of our employees had the excellent opporunity to present at the American Heart Association's STEM Goes Red Seminar. We had a great time while enouraging young female students to get into the STEM workforce!

The American Heart Association's STEM Goes Red program paired 50 female students with local female leaders in STEM careers for a six-month mentorship. According to the American Heart Association, out of 100 female bachelor’s students, just 12 graduate with a STEM major, and only 3 continue to work in STEM fields. Although women make up half of the workforce, they hold less than 25% of jobs in STEM related fields. This mentorship program intends to inspire and influence these female students to reach for STEM careers in the future.

KFW had the opportunity to inform female students from four local high schools (East Central H.S., Lee H.S., Southside H.S., and Southwest H.S) about what it takes to become an Engineer. Our employees emphasized internships and the importance of real world experience. The goal was to encourage these girls to explore the many sub-fields of civil engineering to research which specialty fit them best. Our presenters also noted the importance of combining tactical skills with soft skills to be successful in the workforce.

Finishing off the presentation with an engineering activity, we asked the girls to put on their critical thinking caps. The goal was to use only gumdrops and toothpicks to create a two-story structure that would support a textbook for 10 seconds. Our excellent presenters, Erin Salinas, Kimberly Drake, and Amy Davidson, helped the young girls in creating successful structures. (Pics below!)

KFW is very excited to have been a part of the movement to encourage females to enter the STEM workforce.

We are excited for the future of Engineering!