WE Local Bellevue in Review, Part 2

Guest Contributor: Shari Wang

WE Local Bellevue, April 5 – 6, 2019

Overall, I really enjoyed the conference for its variety.  I attended sessions covering a wide range of topics, including diversity and inclusion, professional development, volunteering and good causes, financial independence, self awareness, etc.  Its contents and organization were similar to annual conference in many ways, but the networking was much more localized and rewarding.  Boeing subsidized the registration fees for many engineers, and it was great to meet and connect with others from my company.

Fem Finance – 7 Habits for Success (Leanne Plancic)

Leanne Plancic is a retirement planning specialist at AXA Advisors.  She is passionate about setting aside time each year to offer education and outreach to increase financial education and literacy within the community.  She helped to make the strategies simple, whether we were “math” people or not.

• 4 Buckets of Money (the basis of her session)
• Now: 1 year, cash on hand
• Short-Term: 1 – 10 years, brokerage accounts; Taxed on money going in, growth, and money coming out
• Long-Term: Roth, etc.; Taxed on money going in only
• Retirement: 401K, pension, etc.; Taxed on money coming out
• HSA: Bonus 5^th bucket; No taxes going in, growth, or coming out
• ID your financial goals: What does success look like for you?  Be specific.
• Live within your means
• Utilize compounding interest
• Take advantage of tax shelters
• Invest your HSA account, use Excel to track expenses, reimburse years later
• Control your future tax bracket
• Maximize social security
• Amount is very different if you take out at 62 vs. 70
• Should consider spouse when choosing an age to take social security
• Check your social security statement at ssa.gov and make sure your information is correct
• Leverage long-term care insurance

Leanne answered many questions, both basic and complex.  During this highly interactive session, the power went out in the entire hotel.  We, the amazing and diligent SWEesters that we were, continued discussions.  Leanne even pulled up the remaining slides on her smartphone!

WE Local Celebration

The hotel placed candles and string lights around the ballroom to accommodate for the lack of electricity.  It created an inviting and intimate ambiance for the celebration.  Each table had a different game, including Sushi Go and Scrabble, to initiate some conversations.  Food was served along buffet tables and by servers around the room.  Some of the most delicious food was the tandoori chicken skewers and the chicken samosas.

When the power came back on, Glowforge created custom name badges, luggage tags, and jigsaw puzzles on their 3D laser printers.  We drew our designs on cardboard and chose from a selection of woods, including maple, cherry, and walnut.  As the employees walked us through the program and the printer functions, we saw our drawings etched onto the wood piece line by line.

Successfully Returning to Work after a Career Break (Elizabeth Crain)

Elizabeth chose to take a career break for 2 years, and is currently a part-time plan review contract at FM Global.  She shared her reasoning, the planning she did before taking a break, what she did while away, and lessons learned after returning to work.  Below are a few of her suggestions.

• Consider finances, time, childcare, work opportunities (pro/con list, motivations, structure)
• Consider alternative roles/schedules (ex. full-time with reduced travel, flexible time, part time, contractor, sabbatical/hiatus, office hours)
• Continue updating your resume, network and stay connected, attend social events, develop yourself (ex. read, learn new skill, volunteer, try new things)
• Returning to work: Compensation, support (spouse, family), emotional and physical impact, childcare constraints, etc.

Plan ahead and act with intention.

Celeste Mergens of Days for Girls

Celeste Mergens described her life growing up, how she founded Days for Girls, and the experiences she’s had since its founding.  There was not a dry eye in the room after she described her journey.

Girls all around the world drop out of school due to lack of feminine supplies.  Some are forced to live apart from their families during that time of the month.  As she was preparing to return to Nairobi, Kenya in 2008, she woke up in the middle of the night with a nagging question: “What are girls doing for feminine hygiene?”  Her first attempt at creating disposable pads quickly evolved into kits that include washable, long-lasting pads.

Days for Girls has created of women and girls who sew the kits and educate the communities.  Celeste has changed how communities think of and treat periods.  There are so many ways to support the message and continue the impact worldwide.

The T about the T in LGBTQ+, A Beginners Guide to Transgender Inclusion (Natalie Vanderspiegel)

Living in Seattle, LGBTQ+ is a common topic.  We see it in the legislation that’s passed, the rainbow-painted sidewalks in Capitol Hill, as well as the Pride Parade every summer.  I sing with the Seattle Women’s Chorus, a voice for LGBTQ advocacy in the community and across the country.  However, there’s a lot of terms as you get more into the community, and I was interested in getting it all straight in my head.

Diversity and inclusion are often spoken in the same sentence, almost as if they were interchangeable words.  They are not.  “Diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance.”

SWE has made great strides in increasing inclusion.  Some of it can be seen on the new name tags, with preferred pronouns prominently displayed.  Some of it can be seen in the subtle but powerful language changes in the official documents.

Natalie went on to describe the full spectrum for defining a person’s identity.

Source: The Trevor Project

She described the challenges of the community, and drew on her personal experiences with colleagues and friends.  I learned so much from the session and appreciated her candor and honesty in sharing.

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Shari Wang is a team member of the SWE PNW Virtual Brand Team. She is an Industrial Engineering Manager at Boeing, supporting Everett Site Operations through daily management, continuous improvement, and data analytics. Shari enjoys singing with the Seattle Women’s Chorus and volunteering for the Industrial Engineering University Relations Team at Boeing.