The Society of Women Engineers (SWE), founded in 1950, is a not-for-profit educational and service organization. SWE is the driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women. SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and be recognized for their life-changing contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders. The Wisconsin professional section of the Society of Women Engineers, a.k.a. SWE-WI, became a chartered SWE section on 11/3/1973.
The SWE-WI Professional Section currently partners with the SWE Collegiate Sections at 8 universities in the Wisconsin/Michigan area:
- University of Wisconsin – Madison
- University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
- University of Wisconsin – Stout
- University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
- Marquette University
- Milwaukee School of Engineering
- Michigan Technological University
- Lake Superior State University
Executive Council
FY26 (July 2025 – June 2026) Executive Council:
- President: Natalie Gamez
- VP 1 – Professional Development: Danielle Schmitz
- VP 2 – Collegiates: Emily Demchik
- VP 3 – Outreach: Heidi Balestrieri
- Secretary 1 – Recording: Sam Billetdeaux
- Secretary 2 – Society Liaison: Gina Janke
- Treasurer: Katie (Buchalski) Vandenburg
- Membership Chair (non-elected/EC): Susan Thomas Schlett
President: Natalie Gamez
Natalie has been a member of SWE since college and most recently as the SWE-WI VP of Professional Development. In the past she has also helped with Spring Forward planning (21, 22, 23, and 24), chairing Spring Forward (23), and volunteering for outreach activities including a panel discussion at Divine Savior Holy Angels high school and STEM Forward’s Contrapt competitions. She is currently a Product Engineer at STRATTEC Security Corporation in Milwaukee, WI where she advocates for STEM and SWE activities. In her free time, she can be found playing softball or attending Brewer games.
In FY26, Natalie plans to build on the current strong foundations and improve involvement across the
entire section in areas of networking, professional development, and outreach.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliegamez/
VP 1 – Danielle Schmitz
Senior Quality Engineer – Logistics & Distribution
Johnson Controls
Danielle is a Senior Quality Engineer in Logistics & Distribution, overseeing Quality and
Customer Experience for the Johnson Controls North American Distribution Network.
An ASQ Certified Quality Engineer and Reliability Engineer with an MBA, she combines
technical expertise with strong leadership skills. She has been a member of SWE for
the past three years and has enjoyed attending various outreach events, especially
judging for Contrapt. She is the JCI Corporate liaison for both SWE and WiM as well as
being the North American Vice President for the Parents and Caregivers Together
(PACT) Business Resource Group, the lead for the External Impact workstream of the
JCI Global Inclusion Council, and the Milwaukee Chapter Director of the Women’s
Global Network. As a mother of two small children, promoting STEM education and
fostering inclusive workplaces that empower women, especially working moms, are her
primary passions. She serves on the board of Playworks Wisconsin and is on the United
Way of Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties Emerging Leaders Council. Outside of her
professional pursuits, she enjoys hiking and going on other adventures with her
husband and their two small children.
Danielle is excited to join the SWE-WI Executive Council and looks forward to working
with everyone to create meaningful professional development opportunities throughout
FY26.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-nelson-schmitz/
VP 2 – Collegiates: Emily Demchik
Emily Demchik (she/her) has been a SWE member since college. Involvement has included being SWE-WI’s Internal Awards Chair for the past few years. She graduated with Chemical Engineering and Paper Science and Engineering degrees from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. In her professional role, she works as a Facial Product Developer for Kleenex at Kimberly-Clark and has previously worked as a Technical Process Engineer, Process Controls Engineer, and Quality Engineer. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her son, finding waterfalls, and gardening.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-demchik-pmp-5306771b4
VP 3 – Outreach: Heidi Balestrieri
Heidi Balestrieri has been involved in SWE Outreach programs for many years as both a presenter and a student which has fueled her passion to introduce STEM careers to today’s students. Besides being the VP 3 Outreach/Outreach Coordinator for SWE-WI for the past five fiscal years, she has held a variety of SWE section roles in SWE-WI and Heart of Iowa SWE. In her professional role, Heidi is Director of Engineering at Sentry Equipment in Oconomowoc. When not planning or presenting outreach events, Heidi attends her daughters’ school events and uses them as research assistants for developing new outreach activities. She would like to continue in the role as VP 3 Outreach to continue to grow SWE-WI Outreach across the state.
Secretary 1 – Recording: Sam Billetdeaux
Sam Billetdeaux is a SWE Life member and has been involved with SWE since 2011, initially as a collegiate at MSOE and then transitioning to the SWE Wisconsin professional section upon graduation in 2015. In addition to serving as Secretary 1 Recording, Sam supports the SWE Wisconsin section as Newsletter Editor and Webmaster. Outside of SWE Wisconsin, she serves as a FY26 WE Local Advisory Board Member, SWE Counselor for the MSOE collegiate section, and Club Counselor for the SWE BEARs SWENext Club at Mukwonago High School.
Outside of SWE, Sam can be found volunteering at and planning local FIRST Wisconsin Robotics Competitions as another way to expand interest and access to STEM careers. In her day job, she is a Group Manager of Electronics Engineering at Milwaukee Tool in the Chargers and Portable Power group, leading teams developing innovative solutions for the jobsite. Sam is proud to be an engineering working mom and spends her free time with her husband, toddler, and corgi.
Secretary 2 – Society Liaison: Gina Janke
I am interested in keeping our section connected with SWE as an organization through communication of governance meetings and changes in the organization at large.
A current Life member, I have been engaged with SWE throughout most of my collegiate and professional years, working on local, regional and national SWE activities. Through my experience, I hope I can help provide additional value to the SWE-WI members as Secretary 2-Society Liaison.
Treasurer: Katie (Buchalski) Vandenburg
Katie Vandenberg is originally from Michigan and has been a member of the Wisconsin Section since 2019. She has a degree from Michigan Technological University in Environmental Engineering. While at MTU, she was involved with the school SWE section from 2015 and has been involved in leadership since 2017. This is her first year in this position and she is looking forward to learning more about the Section. Katie works for Ruekert Mielke, Inc as a Project Engineer. In her free time, she can be found crocheting or reading.
Membership Chair and Nominating Committee Chair: Susan Thomas Schlett
Susan has been involved with SWE for over 40 years. She has held various roles within the organization including president of SWE-WI, membership chair for the Society and has earned SWE’s Distinguished Service Award. Susan was a founding section member and first SWE section president for her alma mater Trinity College in Hartford, CT where she currently serves as SWE Counselor, in addition to SWE-WI membership chair and nominating committee chair. She was inducted in to the 2024 class of SWE Fellows.
FY26 SWE-WI Organizational Chart
FY26 SWE-WI Org Chart Coming Soon!
SWE Wisconsin Position Descriptions
Elected Officers
President – Oversees the entire SWE-WI Section and elected positions. The President runs monthly executive committee meetings that are approximately 1 hour long. This position also plans and manages two in-person strategic planning meetings in the summer and winter. Typically attends national and local conferences. (2-4 hours/month).
VP2 Collegiates – Be the SWE-WI professional section contact for local SWE collegiate sections via email, video calls, and in-person visits (as needed). Provide support for collegiate sections answering any questions or issues. Maintain and update collegiate section contact information. Attend virtual monthly SWE-WI leadership meetings, attend bi-annual in-person SWE-WI leadership strategic planning meetings, and send email communications updates to collegiate sections at the start, middle, and end of their semesters. (1-2 hours/month)
Secretary Recording – Oversees and coordinates communication members as needed. Records minutes during meetings. This position attends the two strategic planning meetings in person. (2-3 hours/month)
Treasurer – Oversees the SWE-WI account and manages the budget for the year. This position also oversees the scholarship committee. The treasurer maintains the sections taxes and other government documents to keep it in good standing. This position attends the two strategic planning meetings in person (2-3 hours/month)
VP1 Professional – Oversees the members in the membership, professional development, and networking groups. Supports Spring Forward chair with annual event. Attend virtual monthly SWE-WI leadership meetings and attend bi-annual in-person SWE-WI leadership strategic planning meetings. (2 hours/month)
VP3 Outreach – Oversees outreach coordinator and communicates events to section. Submits events to society. Reaches out for new events. (3-16 hours/month)
Secretary Society Liaison – Reviews governance updates from society and reports back to the section. Writes an article about governance and society happenings to the newsletter. Backup to Secretary Recording for recording minutes at monthly meetings should they be unavailable. (2 hours/month)
Appointed Positions
Reports to VP1 Professional – Professional Development Committee
Nominating Chair – Is a SWE-WI member who is not planning to run for an elected section officer position. Attempts to organize a nominating committee with two other SWE-WI members who are not planning to run for an elected section position in that particular SWE fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). The committee reviews the most current section membership roster for who to suggest for leadership roles. They work with the current section EC to see who is interested in running for elected positions. By April the committee puts together a ballot which is electronically sent to the section members for voting over a two week period. The committee tabulates the voting and reports the results to those who have run for positions, as well as the EC and the entire section membership.(<1 hour/month)
Membership/Data Officer – Analyzes the membership numbers and welcomes new members. It is recommended that the person in this role review the section membership roster minimally on a monthly basis for accuracy. The roster is obtained from SWE Headquarters. It is helpful to attempt to contact all new members, preferably by telephone, to “Welcome them to SWE-WI” and to “verify their email address”. Names of new members and their email addresses should be relayed to the EC and in particular to whoever maintains the SWE-WI section distribution list on a monthly basis. If any roster errors are discovered, such as collegiate members being incorrectly assigned to our SWE-WI professional section, then that information should be given to SWE Headquarters for a section transfer. (<1 hour/month)
Corporate Liaisons – Assists communications committee in coordinating communications with corporate partners.
Conference Coordinator – Coordinate section meetups at the annual society conference and SWE local.
Event Planning Milwaukee – Plans social and professional development networking events in the Milwaukee area. (<1 hour a month)
Event Planning Madison – Plans social and professional development networking events in the Madison area.
Event Planning Fox Cities – Plans social and professional development networking events in the Fox Cities area.
Event Planning La Crosse – Plans social and professional development networking events in the La Crosse area.
Spring Forward Chair – Plans Spring Forward annual event. Create a sub-committee to help plan the event. (2-4 hrs/month)
Reports to VP3 Outreach – Outreach Committee
Milwaukee Outreach – Plans and volunteers with Milwaukee outreach events.
La Crosse Outreach – Plans and volunteers with La Crosse outreach events.
Fox Cities Outreach – Plans and volunteers with Fox Cities outreach events.
Reports to Secretary 1 Recording – Communications Committee
Google Coordinator – Sends weekly emails of happenings in the section and manages the email account.
Webmaster – Manages section website and updates for events. (1 hour/month)
Newsletter Editor – Creates the newsletter every other month. Collects and edits submissions. (2 hours/month)
Social Media Coordinator – Manages Facebook page. LinkedIn and other social media with society.
Corporate Liaisons – Assists communications committee in coordinating communications with corporate partners.
Reports to Secretary 2 Society Liaison
Mentor Coordinator – Coordinates mentor relationships in the section.
Herstorian – Makes a digital reference of SWE-WI history.
Internal Awards Chair – Coordinates nominations for and presentation of internal awards given out annually at Spring Forward. (1 hour/month).
External Awards Chair – Works with eligible section members to nominate them for SWE awards. Assists nominees in obtaining letters of support and works with them to write up the required documentation to complete an accurate awards packet that is submitted to SWE Headquarters prior to the program deadline. The chair requires at least two hours per month during the award period (currently December-March timeframe).
Reports to Treasurer
Scholarship Chair – Sends out submission information and chooses scholarship winners. Fundraising. Coordinate with corporate liaison.
