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 Technical University
- Lake Superior State University
Executive Council
FY25 (July 2024 – June 2025) Executive Council:
- President: Kyela Specht
- VP 1 – Professional Development: Natalie Gamez
- VP 2 – Collegiates: Maureen Duthie
- VP 3 – Outreach: Heidi Balestrieri
- Secretary 1 – Recording: Michele (Gagas) Dodez
- Secretary 2 – Society Liaison: Gina Janke
- Treasurer: Katie (Buchalski) Vandenburg
- Membership Chair (non-elected/EC): Susan Thomas Schlett
President: Kyela Specht
Kyela has been a SWE Member since 2012, when she started as a collegiate member at Bradley University, and has since had a variety of involvement throughout the years. In 2018, I became more involved in the Wisconsin Professional Section when I volunteered on the WE Local Milwaukee Planning Committee, specifically for the SWENext event. Most recently, I have been the Wisconsin Section’s Google Coordinator for FY20 and have been Secretary 1-Recording for FY21, FY22, and FY23, and Section President in FY24. Kyela is currently the Village of Cottage Grove’s Public Works and Utilities Director.
In FY25, Kyela is looking forward to continuing to build on the foundation and goals that were outlined in FY24 to further grow the professional section and continue the involvement through the Executive Committee and the members. SWE-Wisconsin has a strong section of professionals and collegiates and Kyela is looking forward to building on the successes of the section for the future.
VP 1 – Natalie Gamez
Natalie has been a member of SWE since college and most recently with the Spring Forward planning committee (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 competition.
Natalie currently works in Milwaukee at STRATTEC Security Corporation as a Product Engineer III. Over the years she’s chaired multiple United Way campaigns and most recently started a STEM / Engineering Resource Group at their Milwaukee office with goals of expanding to their office in Michigan.
She looks forward to working with the section to provide meaningful professional development activities.
VP 2 – Collegiates: Maureen Duthie
Maureen Duthie (She/Her) has been a member of SWE since 2014 starting as a collegiate at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. After graduating in 2019 with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, she currently works as a Product Engineer III at Clarios in Milwaukee and is an MBA student at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. At Clarios she is also a university outreach coordinator for their STEM Outreach volunteering group, EXTND, and is a member of their women’s networking ERG. This is her second year serving on the SWE-WI Executive Board and looks forward to continuing collaborating with the collegiate sections to provide support and meaningful opportunities to connect with the professional section. In her free time you can find her rock climbing, sailing, hiking, playing soccer, volleyball, skiing, or spending time with her friends, partner, and two cats.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maureen-duthie/
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: Michele (Gagas) Dodez
I am the Secretary 1 – Recording for FY25. I received my Bachelor’s degree in BioMechanical Engineering and Master’s degree in BioInstrumentation from Marquette University. I started my SWE career during my undergraduate studies, and I was able to serve for one year each as the Student Council Representative and the Fundraising Chair. After I graduated, I continued to stay with SWE during my role as a Manufacturing Engineer for Criticare Systems working on patient monitors. I currently am working as a Validation Engineer for Pfizer. I have been the Newsletter Editor for the SWE-WI Section for a total of five years, and the counselor for the UW-Stevens Point section for the last four years. I will continue to support the Wisconsin Section as the Secretary keep the communication open between the Executive Committee and the Members. I currently live northeast of Madison with my husband, 9 year old Newfoundland Abby, 3 year old cat Winnie, and 5 month old Newfoundland Nixie.
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: 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.