TransConnect WTS Triangle

WTS NC Triangle Newsletter
November 2014

In this Issue

Upcoming Events
WTS Awards
Name the Newsletter
In Case You Missed It

Featured Events

Dress for Success Luncheon

Dec. 9, 2014

 

WTS NC Triangle Chapter Planning Retreat

Jan. 9-11, 2015

 

Future Cities Competition

Jan. 24, 2015

Board of Directors

 

President

Kim Levine,

Asset Management Associates, PLLC

 

Vice President

Jenny Fleming, PE, Ecological Engineering

 

Secretary

Memory Washaya, NCDOT

 

Treasurer

Jessalyn Abril, PE, LEED AP,

URS

 

Past President

Amy Simes, PE, CPM, NCDENR

Quick Links

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2015 Partners

We're currently accepting pledges from local business and firms to be part of the 2015 Partners Program. Click here for more information or contact Taruna Tayel. 

2014 Partners

Advocate Sponsor


Patron Partner
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
Emerging Business
  
Supporter Partner 
 
 AMEC
 
Editors

Leslie Tracey, PE

City of Durham

 

Hatch Mott MacDonald

Taruna Tayal
VHB 
 

Happy Holidays to everyone! As we all dive in to the busy holiday season, keep thinking WTS! We will soon have our last event of the year - the Dress for Success Charity Luncheon on Dec. 9 - and our first event of next year - the Annual Planning Retreat Jan. 9-11.

 

The annual retreat is a great opportunity to get to know your Chapter Board members and become more involved in the chapter! This event is OPEN AND FREE TO ALL MEMBERS, with shared meals (prepared at the house) and lodging covered by the Chapter.   We hope you can join us as we plan the year ahead, do a little bonding, and have some FUN!

 

Additionally, our chapter is able to offer exciting and relevant industry events throughout the year because of the generosity of our sponsors. The Partners Program is a key aspect of our chapter, providing benefits to our sponsors such as chapter memberships, luncheon seats, and brand visibility, while also supporting our scholarship program and the nationally recognized Transportation YOU Initiative. Please find more detailed information below and on our website, and we look forward to partnering with you in 2015!

 

We hope to see you at the next event!

 

Kimberly J. Levine

President, WTS NC Triangle Chapter

Upcoming Events
Dress for Success Charity Luncheon

Join WTS NC Triangle Chapter at its annual charity luncheon and clothing drive. The luncheon will be held from noon to 1 p.m., Dec. 9 at the Busy Bee in Raleigh. Each year, the chapter collects professional attire to donate to Dress for Success Triangle. The mission of Dress for Success is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. This lunch is open to everyone, and attendees will be responsible only for paying for their meals. Registration deadline is Dec. 8. For more information about the luncheon or how to donate, or to register for the luncheon, click here.

Chapter Planning Retreat
The chapter will be gathering at Lake Gaston, Va., in January for its annual planning retreat. This is when the chapter's events, programs and goals for the year are discussed and scheduled. This event is free and open to all members. The chapter will pay for lodging and meals. It's a great opportunity to get to know the members of the chapter's board and learn how to be more involved. The retreat will be held Jan. 9-11 at the Lake Escape house in Bracey, Va. Reserve your spot for the weekend events by Dec. 19. Click here for more information.
Future City Competition 2015

Future Cities, a national project-based learning experience for students in grades 6, 7 and 8, is looking for industry professionals to volunteer for the competition in January. WTS NC Triangle Chapter supports the Future Cities program, in which students imagine, design and build cities of the future. Students work in teams with an educator and engineer mentor using SimCity™ software. Each team researches and writes solutions to an engineering problem, builds tabletop scale models with recycled materials, and present their ideas to  judges at the Regional Competition, which will be held Jan. 24 at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh. Regional winners represent their regions at the National Finals in Washington, D.C., in February. More information on how to volunteer can be found here.

WTS Award Nominations

WTS NC Triangle Chapter is accepting nominations for outstanding individuals and businesses for the annual Recognition Program. Anyone can submit a nomination for an award in the following categories: Member of the Year, Woman of the Year, Employer of the Year, Rosa Parks Diversity/Leadership, Innovative Transportation Solutions, Community Activist/Organizer and Rookie of the Year. Nominations must be received by Jan. 7, and the winners will be announced at the chapter's Go Gala event in May 2015. Pictured above is Karen Fussell (second from left) of NCDOT, last year's Woman of the Year award winner, with (from left) Kim Levine, president of the WTS NC Triangle Chapter; Tony Tata, Secretary of the NC Department of Transportation, and Elizabeth Gardner, meteorologist for WRAL-TV, who hosted last year's Gala. For more information about how to submit a nomination, click here.

 

WTS NC Triangle Chapter ran a contest over the past month to collect ideas for the redesigned newsletter that will debut in January. The winner of the contest is Kim Gillespie with NCDOT. Congratulations Kim! Look for the newsletter's new look, with Kim's entry at the top, starting in January.

In Case You Missed It ...
Transportation YOU 

The first Transportation YOU event for the 2014-15 school year was held recently. Students learned about aviation lighting design from Faith Adams from Atkins, who led them through an activity in which they connected two cables using a kit. Transportation YOU is a WTS mentoring program for middle- and high-school-aged girls who are interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects. Click here to see more pictures from the event.
Emotions at Work Breakfast
Colleen Slaughter, founder of Authentic Leadership, led the November breakfast series with a presentation on "Working Your Emotions at Work." It was the most well-attended breakfast in the series so far. Colleen explained how emotions can be valid in the workplace  and gave tips on how to use them to your advantage. Click here to see her presentation. 

Professional Connections

For those looking for networking opportunities within the Chapter, consider joining the Professional Connections program. Each quarter, the members of the program are split into groups of four or five, and each group plans a lunch meeting. This is a good way to meet others and learn about their careers, hobbies and interests. For more information, or to sign up, contact  Karen Reynolds.
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Volunteers Needed

The chapter's Communications Committee is looking for volunteers willing to help with its mission of getting the word out about WTS and the local chapter. We need people who can read and edit material, update the website, or handle the chapter's social media accounts. If you are a member with talents in these areas and would like to get more involved, contact Leslie Tracey, communications committee chair.