WE Local U.S. Advisory Board

Jonna Gerken, F.SWE is Associate Director, Systems Engineering at Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business. She has held numerous positions supporting global company operations for engineering, manufacturing, and sourcing. Gerken is also a SWE Fellow and was FY18 President of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), leading the global organization which encourages more women to enter and stay in engineering fields. Additionally, she serves on the board of the Girl Scouts of CT, the University of New Haven Engineering Industry Advisory Board and the Western New England University Engineering Advisory Board. Gerken holds a BS in industrial and management engineering and an MBA in technology development, both from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

She received the inaugural Visionary Award from RTX in 2023, the 2019 Influential Women in Manufacturing award, the 2016 Pettit Family Foundation Women in Science Leadership Award from the Connecticut Science Center, the 2014 STEP Award from the Manufacturing Institute, the 2011 Pratt & Whitney Diversity and Inclusion Award, and the 2006 SWE Distinguished New Engineer Award.

Nicole Lawson is Flight Simulation Software Engineer at the Boeing Company in Saint Louis, MO. She studied Computer Science and Computer Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, where she graduated with a dual major in May 2019. Nicole has been an active member of SWE since her days at Missouri S&T, serving on the collegiate executive board before moving on to serve as the SWE Sacramento Valley Section's secretary and then president when she lived in northern California. After a move to central Connecticut, she also stepped into the role of SWE Hartford’s Outreach Chair and then secretary. Finally back in the Midwest, she’s excited to participate as a member of SWE Saint Louis.

Her involvement with WE Local conferences started when she joined the Local Host Committee (LHC) to plan WE Local Des Moines in 2021, and then continued as a member of the Local Advisory Board (LAB). She was a member of the SWENext subcommittee and then co-led the FY24 Community Outreach subcommittee, where she helped bring several hands-on outreach sessions to life at the 2024 WE Local conferences. She was excited to continue her efforts as the FY25 Programs subcommittee lead to shape the future of the conference programs, including the official Technical Workshop sessions! She’s excited to step up as LAB Chair-Elect to lead the team who has taught her so much. In her (limited) spare time, she enjoys snowboarding and skiing with her husband, hiking, crocheting and crafting, training her dogs and participating in STEM outreach programs where she can connect with future engineers and scientists!

Helen Colvin is a Lead Product Manager with Wells Fargo. She has been with Wells Fargo in a variety of software development related roles since 2009. She has been involved in SWE for over 20 years, beginning as a Collegiate member at Iowa State University, and is a Life Member of the Society.

Iva Milisavljevic holds a Ph.D. in Ceramic Engineering and is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Alfred University, where she works on a U.S. Department of Energy project focused on uncovering fundamental structural and chemical features of novel battery electrode materials. An active member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) since 2019, Iva has held multiple leadership roles and served on the WE Local Working Group for the past five years. She is passionate about creating meaningful experiences for WE Local attendees and currently contributes as a Strategy/Continuous Improvement member, helping shape the future structure, content, and impact of WE Local.

Beyond SWE, Iva is also an engaged leader within the American Ceramic Society, where she chairs the Industry Mentoring Program Subcommittee, fostering connections between early career professionals and industry leaders. She is especially dedicated to supporting professional growth opportunities for international students.

Outside her professional and volunteer commitments, Iva enjoys hiking, exploring outdoors, and spending time with her young daughter, Tara.

Kimberly Lam is a product manager in Azure Edge at Microsoft and proud SWE member since 2013. In this role, she manages VM features that can be controlled at the cloud and operate at the edge. 

Prior to Microsoft, Kim worked in the aerospace and defense industry in a variety of roles ranging from systems engineering, proposal management, modeling & analysis, and operations analysis. She is also a graduate of the Lockheed Martin Engineering Leadership Development Program. 

Kim recently became a SWE life member. Throughout her SWE career, she has held leadership roles at the section, region, and Society levels. Most recently, she was the FY24 President of the Santa Clara Valley Section and FY23 Society Scholarship Coordinator. She was recognized as a Distinguished New Engineer in 2023. 

Kim earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at NJIT and M.S. in Operations Research from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Kim is proud of her heritage as a Chinese American woman and first-generation engineer. 

Emily Hoffman is an Engagement Manager working in pharmaceutical consulting. She helps pharmaceutical companies as they develop novel products, specializing in rare disease and immunology. Emily earned her PhD at Northwestern University in Materials Science and Engineering in 2017. She completed her bachelor's at Case Western Reserve University in Biomedical Engineering in 2011. In graduate school, Emily was supported by the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, completed the Management for Scientist and Engineers certificate program through the Kellogg School of Management, and served as a fellow at the National Academy of Engineering through the Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellowship.

In SWE, Emily served as the Collegiate Research Competition Coordinator at the annual conferences from WE18 to WE22. Prior, she served as the GradSWE Graduate Programming Coordinator for WE17 and Coordinator-Elect for WE16. Emily was awarded with the Outstanding Collegiate Member award at WE17, and she is also a SWE Life Member. 

Additionally, Emily is a cycling enthusiast. She helps to lead NYC/ADV, an NYC area club for bikepackers (bike camping and touring), and volunteers with the non-profit Bike New York.

Stacey DelVecchio originally hails from Cleveland, Ohio, and as such, is a diehard Browns, Guardians, and Cavaliers fan. Her most recent professional work as the President of StaceyD Consulting focused on consulting for additive manufacturing deployment and strategy. Prior to launching her own consulting business, she was the Additive Manufacturing Product Manager for Caterpillar Inc. A thirty-one-year SWE member, past president, and fellow of the society, Stacey is a lifelong advocate for gender equity in STEM. This year, she wants to be sure our WE Locals are full of relevant and exciting programming. She lives in Peoria, Illinois, with Kerry, her husband of 35 years and fellow engineer, and their cat Teddy. A self-proclaimed lover of life, Stacey enjoys traveling, reading, and scrapbooking.

Heidi is the Director of Engineering at Sentry Equipment, a peerless global provider of sampling and process improvement technologies that protect people and the environment for a safer world. There she has led several creative cost-reduction initiatives and implemented process efficiencies. She has utilized her position to mentor multiple women engineers.

Her involvement goes beyond her place of work, as Heidi has held numerous leadership positions within SWE including her current position as VP Outreach for SWE-Wisconsin; volunteered with various STEM-related organizations including FIRST Lego League, STEM Forward, and Girls in Engineering, Mathematics, and Science (GEMS); and was named as a 2023 Women MAKE Award Honoree.

Heidi earned her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at North Dakota State University where she first joined SWE in 1997 as a collegiate member and has remained a member ever since. In that time, she has been dedicated to promoting SWE at various events and engaging with the community.

Sam Billetdeaux is Group Manager Electronics Engineering at Milwaukee Tool on the chargers and portable power team. Throughout her ten years with the company, she has supported the development of power tools, chargers, and portable power products. She enjoys the opportunity to develop innovative solutions improving the experiences of professional power tool users while building and leading a world-class engineering team. Attempting to find the balance daily as an engineering working mom is one of her proudest accomplishments.

Outside of her day job, Billetdeaux serves as Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Wisconsin Section FY26 Secretary Recording, Webmaster, and Newsletter Editor as well as Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) SWE Counselor and Mukwonago High School SWENext Club Counselor for SWE BEARs. Beyond SWE, Billetdeaux shares her passion for STEM through volunteering with FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). She has been involved with planning local FIRST Robotics Competitions since 2019 and will serve as the Wisconsin District Senior Volunteer Coordinator for the 2025-2026 FRC season.

Billetdeaux has been awarded the 2025 SWE Esteemed New Professional Member Award, received the FIRST Robotics Competition Outstanding Volunteer of the Year award at the inaugural Phantom Lakes Regional in 2025, and earned SWE’s Outstanding Collegiate Member award in 2014.

Leah is an R&D engineer at Medtronic in Minneapolis, MN, and a University of Minnesota alumna (BChemE & BSChem '22). She's been involved with SWE since 2018 and recently wrapped up her role as the FY24 Society-level outreach committee chair. Outside of work and SWE, Leah enjoys cycling, playing softball, crafting and ice cream spot hunting.

Lisa Malmanger is a Senior Solution Architect with a background in software engineering and a career shaped by her service in the military. She currently serves as the Local Host Chair for the 2026 WE Local Austin conference. Lisa is also a Board Member for Merivis, a nonprofit dedicated to helping veterans and military spouses transition into technology careers, and volunteers with other organizations supporting veterans as they pursue education and career growth. She previously served as the Military & Veterans Affinity Group Co-Lead for the Society of Women Engineers, helping to strengthen community and advocacy for the military community within SWE.

Outside of her professional and volunteer commitments, Lisa enjoys comics, live music, and video games. She is the proud mother of a college-aged daughter pursuing game design and development and has three dogs, Ozzy, Emma, and Zion.

Sireesha “Siri” Akula has been an active leader in the Society of Women Engineers for more than a decade, serving in roles across the Columbia River Section, Region J, and the SWE Leadership Coaching Committee. She has contributed as conference lead, programs chair, and mentorship coordinator, consistently championing inclusive, high-impact experiences for women in STEM both in the workplace and through SWE. Siri has also spearheaded outreach programs that connect engineers with K-12 students, building pathways for the next generation of talent.

Beyond SWE, Siri serves as President-Elect for the PMI Portland Chapter, where she has led professional development programs, innovative mentoring initiatives, and tailored PMP boot camps that have advanced the careers of project managers across the region.

Professionally, Siri is a senior engineering manager at Intel, leading customer enabling and solutions for the Infrastructure Processing Unit (IPU) product line. She is recognized for building cross-functional, global teams and driving adoption of next-generation technologies across the ecosystem.

Siri thrives at the intersection of leadership, mentorship, and community building. At heart, she is an avid gardener who enjoys spending time outdoors tending to plants or hiking with family and friends. As the 2026 WE Local Portland Conference Chair, her vision is to deliver an inclusive, meaningful, connected, and memorable experience that empowers women engineers by profession and interest, inspires volunteers, and strengthens the SWE community across the Pacific Northwest.

Columbus Chair