WHILE 2020 WAS A CHALLENGING
A Pledge of Support A range of philanthropic efforts are helping to increase engineering diversity at Northeastern―and in the global workforce
year, it did result in some positive impacts. Among these was an increased awareness of systemic racial inequalities in the U.S., which led many businesses and private individuals to commit to supporting social change. “In asking ‘What can we do to help correct this situation?’, I think many people began to recognize that access to educational opportunities plays a critical role,” says Richard Harris, assistant dean and director of the Northeastern University Program in Multicultural Engineering (NUPRIME) and special advisor for Educational Pathway Programs in the Office of the Provost. While Northeastern’s College of Engineering is ahead of national averages in terms of minority representation and retention―and the NUPRIME effort to recruit and mentor minority students dates back to 1974― the college recognizes that there is much to be done. A range of committed donors are partnering with Northeastern to diversify not only today’s engineering student body, but eventually the global engineering workforce as these students graduate.
Called to action
54 Engineering @ Northeastern | SPRING 2021
Among those watching the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and wondering “What can we do?” were executives and associates at DN Tanks, a company in Wakefield, Massachusetts which specializes in the design and construction of concrete water storage tanks. The company, which has provided co-op opportunities for Northeastern engineering students for over 45 years, quickly convened employee focus groups. “We recognize we can’t singlehandedly change the world, but we wanted to do something that would make a positive impact,” explains Charlie Crowley, former CEO and current Chair of DN Tanks. “We wanted the effort to be driven by employees, so we asked them to brainstorm ideas for increasing
diversity in our company and the civil engineering workforce in general.” Given the company’s long relationship with Northeastern’s College of Engineering, the employees’ response included creating an endowment at Northeastern. Less than a year later, the DN Tanks Fund for Educational Equity in Civil & Environmental Engineering is supporting ongoing scholarships for minority students at Northeastern. Ed Holmes, E’87, is DN Tanks’ director of technical training and manages the co-op program in the Wakefield office. He notes that the company’s goal was to begin making a difference immediately. “Since an endowment takes time to generate dividends, we plan on supplementing the initial donation with additional funds so we can get the scholarship up and running immediately,” remarks Holmes. The DN Tanks Fund provides tuition support for a second-year or above civil and environmental engineering student. Environmental Partners (EP), a multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm in Quincy, Massachusetts, has promoted diversity in its workforce since its inception in 1997. While women represent approximately 50% of EP’s engineering workforce, far higher than the national average of 13%, the firm has been challenged to hire minority engineers. According to Ryan Trahan, E’02, chief operating officer at EP, this has been a long-term issue for the entire architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) community. “The AEC industry has historically struggled with diversity and inclusion. While I believe there is more work to be done, we’ve actually seen great progress in gender inclusivity over the last 20 years, as more women pursue STEM careers. What’s particularly alarming is how underrepresented minorities are in our fields,” says Trahan. “As a company, we asked, ‘How can we encourage diversity and create greater opportunities?’” Today EP is funding an annual scholarship for a student in their
