On Friday, March 28, 2025, Stevens hosted the first annual Women’s Gala in the UCC TechFlex to close off Women’s History Month. The event was co-organized by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Stevens Women in Business (SWIB), and Stevens Women in Computer Science (SWiCS), as doors were open for club members and event guests from 6 to 10 p.m..
Romantic candles and purple accent lighting softened the TechFlex’s stark atmosphere as guests were dressed in formal “Black Tie” and seated for a white tablecloth experience. To begin the night, guests heard a live Q&A with Hoveida Farvardin, the First Lady of Stevens, a former executive at the World Bank, followed by alumni keynote speakers from each student organization. Tanishk Kapoor, President of SWIB and ¾ Finance major, and the First Lady opened presentations with a fireside chat on Favardin’s professional journey as an engineer in the days of burgeoning women leadership in STEM fields.
SWiCS
Humna Sultan, President of SWiCS and a ¾ Computer Science major with an Information Systems minor, introduced alum Isabella Cruz, Class of 2023, with a B.S. in Computer Science and former SWiCS Vice President. Now a Senior Software Engineer at Prudential Financial, Cruz weighed the costs and benefits of internship structures, providing advice on navigating the ever-common rotational roles that are precursors to post-grad job placements.
Aparajita Rana, Class of 2022 with a B.S. in Computer Science and minor in STS and former SWiCS President, spoke about her time as a Technical Product Manager at Microsoft. Rana highlighted the central role of personal branding that differentiates between “just doing the work” and receiving professional recognition.
SWE
Elizabeth Halton, President of SWE and ¾ Civil Engineer, introduced alum Sam Weckesser, Class of 2023 with a B.E. in Industrial and Systems Engineering and an M.E. in 2024, and former SWE President. As co-founder of Homer Maritime, Weckesser shared the beginning of her journey of saying “yes, and” to professional opportunities that introduced her to inspired college research, and eventually the foundation for developing her own start-up.
SWIB
Dr. Kaitlin Gili, Founder of Encouraging Women Across All Borders (EWAB), received her pHD in Quantum Physics from the University of Oxford, and is a researcher in the Computer Science Department at Tufts University. Gili shared the process of making vulnerable concessions to personal goals to achieve professional milestones.
The gala progressed from mature to young voices of leadership. The First Lady’s retrospective advice on evolving leadership celebrated recent graduates, as Kapoor states, “It was really impactful to hear from someone who’s retired now, she’s gone through her career, she’s lived a mature life. And seeing that was inspirational.”
At 8:40 p.m., Halton, Kapoor, and Sultan made closing remarks to shift into a night of casual networking and dinner. Photo booths lined the hallway as guests mingled between the tables and the dance floor.
Women’s Gala represents a year-long collaboration between SWE, SWIB, and SWiCS efforts to gauge attendance interest and begin the technical planning for event budgeting, catering, and alumni panel profiling to make the night a celebration of women’s leadership. Previous organization collaboration throughout the semester—the SWiCS and SWE Slumber Party Event in December—contributed to the gala’s success. “We wanted to bring all three orgs together and see if there was an interest to combine across disciplines,” says Halton, as club attendance continues to resurge from COVID years. “We had a high turnout for that event, and we felt ready to push forward and spend all the money to make this gala possible.”
Sultan sourced funding for the event from the School of Business’ Day of Giving contributions and guidance from the alumni office to financially create a platform for women’s leadership. “I loved watching people walking into the room and being excited. It’s beautiful how we can celebrate women at Stevens when it has only accepted women since the 1970s.”
