Review from our vice-president
In recent years, Petra played a key role in rebuilding and accelerating the KIVI Network of Women Engineers. With an eye for both substantive quality and connection, she set the course for events, company visits and an annual congress. Below, Petra shares-in her own words-her retrospective of that period.
In 2021, I was approached by Elfride Dijkstra because the KIVI Network of Women Engineers would actually no longer have a board with the resignation of the last board members, asking if I wanted to help revive it. A survey had been done by the incumbent board though, from which a lot of valuable information had come out about members' needs. Among other things, the demand was for not too many really women's or emancipation topics but rather substantive events where people could network with other women.
With these principles under my belt, I spoke to the then KIVI president, who soon found a chair in Diana van de Heuvel (now president of KIVI herself)! She and I placed a call for board members, and our first feat was to fill no less than 2 tables with Leading Ladies at the KIVI 175 years celebration. Then we set to work as a board with new events, company visits, lectures, and an annual conference. Only on 8 March an activity that was really about the 'women's cause'. It proved to be a successful formula, to which we were recently able to add the mentor-mentee initiative at the initiative of current chair Sabine Batenburg and secretary Karin Leijs with the help of Giandra Cardose.
After successful annual conferences on AI, hydrogen and Holland Waterland, and many more, I look with pride at an active and growing community. New board members have joined in the persons of Mieke Lorie, Huili See and Liesbeth Poortman. I am proud of what we have already achieved together within 5 years and see the new team entering the next 5 years with great confidence.
NVI has become a successful KIVI department ready for the future. It was an honour to be able to contribute to this!
On behalf of the NSA board, we sincerely thank Petra for her dedication, vigour and commitment. Her work has laid a solid foundation on which the current team continues to build. We wish her every success with everything to come-and look forward to continuing to meet her at NVI activities in the future.
