News

Terracon Foundation Awards $50,000 in National Partner Grants to Girl Scouts of the USA and Society of Women Engineers

February 25, 2018

OLATHE, Kan. — The Terracon Foundation is pleased to announce the presentation of two National Partner grants: $25,000 to Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) and $25,000 to the Society of Women Engineers. To date, the Foundation has granted more than $1.6 million to community organizations, universities, dependents of employees, and for disaster relief efforts. The Terracon Foundation encourages employees to submit grant requests for local organizations aligned with the company’s mission.

GSUSA Grant

The grant money awarded to Girls Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) will be used to support the organization’s National STEM Strategy: Math in Nature Badge Program. GSUSA works with 1.8 million girls through 800,000 volunteers in 112 councils in all 50 states and overseas troops in 92 countries. This is the second time the organization has received a national partner grant from the Terracon Foundation.

“In recognizing the need to address the future demand for strong female talent within the STEM arena, Girl Scouts remains committed to programming that encourages girls to embrace the STEM career path,” said Sylvia Acevedo, GSUSA chief executive officer. “This generous grant from the Terracon Foundation will help to ensure our organization – both at the national level and through our Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri council – will have the ongoing support necessary to fortify our STEM leadership development efforts.”

The GSUSA grant was recommended by Karen Rieken, P.E., site investigation group manager in Terracon’s St. Louis office. Rieken’s long association with the organization started when she became a girl scout in first grade and has continued into adult volunteer roles including troop leader and educator. Rieken recently presented the grant check to Bonnie Barczykowski, CEO of Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, on behalf of the national organization. For more information about Girl Scouts, visit www.girlscouts.org.

Society of Women Engineers Grant

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) will use the grant money awarded by the Terracon Foundation to help support its SWENEXT program to engage the next generation of female engineers. SWE has nearly 40,000 members, 100 professional sections, 300 student sections, and global affiliates throughout the United States and around the world.

“Through the generous support of the Terracon Foundation for the SWENext program, SWE can develop new resources to inspire the next generation of female engineers and technologists,” said Jonna Gerken, SWE president.

SWE’s grant request was submitted to the Terracon Foundation from Catherine Rocky, P.G., CSPM, national account manager in Terracon’s Wichita office. She has been a supporter and participant in the SWE local, regional, and national organizations since college, and currently serves SWE Magazine’s editorial board. Rocky recently presented the check to Gerken at the organization’s local conference in Tulsa. SWE was also the 2015 recipient of the Terracon Foundation’s national partner grant.

The Terracon Foundation’s goal is to reach out and become a real part of the lives of Terracon employees and the communities where they live and work. Employees may apply for local community, university, and national partner grants, allowing them to recommend investment in causes in their own communities.

For more information about the Terracon Foundation and other organizations it has supported, visit www.terracon.com/about/foundation.

Terracon is an employee-owned engineering consulting firm with more than 4,000 employees providing environmental, facilities, geotechnical, and materials services from more than 140 offices with services in all 50 states. Terracon currently ranks 30th on Engineering News-Record’s list of Top 500 Design Firms. For additional information about Terracon, visit www.terracon.com.

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