This summer, the IEEE Women in Engineering held the 2022 International Leadership Summit (ILS 2022) in Hyderabad, India, an event that received funding from the IEEE Computer Society Diversity and Inclusion Fund. Sessions were built around encouraging careers in STEM, inspiring research in emerging technologies, educating on how to protect oneself from cybercrime, and learning how to set sustainable goals.
The 198 attendees of ILS 2022 had the opportunity to meet and learn from leaders in various disciplines while covering topics on leadership, entrepreneurship, and humanitarianism.
One of the biggest values of this year’s summit was that sponsors could gain publicity for their brands, and showcase current projects. This allowed for two-way interaction between presenters and attendees, sparking new research areas and advice on writing effective research proposals with solutions to humanitarian issues.
More About the Diversity and Inclusion Fund
Since its inaugural year in 2021, the Diversity and Inclusion has been providing grants to support efforts to increase inclusion in the computing community.
For its second year, the IEEE Computer Society quadrupled its investment to $400,000 USD. Project proposals are accepted on a rolling basis for projects and events seeking financial assistance between $5,000 to $15,000 USD.
Ideas for proposals include, but are not limited to:
- Hackathons, competitions, mentoring circles, outreach projects, and other programs that allow participants to be hands-on.
- Workshops and panel discussions that bring together diverse perspectives and experiences to advance D&I education and advocacy.
- Courses, training, reports, and other communications that promote awareness of diversity and inclusion in computing.
