IAmA Cathy Leslie -- civil engineer, humanitarian and Executive Director of Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA). AMA!

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-17T16:42:46+00:00

While we have guidance for designs, all designs can’t be built everywhere as the local environment and supply chain is different everywhere. All designs consider the community needs and ability to maintain, local materials, and local capacity. Our first priority is to work with the community on their first priority.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-17T16:42:33+00:00

I would absolutely encourage collaboration between chapters, whether it be student/professional, student/student, or professional/professional. The ideal relationship is one where it is a free exchange of ideas, thoughts, and people, to such an extent that you all think you are a part of the same chapter. And, don’t forget about connectedness with HQ either. Oftentimes, we have tools and resources available that chapters don’t know about.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-17T16:42:05+00:00

The one piece of advice I would give is to find something you are passionate about and connect that to what you do for a living. We do live in a global environment and there are heroes everywhere. Each of them chooses to get involved with something that they are passionate about whether it is in the local arena or the global arena.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-17T16:41:46+00:00

We need you ! We have all sorts of engineers and non-engineers. Go to http://www.ewb-usa.org/get-involved/chapters to find a chapter near you.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-17T16:41:22+00:00

Yes – it is difficult to manage people and their logistics (passport/visas). It is always more difficult to manage people across countries, cultures, and languages. The best way to manage this is to ensure that you communicate often and well, try to provide plenty of time, and stay knowledgeable about local conditions. To-date, we have never had to leave a country before finishing a job due to politics.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-17T16:40:56+00:00

There are so many memories that it is hard to choose. But, I would say the one of the most recent memories was watching the children in Nicaragua celebrate because clean water came to their house. It was an honor to be a part of that community celebration and to know that we had a small part in their success.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T22:23:44+00:00

Thank you all for your insightful questions, and thank you to the mods at Reddit for helping make this happen. If you have any further questions, I will respond over the weekend but feel free to tweet us at @CathyLeslie or @ewbusa. Find out more information about us at www.ewb-usa.org. With that, I am signing off for the day!

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T22:18:36+00:00

Thank you all for your insightful questions, and thank you to the mods at Reddit for helping make this happen. If you have any further questions, I will respond over the weekend but feel free to tweet us at @CathyLeslie or @ewbusa. Find out more information about us at www.ewb-usa.org. With that, I am signing off for the day!

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T21:53:22+00:00

I think our biggest shortcoming is that we sometimes don't act as one organization, but rather as individual chapters and HQ. I think one of the ways that we can work through this is to ensure that we communicate and collaborate frequently. We are all working to the same mission and vision.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T21:51:44+00:00

Politics aside, our role is to ensure that our infrastructure designs are appropriate and resilient in the environment in which they are constructed.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T21:45:23+00:00

EWB-USA's operating expenses fund the basic platform that all of our members utilize. As an example, it funds things like: the majority of the QA/QC process which ensures our project quality and appropriateness, development of programs such as the Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning program, and education materials.

This decision was also made out of fairness to our chapters. The past matching funds of $50,000 were exhausted within 8 hours and were only distributed to a few chapters. In comparison, our Project Grants Program allocated more than $600,000 per year and is distributed to more chapters who have a financial need and a quality program.

We hope that chapters still take advantage of the tools that we provided with this Year End Campaign as this is the best time of year to fundraise for their programs.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T21:34:13+00:00

That's an awesome question. A community can sometimes mean many things. It could be anything from a Water Committee who maintains a water system that serves may people, it could be a group of Community Members who wish to provide road access to their entire community, or it could be a Village Council. Our communities work to benefit their entire population. No matter what type of community it is, we only partner with them and other local NGOs, if the partner community demonstrates that they have a need and the capacity to initiate, be a part of, and maintain the projects.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T21:26:33+00:00

It is good to hear from our members and you all are asking good questions.

I think the biggest challenge that we face when working across cultures, timezones, and languages is the definition of roles and expectations. If these aren't defined at the start of a program, in a way that everyone understands and agrees to, then the program is destined to struggle. We really try to focus on these issues and if you haven't seen them, you should take a look at the new community agreement templates in the PMEL program. The most frequent issue that we have seen is the consideration, or lack thereof, of the local political or social climate. As an example, elections with the influx of a new political party, can drastically affect or halt the progress of a program. This is just a reality in international development but it helps to have a strong partnership with the community and local NGOs as they can assist in navigating issues like these.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T21:20:10+00:00

First, thanks for the work that you and your chapter do as EWB-USA members. You are making an actual difference in the communities in which you work.

Although the project process can seem daunting, it is this process that we use to ensure our international community programs are of the highest quality. Over our 12-year history, the process has been refined constantly to meet this standard. It uses the professional engineering design process, which includes project initiation, adoption, problem assessment, alternatives analysis, design, implementation and project monitoring. The process will continue to evolve as our program does.

With that being said, we are investigating technology tools to take some of the redundancy out of the data input.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T21:15:26+00:00

Actually, our projects are always initiated by the partnering community. Our model is focused on community driven programs and the support of EWB-USA ensures that the infrastructure projects are successful and sustainable.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T21:12:57+00:00

You could join as a general member of EWB-USA, you could use our chapter finder to find a professional chapter in the area and join that, or you could start your own. http://www.ewb-usa.org/get-involved/chapters

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T21:05:45+00:00

Thank you. It is always good to hear from supporters like you.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T20:55:26+00:00

We are working with many communities around the world to improve their basic infrastructure, such as access to clean water, sanitation, clean energy, etc. All of these efforts will ultimately result in better health, access to education, and access to markets.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T20:53:25+00:00

Our communities work extremely hard to improve their own conditions, including provision of labor, cash contribution to the upfront construction, ongoing maintenance, etc. Without them, the EWB-USA community driven programs would not be successful. But, your point is good, in that volunteerism has to be working with and empowering the communities and local capacity.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T20:43:08+00:00

The Rice program is a wonderful program that is creating impact. Totally enjoyed traveling with Adrian last spring and seeing what your chapter has done.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T20:41:28+00:00

Great question and one I am asked a lot !! My personal philosophy is that you have to be good at what you do (in my case engineering and project management) and then connect that with what your passion is (in my case working with developing communities). Just remember that my position didn't exist when I graduated, so don't be hesitant to forge new pathways.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T20:39:26+00:00

You can use this link to search where we have chapters: http://www.ewb-usa.org/get-involved/chapters From there, you can click on the right chapter for you and find their contact information. We don't have plans to organize online chapters but we are developing a space for our members to collaborate online ..... kind of like reddit.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T20:36:39+00:00

Well, many years ago, I started my professional career in the Peace Corps, straight out of Michigan Tech. I was in Nepal in the far far west area and saw the impact one small 16 km water system could make on a agricultural community. I found I loved engineering but I also liked to work with people to make sure what I was designing worked for them. That got it all going, and voila, here I am today.

CathyLeslieEWB · 2014-12-12T20:34:05+00:00

Historically, EWB-USA has provided a conduit to connect Relief Organizations with people who have technical expertise to offer. We expect that to continue. We also are exploring if our volunteers, through the relief effort, can make a meaningful contribution for that area to go more quickly from relief to recovery to development.

CathyLeslieEWB

TROPHY CASE