Bio of National President, Nikki Yovanof

We continue our series of notes from the National Council members introducing themselves with a note from our National President, Nikki Yovanof!

Dear Sisters,


I’m very excited to help start out the next round on the National Awareness Campaign by introducing myself to you all! By now, you all know that I’m the new National President, but I’d like to share with you a little more about who I am and what I do.

I was born in Chicago, IL and grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. When I was younger, I wanted to be an astronaut, so aerospace engineering seemed like the most logical path forward. I went to Penn State and got my B.S. in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Engineering Mechanics. Along the way, I heard about the start of an engineering sorority at PSU. After trashing a few of the first emails, one finally caught my attention and I was hooked after one meeting. The PSU-Lambda chapter was founded Spring 2002 and I am proud to have been a charter member, Standards Board member, Vice President, and President of the chapter.

After graduating at PSU, I moved to Huntington Beach, CA to work for The Boeing Company, where I had interned for 2 summers. Since moving to CA in 2004, I have been working in the Boeing Research & Technology organization as a stress analyst and now program manager. I went to the University of Southern California to get my M.S. in Systems Architecture & Engineering. I’m still an aerospace geek and think that I get to work on some of the coolest projects! I’ve also recently begun training to get my pilot certificate and hope to move forward, once I stay in the same city for longer than a week at a time! But I love to travel (I’m writing this from an airport, haha), for work, PSR, or for fun – so sign me up for any cool PSR trips! You should also know that growing up in Pittsburgh and going to Penn State, I am a huge football fan and supporter of the Steelers and Nittany Lions (there’s a great picture of me in a PSU magazine at the Rose Bowl last year where I’m the only one left cheering after we were getting destroyed...).

During my senior year at PSU, I was recruited by then VP of Programming Kellan (Jablonski) Ponikiewicz to get involved in the new Leadership Education And Programming (LEAP) activity she was working on. Since then, I have continued to be involved in PSR at the national level as Leadership Director, VP of Programming, and now President. My favorite part of the opportunities I’ve had with PSR has been spending time getting to know the actives and alumnae I’ve worked with in different areas. I have had a blast at every national meeting I’ve planned and attended, and every LEAP workshop I’ve presented. I hope that as president, I can continue to work with you all and continue to build a strong relationship between National Council and the actives and alumnae we volunteer for!
As president, I have a pretty cool position and a lot of responsibility. My role is to oversee the National Council and help guide the strategic direction of the organization. While keeping in mind the social aspects of our Sorority, we have to keep in mind that the size of PSR means that we also have to operate as a business with smooth execution and future direction. I think that I am most excited about this opportunity to shape our future, particularly through the 2010-2014 Strategic Plan. I see it as my role on National Council to help get rid of some of the roadblocks that the other officers, volunteers, and actives and alumnae have to getting their jobs done and getting the most out of PSR. In addition, I am also the spokeswoman of the sorority serve as a representative of our sisterhood. This means that I also interact with outside organizations like Triangle, SWE, and even our own PSR Foundation. As President, I also serve as the Ex-Officio to the Foundation and serve on their Board of Directors.

I am truly honored to be your 12th NC President! I look forward to working with you all to build great relationships, present a good image of PSR, and help lead us into the future. I am here if you have any  questions, suggestions, or problems. As an analyst, I’m at a computer all the time and pretty easy to reach by e-mail!

In Sisterhood,

Nicolette Yovanof

National President – Phi Sigma Rho 12th National Council
(e) nicolette.p.yovanof@gmail.com

(aim) Starlette741

Also find me on: Facebook, gmail chat, and LinkedIn!

National Council Bio: Sara DaSilva, VPAA

We continue the series of profiles of our National Council Members. These letters were written to the membership to help you get to know us better as your governing council.  This letter is from Sara DaSilva, Vice President of Alumnae Affairs.

Hello everyone!

My name is Sara DaSilva, and I am the National Vice President of Alumnae Affairs for Phi Sigma Rho. I am 29 years old and live in a town called Pottstown, not too far from Philadelphia. I got married in 2007 to my husband Marco, and we have two dachshunds named Coco and Bear. I work as a Six Sigma Black Belt for Praxair, Inc., an industrial gases manufacturer. I am a chemical engineer who
went to Pittsburgh-Zeta, and I also have my MBA.

I grew up in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota and went to Catholic grade school and public high school. It was a huge switch going from a class of 19 to 650! My parents were transplants to Minnesota (my Mom is from Wausau, WI and my dad is from Cleveland) but have lived there ever since they got married. I have a younger brother named Dave, but unfortunately ladies, he is no longer single.

I had some great science teachers in high school who really made science challenging and fun. I am definitely a logical, analytical person, so I think engineering made sense for me at the time. But I also always enjoyed English and Music classes. I decided to go to Pitt in the fall of 1998 after looking at
several schools—we went there on a really beautiful day for the campus tour and I think that is what locked it in for me! Little did I know how gray it usually is in Pittsburgh.

All kidding aside, I loved Pittsburgh and my experience there. I really struggled at times with school, and I was never going to win any merit scholarships! But again I had teachers who cared whether I learned what they were teaching me, and they helped me make it. During school I co-oped at two different places: OSRAM Sylvania in Towanda, PA, and Honeywell Performance Fibers in Hopewell, VA. Neither of them were hiring when I graduated in April 2003, though. I wasn’t sure where I would want to live, so I would take anything that seemed right. I interviewed with lots of places but ultimately it came down to two companies that were supposed to make me job offers within the same week: GM and Praxair.

I found out about a program for Leadership Training at Praxair through another Pitt grad. For my interview with Praxair I was a mess! It was in Houston in May and it was about 95 degrees. There I was in my nice suit, eager to get the job--and my flight got cancelled! I showed up late to the interview and consequently had to be interviewed by a couple of the teams put together—there were 8 people interviewing me at once! But I got the job and definitely credit my ability to adapt to difficult situations in helping me make it through that situation and many others since then.

I started my leadership program in July 2003 in Suffield, CT. I got to travel all over the country and learn about the various parts of Praxair’s business. After about a year and a half I was transferred to my first permanent position as Facility Superintendent of a production plant in Hatfield, PA. At this time Marco came to live with me. We started dating in 2001 (and we met at a sorority party!). It was very nerve-wracking at first (I was worried he would get sick of my clutter and I wouldn’t be able to stand his neatness) but it did lead us to marriage! And the neatness and clutter is definitely an issue—but it’s worth it being married!

I have encountered a lot of tough situations in my job as I worked in a place with no other women and I was always the youngest person by at least 10 years—usually by about 30! I transitioned into my current role as a Black Belt in April 2009 and I have been very happy with it. It was a big shift from being a manager of about 20 people (now I work at home) but both work environments have their
advantages.

Because I have struggled both through school and in my jobs, I have always appreciated the bond of sisterhood. I have found it so hard to make friends once I moved new places, but Phi Sigma Rho has this terrific network of women who at least share one thing in common: something drove us to at
least attempt an engineering or science-related field! I have been able to meet some terrific women in the Philadelphia area that get together about once a month. We’re all from different chapters but it’s funny how much we have in common! And it’s wonderful to have some friends to lean on in those tough times.

I’ve often said that PSR means even more to me as an adult than it did while I was in school. I was an Alpha class member at Pitt, and I am so proud of my Charcoal Gray family (it’s very prolific!). I am also proud of what my chapter has become. I remember a semester when we only had 8 girls active, and now Pitt is one of the biggest chapters. When I was in school I held lots of different positions, but I loved being Vice President. When I graduated I decided to stay involved and I became the RFD for UConn-Theta. Then in my second year, Rutgers-Xi was added to my territory. I also became involved with the beginning stages of the Foundation at that time and ultimately decided to run for a National Council Position.

I ran for National VP of Alumnae Affairs in 2005, and was lucky to be elected. It was a learning curve at first, but there is always a mix of experienced and new people on Council, so I was able to catch up quickly. I enjoyed my two-year term and decided to run for President for the 11th National Council. I was elected again and spent an eye-opening two years as President. I learned to delegate and trust
people, and to use my management skills to maintain an effective and productive board. I decided one more term would be fun, so I ran for VPAA again, and that’s where I am now!

I’m very passionate about the alumnae experience and want other sisters to experience the benefits I have stumbled upon by meeting other great alums and networking and just connecting. Phi Rhos have enriched my life beyond what I could have expected. I talk to Phi Rhos about deciding whether and when to have kids, how to deal with bosses who think you should be more like a man, dealing with people at work who think you are too pretty to be smart, how to manage a dual-earner partnership with your spouse, but also what books are good, where to find good coupons, and where our next girls trip will be!

I will leave you with a few tidbits from my PSR experience. My best friend in the world is a Phi Rho. Seeing her be able to manage having a child, a husband, and a job made me realize I can do it too. At my little’s wedding last August, we actually sang the Phi Rho Round and circled around her. My chapter’s alumnae welcome the new alums every semester by taking them to a piano bar and having them go on stage. I would consider myself an honorary member of at least two other chapters where I’ve gotten to know some of the alums very well. We are proud that we are an engineering sorority. Penguin Perks and snaps to all of my Phi Rho friends!!

Phi Rho Love,

Sara DaSilva
National VP of Alumnae Affairs
Sara.engel.phirho@gmail.com

National Council Bio: Stephanie Gagliardi, VPE

As you may know, Phi Sigma Rho National Council has been undertaking a National Awareness Campaign for the last few years. We want National Council to be more transparent to our membership and to allow you to get to know us, even if it is virtually! 

We would like to share National Council bios with all of you. You may have seen some of these before, but we like to take advantage of all the social networking options available to us!

Introducing: Stephanie Gagliardi, the VP of Expansion! (Written in July 2010)

Dear Sisters,

My name is Stephanie Gagliardi and I am the new National Vice President of Expansion. It is my first day back in the “real world” after a great weekend full of Phi Rho love at LEAP Conference 2010 in Cleveland, OH. I had a wonderful time meeting many of you for the first time, as well as reconnecting with some familiar faces. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and share some details about my background.

I was born in New Haven, Connecticut and have lived in East Haven, Connecticut for the past 23 years. In High School I applied to college as an undecided major, but by the middle of my senior year, I planned to attend college to pursue English and Political Science, but boy was I ever wrong about that! I attended a technology exposition with my Computer Graphics class, and participated in a demonstration given by a Chemical Engineering professor. Being enrolled in AP Chemistry at the time, I was able to answer all of his questions and actively participate in his demonstration. Given my strong math and science background, suddenly I was hooked on the possibility of becoming an engineer.

I attended the University of Connecticut, Go Huskies! (I am an especially big fan of the women’s basketball team), along and ended up majoring in Materials Science in Engineering, after switching back and forth between MSE and CHEG a couple of times. I rushed Phi Rho in the spring of my freshman year and became a member of the Theta Chapter Kappa Class. Phi Rho helped me to figure out who I was and to find my niche. I had always wanted to be in a sorority and Phi Sigma Rho seemed like the perfect fit for me. Unlike most engineering students, I did not have an internship during college (which I deeply regret and strongly encourage all of you to pursue). I was however fortunate enough to gain some research experience with wear and fatigue testing of materials. 

Post graduation I frantically utilized monster.com to find a job in industry. This proved to be rather difficult given the economy, no one seemed to be hiring. Finally, I was granted an interview with an engineering outsourcing company, and the hiring manager, was none other than a Phi Sigma Rho alumna from the Theta chapter! I was hired, and have been working ever since, starting out supporting Pratt and Whitney as a Project Engineer and Cost Reduction Team Lead, and now supporting Hamilton Sundstrand as a Materials Engineer/Failure Analyst, both of which are divisions of United Technologies Corporation (UTC). There are now 4 Theta Chapter Phi Rho’s working at my company, and some other alumnae working at the companies we support.

In addition to my full-time engineering job, I am a Daisy Girl Scout leader in East Haven, CT, a part-time employee at Weight Watchers, a member of my local SWE professional section, and of course a Phi Sigma Rho volunteer! I also spend a lot of my free time exercising with Zumba classes, boot camp classes (6-7am before work 3 times a week! Check out the video on my facebook!), Jillian Michaels DVDs, and running 5Ks. I am also a HUGE country music fan (especially Keith Urban) and love attending concerts!

After making many great memories and gaining friendships, motivation, and inspiration from the Penn State Regional Conference in 2007, LEAP Conference 2008, and Convention 2009, I knew immediately upon graduation that I wanted to continue to stay as involved as possible because I wanted to give back to the sisterhood all that it had given to me and more. I wanted the opportunity to make a difference in future of the sorority, meet more sisters from across the nation, and share my ideas and opinions. 

At LEAP Conference 2010, it was said “You only have 4 years to be an active sister of Phi Sigma Rho, but the rest of your life as an alumna”, and I wanted to make the most of that opportunity. I joined the LEAP Committee and became the Alumnae Programming Director, which was a very rewarding experience and offered me the freedom to explore a lot of new ideas and programs. After serving for about a year in that role, I was selected to become the new VP of Expansion on the 12th National Council.

As VP of Expansion it is my responsibility to coordinate and implement expansion efforts. This includes providing support to interest groups and colonies throughout the process to become a chapter, as well as seeking out new campuses that Phi Rho would like to become a part of. Some of my current goals include: updating the colony educator manual, revamping and creating sorority promotional materials, and creating a strategic expansion plan. I hope to create a more solid foundation and standardized expansion process to lay the groundwork for achieving “30 chapters in 30 years” by 2014, while ensuring that the current needs of our colonies and interest groups are adequately met.

3 Random Facts About Me

1. I’ve hugged a beluga whale.

2. I once ate 24 Wendy’s Chicken Nuggets in 3 minutes (AEPi philanthropy event)

3. I’ve seen Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry, Sugarland, and Kenny Chesney front row in concert!

PRL!

Stephanie Gagliardi

VP of Expansion

vpofexpansion@phisigmarho.org