The 2020 Presidents and Governors Forum (PGF) was held this year on September 10-12, when 147 Section and Branch Presidents, Regional Governors, Society Directors, Board Members, and Institute Leaders from across the country and abroad convened virtually. This annual event, sponsored by the Leader Training Committee, provided opportunities for attendees to learn about ASCE resources, network with other ASCE leaders, and develop skills that benefit their Sections/Branches, Regions and Institutes.

Though I have attended previous ASCE leadership conferences for younger members, this was the first time I have attended the PGF.  I found this conference to be very motivating and had several notes from each section. I think what struck me the most throughout the time was the reminder of the purpose of ASCE.  The opening speaker summarized that the purpose of ASCE is to Foster Engineering Leaders: Help you matter more and enable you to make a bigger difference.  This goal really stayed in my mind during the many discussions on boosting membership, communicating with members, and engaging students.   

Sometimes I think it can be so easy to get caught up in the membership numbers, or attendee counts for events, that we lose sight of our purpose for coming together as civil engineering professionals. We have extremely bright engineers and academia in the Pittsburgh area who are challenging and advancing the civil engineering profession in order to help make our world safer and more accessible.  I hope through this coming year, and the next while I am section president, to refocus our efforts on highlighting the research and projects happening in our area while also connecting our regional members with resources, and each other, on topics they find useful. 

The overall community of ASCE is globally reaching and has compiled leadership and technical resources for all.  Please remember to regularly take advantage of your membership benefits by browsing the ASCE.org website for free webinars and information. I also encourage you to post discussion topics on our Pittsburgh Discussion Forum at http://www.asce-pgh.org/page-349473,  and to begin thinking about nominating any deserving student leaders or projects for 2020 ASCE Pittsburgh Awards or national awards.  All award categories and information can be found on our Section website http://www.asce-pgh.org/awards.htm and the Society page https://www.asce.org/awards/.

For more information about the PGF, please visit LTC’s website at:

http://regions.asce.org/leader-training-committee/pgf.