ACE Graduates & Leadership - Local High School STEM Mentor Program Review

On January 17, representatives of the ACE program (Architecture, Construction and Engingeering) joined us. ACE is a program that exposes and inspires high school students to Architecture, Construction, and Engineering (and allied skill areas). Their mission is to engage, excite, and enlighten students in pursuing these non-traditional careers for women. Angela Gottula, Seattle’s ACE Executive Director for more than 10 years, stated that ACE came to Seattle in 2001 and has helped an estimated 5,000+ students, to date, in Washington State.

In high school, students join a year-long program that functions like a club in groups of 10-15 mentors with 25-30 students. Students are divided into teams as they explore the fields of landscape design, civil, structural and environmental engineering, thermodynamics, construction management, and sustainability. At the end of the year, students present mock RFP (request for proposal) projects, which serves as their culminating project. Additionally, ACE provides scholarships, awarding $136,000 to 14 graduating high school seniors in 2025.

A growing component of ACE’s program is its Internship and Externship program, as well as its Transformative Partners program, an alumni support program that assists undergraduate students while they complete their degrees. Participating students demonstrate higher completion rates when they have someone they can contact.

Two participants shared their experiences with the ACE program: Selome Muruts, a sophomore at the University of Washington, and Aimee Phung, currently employed as an electrical design engineer. Both expressed the great influence this program has had on nurturing and supporting their interest in these fields and understand that having women represented is key to unlocking more professional pathways for women.