Neda, right, and her WCE co-chair at the annual mentorship event. Nearly 80 members attended.
Like many of us, Neda Naderi was greatly influenced by her time in school. One specific piece of her engineering school experience still influences her today: the graduates who came to tell students about their career journeys.
“So many speakers gave me tips without necessarily knowing that it really, really affected me,” she says. “As a student, it really helped me understand what I needed to look forward to.”
Now a sales product support engineer in Langley, British Columbia, Neda has been paying forward the support she found in school through the Vancouver-based nonprofit Women in Consulting Engineering since 2019.
Not long after she took on a leadership role in WCE, stepping into a director’s position and from there to co-chair of the group.
Neda and her manager, Steve McManus, attend the WoodWorks Summit in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“Over five years of volunteer service, Neda has dedicated countless hours to coordinating meetings, gathering feedback from volunteers, and securing sponsors, mentors, venues, and innovative ideas,” her Volunteer of the Year nominator wrote. “Her commitment has directly contributed to the growth and success of WCE. Through her leadership, mentorship, and advocacy, Neda has made a lasting difference — creating opportunities, inspiring others, and driving positive change within her profession and community.”
For her dedication to advancing women in engineering, Neda was named one of our 2025 Volunteers of the Year. As part of the award recognition, she received a $5,000 TREE-mendous Matching Gifts reward, which she will donate to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank and Burnaby and Children’s Hospitals.
Neda on a job site visit in Vancouver. This site used various TrusJoist® engineered wood products, including floor joists and beams. Neda and our local territory manager talked with the builder to understand their experience using our products.
MEET NEDA
Tell us a bit about your day job.
I'm one of the sales product support engineers-in-training on the Wood Products Sales and Marketing team in our Canadian corporate office in Langley, B.C. Our group handles engineering requests from other engineers and builders who want to use our products or our software. The biggest part of my day job is looking after those requests and answering questions. I also get involved in projects with our territory managers as well.
What did you think when you found out about the award?
I was super ecstatic! I found out the same week as our group’s annual general meeting and winter social. We had three CEOs from different nonprofits show up, all women. And it was just like, wow, our group is getting recognition from other nonprofits — and getting recognition from Weyerhaeuser on top of that made it extra special. You're not volunteering to get recognition, you're doing it because you believe in the mission, but I felt very valued.
What motivates you to volunteer?
Giving back to my engineering community, the way the community supported me when I was a student. Now that I'm more established in my career, I feel like it's my duty to do that for others and help with the larger mission of empowering women and increasing gender diversity and inclusion in this industry. It really motivates me being part of this group of amazing women and seeing them thrive.
Neda loves to travel. “One of the highlights of my trip to Scotland was seeing highland cows!” she says.
What made you choose Women in Engineering?
I graduated with my master's in 2018, and it was a difficult time because a lot of my friends moved away for work. I lost my network of people that I’d had during school, and I was also looking for a job at the same time.
I don't even remember how I heard about the group, I think from friends. But I heard that they’d just started and their goal was to help people like me. Knowing other young, local engineers had started it was part of the reason I joined.
What are the community challenges you see that you're trying to address with this work?
There are two things we discuss a lot as a group and try to address. The first is microaggressions. That can be anything from you're the only woman in a meeting and others ask you to take notes, or you go on construction site and get asked, “Where's the engineer? I need to talk to the engineer.” They just assume there has to be a man there. Every woman in the engineering field has a similar story they can talk about.
WCE actively works to advance the status and visibility of women in engineering. By drawing from our community, we can identify themes or trends in the challenges they face and develop ways to address those challenges.
We did a workshop where we had attendees tell us what microaggressions they’ve experienced, what they expect from others to step in, and what the industry can do. We developed an action plan, and ever since we've been taking it to conferences or other nonprofits in our industry to talk about things we can do to address this concern.
Another issue is retention. We commonly see some women facing challenges advancing their career and moving up to engineering leadership positions. Sometimes it’s because there’s a lack of internal sponsors advocating for them; sometimes it could be caretaking or family priorities. Retention and advancement are challenging topics because people leave the field for different reasons — but it’s clear we have to address it and determine ways we can support each other as a group so more women stay in engineering.
Neda also loves watching soccer. She regularly cheers on the Vancouver women’s professional team, the Vancouver Rise, while attending matches with her sister.
What’s your favorite part of the work?
Seeing the same people come back to our events. I love meeting someone at an event and they’re like, “Oh, I’m new, I didn’t know about WCE,” and then you keep seeing them because they want to be there, they want to engage. And then they decide to volunteer, to be on a committee, and sometimes they become directors.
What advice would you give to somebody who wants to give back but doesn't know how or where?
I think if you're even mildly interested in a topic or issue, you’ll find an event about it. Just go. Enjoy yourself, see what the vibes are and get to know the organizers a little bit. If it’s resonating with you, ask them if you can volunteer, because nonprofits always need volunteers. They need volunteers of different backgrounds, different skills, and you never really know what they might need unless you ask.
What have you learned by volunteering?
How to lead people toward a goal you’ve set, and also leadership skills. I learned how to understand the vision and goal of an organization, and then help others understand not only the vision, but also why things are done the way they are. I’ve also gotten better at articulating processes and establishing shared understanding. In my daily work I might be talking to a customer or a dealer and trying to navigate what they need, and I find myself drawing on the skills I’ve learned through volunteering with WCE.
Neda presents at the WCE mentoring mixer.
What's next in your volunteer plans for the year ahead?
I'm going to continue as WCE co-chair for this year, which will include working with a whole new board of directors as some of our current directors have finished their term, and new directors have been elected. So I’ll be navigating that with the new group while putting on really great events to benefit the women in engineering in the Vancouver area.
How are you distributing your $5,000 TREE-Mendous Matching Gifts grant?
I'll be donating a portion of it to WCE, another to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, and then the rest of it to two local hospitals: Burnaby Hospital and BC Children's Hospital.
