WEPAN

What WEPAN does

WEPAN (Women in Engineering ProActive Network) is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization founded in 1990 and headquartered in Washington, DC. It operates as a membership-based professional association serving individuals and organizations working to advance the participation, persistence, and success of women in engineering from college through executive leadership. The organization connects universities, colleges, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and nonprofit partners through a portfolio of programs, events, and digital resources.

The organization's core digital asset is the WEPAN Knowledge Center (WKC), a curated online platform containing over 2,000 annotated research and practice resources drawn from more than 350 publications. Originally launched in 2009 with NSF and Henry Luce Foundation support and rebuilt as a new platform launching in Fall 2025, the WKC serves as the primary member-facing knowledge resource. WEPAN runs signature annual events including the Women in Engineering Program Day (WIEP) and Women of Color Summit (WOCS), the Synergiiize STEM entrepreneurship initiative (formerly the WEPAN Accelerator) with its Innovator Program, Gatebreaker Program, and 2025 inaugural Summit, an Annual Awards program, a Career Center job board, and a member-only Webinar Series with 50+ archived sessions. The organization also co-leads the ARC Network and ACCESS+ initiatives funded by the NSF ADVANCE program.

Revenue is generated through a multi-stream model comprising individual memberships ($20-$125/year), tiered organizational memberships ($1,250-$50,000/year), institutional partnerships ($500-$10,000/year), event registration fees, Career Center recruitment services, individual and organizational donations, and grants from federal agencies (NSF, SBA) and corporate sponsors (Qualcomm). Distribution occurs primarily through self-service online membership signup, direct sales for organizational accounts, and in-person/virtual events. Operations are lean, with two core full-time staff (Executive Director/CEO and Executive Assistant) plus consultants, serving a stated base of approximately 200 organizational members and partners.

Name

WEPAN

Legal name

WEPAN

Website

https://wepan.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

WEPAN is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit founded in 1990 that operates a national membership network advancing women in engineering through curated research resources, signature events, professional development programs, and STEM entrepreneurship initiatives. It serves universities, corporations, government agencies, and individual practitioners across the U.S.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Engineering Education Nonprofit / Professional Association

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Professional & Business Networking Communities (MPACAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Remote/Hybrid Work Readiness & Digital Collaboration (EDAAAKAL)

Keywords

• Women in engineering
• STEM education
• Professional membership
• Engineering diversity
• Workforce development

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Membership Dues: Annual membership fees ranging from $20/year for students to $125/year for standard individual membership, providing access to Knowledge Center, webinars, Career Center, events, and networking.
2. Organizational Membership and Partnership Programs: Tiered organizational membership with levels including Visionary ($50,000/year), Catalyst ($20,000/year), Change Agent ($10,000/year), Activator ($5,000/year), Motivator ($2,500/year), Advocate ($1,250/year), and additional institutional partnership tiers at $750-$10,000 annually.
3. Donations: One-time donations from individuals and organizations supporting WEPAN's mission to advance engineering education and workforce development.
4. Event Registration Revenue: Revenue from signature events including WIEP Day, WOCS, and Synergiiize Summit, with members receiving discounted registration.
5. Career Center Recruitment Services: Paid job posting and recruitment services for employers seeking engineering talent, with member discounts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

WEPAN is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit that operates a national membership network advancing women in engineering from college to executive leadership. It sells individual, organizational, and institutional memberships; delivers signature annual events (WIEP, Women of Color Summit, Synergiiize Summit); runs the WEPAN Knowledge Center, a curated digital library of 2,000+ annotated research resources; manages the WEPAN Career Center job board; administers the WEPAN Awards program; and operates the Synergiiize STEM entrepreneurship initiative (Innovator and Gatebreaker programs).

Product overview

WEPAN operates as a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization founded in 1990 that functions as a membership-based network rather than a traditional software product company. The organization's portfolio centers on the WEPAN Knowledge Center (WKC), a premier online resource platform containing over 2,000 research and practice resources on women in STEM. The core offerings include Synergiiize (formerly WEPAN Accelerator), an STEM entrepreneurship initiative comprising the Innovator Program, Gatebreaker Program, and Summit; signature events including the Women in Engineering Program Day (WIEP) and Women of Color Summit (WOCS); the WEPAN Career Center; and the annual WEPAN Awards program. WEPAN also offers Individual, Organizational, and Institutional membership programs that provide access to professional development resources, networking opportunities, and the webinar series archive. The organization connects people, research, and practice to expand participation, strengthen persistence, and advance success in engineering from college to leadership.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Synergiiize: An Empowered STEM Entrepreneurship Collective Initiative (formerly known as the WEPAN Accelerator) that cultivates STEM innovation ecosystems through an Innovator Program, Gatebreaker Program, and Summit.
• ARC Network
• ACCESS+
• WEPAN Knowledge Center (WKC)

Products and services

• WEPAN Knowledge Center (WKC) Premier members-only online resource platform providing research, evidence-informed practices, and professional communities focused on advancing engineering education and supporting women in STEM. Contains 2,000+ annotated resources gathered from 350+ publications.
• Synergiiize Innovator Program An 8-month professional development program empowering undercapitalized STEM innovators through values/vision, market research, customer discovery, business model, finance, IP, and pitching. Free participation funded by SBA and Qualcomm.
• Synergiiize Gatebreaker Program A program working with individuals and organizations that control access to critical resources, connections, knowledge, and funding — empowering gatekeepers to dismantle barriers and build thriving innovation ecosystems.
• Synergiiize Summit A two-day intensive professional development summit that brings together STEM innovators and entrepreneurs with investors, funders, entrepreneurship support organizations, and intellectual property and technology transfer professionals.
• Women in Engineering Program Day (WIEP) Annual event convening Women in Engineering Program practitioners and stakeholders to network, share resources, and discuss promising practices for supporting women in engineering.
• Women of Color Summit (WOCS) Annual summit bringing together Women of Color in STEM with individuals and organizations who support their advancement, emphasizing disaggregation of WoC identities to develop effective practices.
• WEPAN Career Center Job board platform connecting employers seeking to recruit talent with job seekers in engineering. Members receive free job search access and discounted recruitment posting services.
• WEPAN Awards
• Individual Membership Annual individual membership at $125/year standard (reduced tiers from $20–$50 for students, community college educators, postdocs, adjuncts, K-12 educators, and retirees) providing networking, Knowledge Center access, webinar archive, Career Center access, Slack channel, Listserv, and discounted signature event registration.
• Organizational Membership Program
• Institutional Partnership Program Higher education partnership program with levels from $500/year (Classic) to $10,000/year (Institutional Champions), providing resources and professional development for colleges and universities advancing cultures of inclusion and diversity in engineering higher education.
• WEPAN Webinar Series Members-only live webinar series and archive library containing 50+ previously recorded training sessions on topics related to women in STEM and engineering education, delivered via Zoom.

Quantifiable outcome

• The WKC contains over 2,000 research and practice annotated resources gathered from more than 350 publications and other sources
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025NSBE Chief Programs Officer Rochelle L. Williams serves as WEPAN Past President/Treasurer on the Board. NSBE is a key partner in advancing women of color in engineering and co-leads WCEC (Women of Color in Engineering Collaborative) with WEPAN.
• National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025NCWIT Higher Ed Team received WEPAN's Strategic Partner Award 2025. WEPAN is Co-PI on the NCWIT ADVANCE Partnership grant. Jamie Huber Ward serves on WEPAN Board while working as NCWIT Associate Director of Higher Ed.
• Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity (GFSD)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Collaborative partner in the Empowered STEM Entrepreneurship Collective (Synergiiize), working to cultivate STEM innovation ecosystems through an evidence-based framework for undercapitalized innovators. WEPAN, GFSD, AISES, AAC&U, and Hexalign jointly deliver the Synergiiize Innovator and Gatebreaker programs with SBA and Qualcomm funding.
• AISES: Advancing Indigenous People in STEMcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partner in the Empowered STEM Entrepreneurship Collective (Synergiiize) supporting Indigenous STEM innovators. AISES provides research and career support through personnel including Maddie Habeck, Tiffany Smith, and Tesia Zientek who serve on the Synergiiize leadership team.
• American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partner in the Empowered STEM Entrepreneurship Collective (Synergiiize), bringing expertise in undergraduate STEM education through VP Kelly Mack who serves as Co-PI and leads Project Kaleidoscope.
• HexaligncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partner in the Empowered STEM Entrepreneurship Collective (Synergiiize), providing entrepreneurship expertise through Founder Erin Kelley who serves on the Synergiiize leadership team.
• Verizon Small Business Digital ReadyminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Through partnership with Verizon's Small Business Digital Ready program, Synergiiize Innovator Program participants gain access to $10K grants available to support their entrepreneurship ventures.
• University Partners (NC State, Michigan, Purdue, Ohio State, etc.)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOver 12 university partners including NC State, Michigan, Purdue, Ohio State, Texas A&M, and others sponsor WEPAN and its initiatives, contributing to the organization's financial sustainability and programmatic reach.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Society of Women Engineers (SWE): SWE is the largest professional organization dedicated to women in engineering, with individual and corporate membership and an annual conference. Both WEPAN and SWE compete for the same women-in-engineering member base, corporate sponsors, and institutional partners.
• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE): NSBE is a peer student and professional society advancing Black engineers, with NSBE's Chief Programs Officer serving on WEPAN's board. The two organizations coordinate on Women of Color in Engineering Collaborative (WCEC) and share overlapping university and corporate partner rosters.
• American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES): AISES is a direct peer in the STEM underrepresentation space and is a co-delivery partner in WEPAN's Synergiiize Collective. Both organizations serve underrepresented engineers and pursue corporate, federal, and foundation funding for programming.
• National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT): NCWIT is a direct peer organization focused on women in computing and information technology, and is a co-PI with WEPAN on the NCWIT ADVANCE Partnership grant. Both share federal funders, academic change-leader audiences, and an overlapping DEI-in-STEM mission.
• AnitaB.org: AnitaB.org is a peer organization focused on women in computing and technology, with grants, awards, and a major annual conference. It competes for corporate sponsorship dollars and overlapping academic audiences in the women-in-STEM space.
• National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME): NACME is a peer nonprofit increasing representation of underrepresented minorities in engineering, with scholarship and school-to-career pipelines. It overlaps with WEPAN on corporate funding, university partnerships, and the women-of-color-in-engineering agenda.
• Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS): SACNAS is a peer STEM equity organization advancing Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in science, with membership, conferences, and federal funding. It overlaps with WEPAN on underrepresented STEM communities and shares NSF and corporate funding sources.

Broad incumbents

• American Association of University Women (AAUW): AAUW is a larger, more established nonprofit advancing gender equity in higher education and the workforce. It overlaps with WEPAN on women-in-engineering scholarships, research, and policy advocacy, with a broader scope but less engineering-specific depth.
• IEEE Women in Engineering (IEEE WIE): IEEE WIE is the women-in-engineering affinity group of IEEE, the largest engineering professional society globally. It competes for the same corporate sponsors and women-engineer member audience but benefits from IEEE's broader infrastructure and scale.
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME): ASME is a broad engineering society with diversity and inclusion programming. As an incumbent it competes for the same corporate and institutional partners as WEPAN but is a discipline-specific professional society rather than a women-focused nonprofit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WiEProActiveNetwork

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WEPAN