Interview with Professor Elena Rodriguez-Falcon, President & CEO, NMITE
NMITE: disrupting the world of engineering and transforming lives through the power of philanthropy
Meet with the President of NMITE, Elena-Rodriguez Falcon, a proud engineer, and you’re soon captivated by her passion for ensuring that the future of engineering education is accessible and inclusive. Just as passionate, is her conviction that philanthropy must be at the heart of NMITE.
NMITE will open their doors to their inaugural cohort of Engineers in September, with their first year of learning fully funded by philanthropy. Donors and businesses from the region and across the country have given, and with over 50% of NMITE staff also donating, NMITE is sending a powerful statement to donors.
The NMITE story and dream of a more equitable future of a diverse population of engineers has captured the imagination of donors. Through Elena’s compelling and authentic leadership, the dream is becoming a reality.
Congratulations on NMITE receiving its validation from the Open University and now actively recruiting students. How did it feel to reach this milestone in NMITE’s journey? One that has been a decade in the making?
It has been surreal. A long road with many challenges. But every day I have the privilege to work alongside a group of people who are incredibly passionate about NMITE, its vision and what it will achieve for the future of the engineering profession and education. They have come from many different locations and organisations and have given up quite a lot to be here, so it is not a surprise that we have managed together to reach this milestone with the calibre of people we have.
How has the creation and validation of NMITE been received within Higher Education and your peer institutions?
The support we have had throughout our journey has been amazing. So many peers and leaders around the world have watched our progress, looking at what we do, and how and why we do it. Now with the registration and validation, they look to us to learn, and continue to encourage our success, which is both helpful and very powerful.
NMITE describes itself as a disruptor in Higher Education. With a new and different approach to engineering education, it dispenses with the one-size-fits-all model of learning and challenges the stereotypical idea of what it means to be an engineer. Can you tell us more about the ethos that underpins NMITE’s vision for the future of a new model of engineering education?
The new model is transformational. We have reflected on engineering education over decades if not centuries and listened to the stakeholders, employers and students. We’ve taken into account such a diverse range of experiences and voices to create something that trains students to immediately feel like they are not just students but engineers in training. At the end of a three-year accelerated programme, they will be work-ready, fully qualified and highly employable professionals ready to tackle global problems in industry and in their communities.
There is a huge lack of women in this profession and we want to train more female engineers and keep them in practice. That’s why we have an open and stated commitment to equality and diversity in making the programme itself more attractive to female learners.
You once said that: “If 50% of the population are women, 50% of the engineers should be women, simple as that. The more women you have, the more inequality will be banished from our systems.” With International Women’s Day on the horizon what challenges do women still face today regarding inequality whether it be in education, or the workplace?
There are two types of inequalities and barriers which need to be removed. The first is structural, existing within the education systems at A Level and degree stage, and again during practice. Funnels exist that potentially limit the number of women who can enter engineering. There has been work in business and government to remove these inequalities, but more must be done.
We also deal with self-imposed challenges and limitations, particularly around our own abilities. Too often, when we look at the next promotion that comes up, we think we’re not quite ready or maybe we’re not the right person for the job.
It is very difficult to break this barrier as it is ingrained in our history. It is how we have been brought up and is reinforced by those structural barriers in education. We must never lose sight of these barriers and continue to find ways to remove them.
So, do we need to begin to shift some of those personal barriers earlier, as much as the ones that are enforced through education and work?
Absolutely! I am convinced of that. The evidence shows children as young as three years of age begin to develop views of what it is to be a man or a woman, and the kind of jobs for each; a firefighter or an engineer for a man, a nurse, or teacher for a woman. There is a lot of work to be done with parents, with children, with teachers, with everyone! There is too much unconscious bias, and we need to address and finally stop these views existing.
NMITE’s philanthropic journey began well before validation was received, receiving philanthropic support from individuals, corporates, and trust and foundations to support the Pioneer Cohort. What fundraising challenges did you face as an education provider that hadn’t yet opened its doors?
It is one of my biggest passions to develop a culture of philanthropy. We have been very fortunate as there was a group of volunteers already raising money to prove the concept of this new model of education 10 years ago, even before NMITE was established. We are definitely in a challenging and competitive environment, and unlike other HE institutions, we don’t have a database of thousands of students or a proven track record.
Our success has been in igniting the passion of donors using the power of our vision. We speak to potential donors who trust us. They know NMITE is different because we have that compelling vision and dream. We may have a small team compared to bigger institutions, but every person is incredibly capable which has given us success from early on.
Was it your story and vision for the future that compelled donors to support NMITE?
Absolutely. Our story, concept, and dream for the future of engineering is very compelling. We have been able to capture the imagination of many different types of stakeholders and potential donors. They are all excited about the regeneration of Herefordshire, passionate about upscaling talent and bridging the wage, skills and gender gaps. There are so many aspects within NMITE that are both very urgent and appealing. I believe that is why we have managed to connect with many people and I am incredibly grateful.
You have raised over £1m in philanthropic support at NMITE. How did you approach building a base of donors and engaging with stakeholders? What were the donor motivations to support NMITE and what was it about your story that resonated with them? And could NMITE be a disruptor in philanthropy as well as education?
I like that we could be a disruptor of how donors think as much as we will be disrupting the future of engineering. When you get to create something from scratch, you can test different ideas. I have a personal passion for philanthropy, and it is reflected in our philosophy and culture. We are already demonstrating the impact of a philanthropic culture and even today, I am very proudly wearing my Ignition Pin, as a donor through the payroll giving scheme.
Philanthropy is a bedrock for NMITE - 50% of our staff are already donating to the organisation. We have agreed together that staff giving will fund a scholarship for an NMITE student for the three years of their study. This shows the commitment of the individuals at NMITE and gives us a great story to tell potential donors. I feel incredibly proud.
You are keen to build a culture of philanthropy at NMITE. What steps are you taking to achieve this, why is this so important and what does that mean for you as a leader and for NMITE?
My passion for philanthropy comes from my own upbringing. I had a working-class upbringing where I had to support myself. Since then, I have had opportunities to give something back and to learn about the impact of philanthropy whether that’s access to education or providing opportunities to people they otherwise wouldn’t have had.
When I came to NMITE I thought ‘this is the opportunity, this is where you can make a difference.’ I come from Mexico and culturally we don’t feel as shy about asking for support or giving as British people. We are very close to the United States where the culture of Philanthropy is so powerful and you can see how important it is for HE institutions. I talked with the Founding President of Olin College, who has been an inspiration to NMITE over the years. As an HE start-up 20 years ago, they were founded with an endowment of $500m, which is truly transformational. Their former President, Professor Rick Miller has a very powerful story to tell in terms of their endowment, the generosity of their Board of Trustees and the part their alumni play.
I am determined that we will carry on developing that philanthropic culture first with our staff, then our students, such as our Pioneer Cohort who have been funded through philanthropic support. I want them to appreciate this support so they can give back to others in the future.
Innovation, collaboration, and agility are golden threads that run through NMITE. What do these attributes lead to?
I imagine an NMITE graduate to stand out very quickly. We are engineers, we can solve problems, we have been trained to solve problems but that ability to work with people across disciplines, to be able to work at the fringes of innovation, comfortably moving from one sector to another, understanding the challenges of the work, this is different.
A colleague refers to our graduates as humane engineers: people with empathy, who are socially aware and actively driven to help beyond their job. The best way to describe an NMITE engineer is someone with a calling. Going back to philanthropy, NMITE engineers will be out there, volunteering, helping in a community, using their skills to make a difference. They will be change makers, and through their passion, get others to do the same.
You have touched on innovation being at the heart of NMITE and it being a very agile organisation. Can you talk about how NMITE is making an impact to the local community in Hereford?
Our characteristics and values of innovation and agility are paramount to our relationships with stakeholders. We have developed many strong partnerships in the local community by establishing NMITE, partnerships that will help us positively transform the region. We can already see NMITE is becoming an ideas hub for Hereford and pushing forward the understanding of how we can all regenerate the area through education. We are slowly but surely establishing ourselves as the vehicle for transformation.
NMITE was built to solve problems and meet challenges. What impact will your future alumni make to industry, and how will they contribute to society?
Through the community-based challenges in NMITE programmes, our learners will use their skills even before they are graduates. They will be working on the problems that we experience at this moment in time. You can see it already in our environment with the pandemic, and we are so fortunate to have a vaccine in the UK, and that’s a feat of science, of politics, of innovation. However, the deployment, manufacturing and logistics is pure engineering. Our engineers will absolutely be at the core of that.
They will address the wider problems that we are experiencing, including shortage of energy and food and poverty etc. It will be engineers solving these problems. From NMITE I hope they embrace and take on the values of respect, transparency, philanthropy, innovation, empathy, curiosity, and courage into their lives. It is my desire they continue to create our kind of culture wherever they go. I would be very proud if our graduates were quoted for having done the right thing.
What would be your one piece of advice to development professionals across the UK who may be struggling to demonstrate their institutional value?
In bigger institutions, advancement and development colleagues can access their Vice Chancellor and Leadership Team fairly easily to seek their views. But we need to be collecting broader views and when you talk to colleagues across the organisation, and your community, your supporters, your alumni, your faculty, you start to understand what they see as institutional values. New, exciting patterns emerge and themes appear which can lay the foundations for a compelling case for support.
It is often at that forefront of the battle where you will find the most compelling inspiration. So, I would say talk to those people who are actually doing the job and those who are benefiting from your powerful work and philanthropy. Philanthropy changes lives. There is nothing more compelling than people improving their lives, wellbeing and careers because of someone being generous enough to help them.
When you look to the future of NMITE what will success look like in five and in 10 years?
I love that question – it feels like such a long time from now. I think first of all success will be the realisation of the vision that we set for NMITE nearly a decade ago: socially aware, diverse and work-ready engineers joining communities and industries and changing their environment for the better.
I think it would be a Herefordshire that is thriving and growing, becoming more diverse itself and continually improving the education model. We are a new model and we need to constantly remain a new model, one that is replicated across the world with a philanthropic culture that keeps on giving.
International Women’s Day this year is about ‘challenge’. What challenge would you set for women and girls and for society to be more inclusive and equitable?
The challenge for us as women is to all realise our value and that value doesn’t come from competing against men or trying to be like them. In 2021, there are two types of successful female leaders in male dominated industries. One is the type who has had to fit in with their male counterparts to be able to progress, often sacrificing their own personal lives. But then there is the other type which is emerging more and more. The self-aware, empathetic, consultative inclusive leader. What both have in common is that ability to spot opportunities, the willingness to take risks and the wisdom to learn from experiences and mistakes.
That’s my challenge to women and that’s my challenge to society. Empower those women, empower them to be able to be themselves. They don’t need to emulate a man to be successful and if women take risks, learn from them, don’t be afraid. We all have to have each other’s back.
Karen Cairney: Elena, that was a very powerful response and I wish someone had said that to me when I was a 16-year-old girl. It’s amazing that young women today are surrounded by role models and mentors. We often say that change happens when you can see yourself in society and I think for young women coming up today, they will see more strong women who are taking risks and doing great things. That’s a very powerful proposition.