Leanne Swanson (’01, Electrical Engineering)

Director, Southern California Edison

BS Engineering Technology, Cal Poly Pomona, 2001

When storms raged, threatening to cut power off for entire neighborhoods, Leanne Swanson’s father would heed the call. Working for Southern California Edison, her father would head out to “turn the lights on” for the community.

For a young Swanson, her aspirations were crystal clear—keep the lights on just like her father did. The electrical engineering program at Cal Poly Pomona offered a hands-on, lab-focused education to help her realize that dream.

As a transfer student working a full-time job, living an hour away from the campus, and being just one of the few women in the program, presented a set of unique challenges beyond the rigors of the program itself.

For Swanson, all this acted as powerful motivators. “Being a female in a male-dominated field, discouragement can come easy,” she says. “But instead of backing down, I used this as motivation to further my career and be a part of the change I wished to see in the world of STEM.”

Upon graduation, her first job was a field engineer at Southern California Edison. Since then, Swanson’s taken on roles like principal manager of Distribution Engineering, and the principal manager of Distribution, Design, Construction and Maintenance. In both roles, she was responsible for making sure the lights stayed on for hundreds and thousands of homes and businesses. Currently, she’s the director of Safety, where she oversees the safety of over 13,000 employees and the site safety of Edison’s contractors throughout 50,000 square miles of service territory.

As she’s fulfilled one aspiration, she’s working on fulfilling another—encouraging more women enter the field. “It’s inspiring to see more female engineers entering the workforce,” she says. “I hope my legacy helps diversify the field, proving that with determination and persistence, everyone has a place in engineering.”