Kristin McDonough
FWA President 2008-2009 |
Dear Members,
I am honored to serve as your president in 2008-09 and excited to help shape the opportunities that the FWA has to offer you in its fifty-third year.
The days of summer 2008, though hazy, are most assuredly not lazy. Board members are collaborating on programming to meet your needs in a tough economy. Five committees are creating a series of programs on Taking Control of Your Career. If you are trying to move up, if you are transitioning to another firm, or if you are considering not-for-profit or an entrepreneurial option, the FWA is tapping experts to assist you at each step.
Committee leaders are also eyeing new partners like the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals and the Association of Real Estate Women to create substantive programs on timely topics. Our developing relationship with another group, the South Asian Women’s Leadership Forum (SAWLF), has had an immediate benefit: itinerary suggestions for the FWA’s International Trip to India next spring.
The FWA calendar is starting to fill up. Just added are a Microfinance session on MFI’s impact on the food crisis; a martial arts class on self defense techniques handy for on-the-job stress reduction; and hands-on training in online databases key to the job search. September 15’s Global Agenda program focuses not on India, but on another BRIC – Brazil. Our first distinguished speaker, Beth Brooke, the global vice-chair of strategy, communications and regulatory affairs at Ernst & Young, is slated for October.
The FWA offers more opportunities than ever to give back by mentoring a high school or college student or an FWA Emerging Leader. Join the FWA’s expanded financial literacy initiative, funded by President’s Circle member HSBC, and help 3,000 high school students gain financial savvy over the next five years. Or volunteer to teach financial coping strategies to low income mothers and women studying the construction trades.
But none of this is possible if you don’t renew your membership. The process is quick, easy, and on line. Do provide a photo and fill in the profile which members have said brought them business. Please don’t forget to indicate your committee interest. Chairs are committed to my Develop from Within theme to spot talent as their teams plan and execute events, so this is the year to get involved and earn heightened visibility.
Meet and Mingle evenings are scheduled at set times and venues in both New York and New Jersey. I am looking forward to each of our mid-summer dinners, with old friends and new, on either side of the Hudson in August, too. I hope to see many of you there.
Here’s to a good FWA year for all!
Best Regards,
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