WOMEN IN AMERICA INC
24 OVERBROOK LANE, DARIEN, CT 06820 www.womeninamerica.net

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Organizations Filed Purposes: TO ENABLE WOMEN TO FULFILL THEIR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL IN THE BOARD ROOM, THE C-SUITE, AS ENTREPRENEURS, AND AS LEADING EDGE PROFESSIONALS IN THEIR CHOSEN PROFESSION.

IN JANUARY OF 2019, WIA CELEBRATED 10 YEARS AS AN ORGANIZATION WITH A PARTY AT THE COSMOPOLITAN CLUB IN NYC. ALL PAST AND PRESENT MEMBERS WERE INVITED TO ATTEND, IN ALL ABOUT 150 WOMEN WERE PRESENT. FOUNDING MEMBERS OF WIA SPOKE TO THE GROUP, MOST NOTABLY MAGGIE WILDEROTTER AND DENISE MORRISON, WHO SPOKE ABOUT HOW THEIR VISION FOR EMPOWERING WOMEN HAS BEEN REALIZED THROUGH THE THE WORK OF WIA AND HOW WE MUST CONTINUE TO PUSH FORWARD AND MOVE THE NEEDLE FOR WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE.ALSO IN JANUARY, MENTOR AMY KOPELAN HELD A "MEDIA TRAINING" POP-UP FOR ABOUT 25 MENTEES AND ALUMNAE. HER INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP, WHICH FEATURES HER UNIQUE "SCRIPT AND ROLE-PLAYING GAMES, GIVES WOMEN THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO SUCCESSFULLY NAVIGATE INTERVIEWS AND IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS, BOTH ON AND OFF CAMERA. IN AMY'S WORDS, "IT'S NEVER JUST AN INTERVIEW, A BOARD MEETING OR A SALES PRESENTATION, IT'S ALWAYS A PERFORMANCE!"IN FEBRUARY, MENTOR MARTINA HUND-MEJEAN HOSTED WIA AT THE BEAUTIFUL MASTERCARD TECH HUB IN NYC FOR OUR "DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS" MENT MIX. MENTOR MELINDA WOLFE LED US THROUGH A GREAT PRESENTATION ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING THESE CONVERSATIONS IN AND OUT OF THE WORKPLACE AND GAVE US SOME VALUABLE TIPS WHEN HAVING DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS. MELINDA'S PRESENTATION WAS FOLLOWED BY A PANEL INCLUDING MENTORS JEANNIE DIEFENDERFER, DEBORAH PARKER BAILEY AND STACEY HUBBARD WHO ALL SPOKE OF THEIR PERSONAL STORIES OF PAST DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS AND THE TOOLS THEY USED TO ULTIMATELY FIND POSITIVE OUTCOMES.IN EARLY APRIL,MENTORS GATHERED AT THE CAMPBELL APARTMENT IN GRAND CENTRAL FOR "SPRING COCKTAILS & CONVERSATION" - A MENTOR-ONLY NETWORKING EVENT. -IN LATE APRIL WE WERE THRILLED AND HONORED TO WELCOME FORMER CEO AND CHAIRMAN OF PEPSICO, INDRA NOOYI, FOR A "FIRESIDE CHAT" ON LEADERSHIP. INDRA SPOKE OF HER PERSONAL JOURNEY HELMING ONE OF THE WORD'S LARGEST COMPANIES, HER LEADERSHIP STYLE, THE CHALLENGES SHE FACED AS A WORKING MOTHER AND HER FUTURE PLANS WHICH INCLUDE EMPOWERING WOMEN AND FAMILIES AND HELPING TO RESTORE HER HOME STATE OF CT TO ITS FORMER PROSPEROUS ROOTS. MENTOR MAGGIE WILDEROTTER MODERATED THIS INCREDIBLE CONVERSATION AND INDRA GRACIOUSLY ANSWERED MANY QUESTIONS, LEAVING US ALL WITH SO MUCH WISDOM.IN JUNE, MENTOR JOAN AMBLE HOSTED A GATHERING AT THE J. MCLAUGHLIN STORE IN DARIEN TO CELEBRATE KATHRYN SOLLMAN'S NEW BOOK,"AMBITION REDEFINED". WIA MEMBERS WERE TREATED TO A PRIVATE READING BY MS. SOLLMAN AND HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO ASK QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE TOPIC OF HOW AMBITION MUST BE REDEFINED FOR WOMEN. 15% OF THE EVENINGS SALES WERE DONATED TO WIA.IN AUGUST, THE WIA BOARD GATHERED FOR A FULL DAY STRATEGY SESSION. EXTENSIVE TOPICS WERE COVERED INCLUDING: CURRICULUM, WAYS TO IMPROVE AND EVOLVE THE ORGANIZATION, THE ON-BOARDING OF NEW MENTEES AND MENTORS, IMPLEMENTING A "BUDDY SYSTEM" FOR NEW MENTORS, POSSIBLE POP UPS AND SPECIAL EVENTS, AND THE SETTING OF THE ANNUAL BUDGET. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS FOR THE FOLLOWING CALENDAR YEAR WERE ALSO ELECTED. EFFECTIVE JANUARY 2020, MENTOR KELLY WATSON WILL BECOME CHAIRMAN OF WIA, JEANNIE DIEFENDERFER WILL BECOME VICE CHAIRMAN, SHELLEY DIAMOND WILL BECOME SECRETARY AND MARY STEVENS WILL BECOME TREASURER. IN SEPTEMBER, WE HELD THE FINAL MENT-MIX FOR THE CLASS OF 2018, CALLED "LET'S TALK!" HOSTED BY MENTOR CHRISTA CARONE AT GROUP NINE MEDIA. THIS SESSION GAVE MENTEES THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK ANY LAST BURNING QUESTIONS THEY HAD FOR THE MENTORS. WITH MENTORS SEATED ON ONE SIDE OF THE ROOM AND MENTEES ON THE OTHER, MENTOR LISA SHALETT LED US THROUGH A GREAT CONVERSATION THAT RANGED FROM PROMOTIONS AND WORK LIFE BALANCE TO NEGOTIATION - BOTH AT HOME AND WORK. SINCE IT WAS OFFICIALLY OUR LAST MEETING, WE DID SAY OUR "GOODBYES" TO EACH OTHER, BUT REALLY WE MEANT"...UNTIL WE SEE YOU AGAIN"! AND WE SINCERELY HOPE TO SEE THE CLASS OF 2018 AS PART OF THE ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION.IN NOVEMBER, THE BOARD SPENT MOST OF THE MONTH REVIEWING APPLICATIONS FOR THE NEW CLASS OF 2020 MENTEES AND THEN CONDUCTED IN-PERSON INTERVIEWS WITH OVER 60 WOMEN. INTERVIEWS WERE HELD OVER THREE DAYS IN HALF HOUR INCREMENTS WITH FOUR ROOMS RUNNING SIMULTANEOUSLY! MENTOR LISA TEPPER PROVIDED THE SPACE FOR THE INTERVIEWS AT HER AJ GALLAGHER OFFICES IN NYC. LISA, ALONG WITH MENTORS LORRAINE HACK, CAROL HOCHMAN, KELLY WATSON, JOAN AMBLE, MELINDA WOLFE AND KATHRYN HOENIG CONDUCTED ALL OF THESE INTERVIEWS AND WE ARE INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL TO THEM FOR THEIR TIME AND COMMITMENT IN HELPING US SECURE AND WELCOME THE NEXT CLASS OF 40 WIA MENTEES! A BOARD MEETING ON THE FINAL DAY OF THE INERVIEW PROCESS FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON THE NEXT STEPS TO ON-BOARDING OUR NEW CLASS AS WELL AS THE PROCESS FOR ADMITTING NEW MENTORS IN 2020. ALSO IN NOVEMBER, A MENTOR-ONLY NETWORKING AND SHOPPING EVENT WAS HELD AT J.MCLAUGHLIN ON THE UES IN NY WITH A PORTION OF THE PROCEEDS BEING DONATED TO WIA. WE WERE THRILLED TO BE JOINED BY J.MCLAUGHLIN'S CEO, MARY ELLEN COYNE, WHO CHATTED WITH THE GROUP ABOUT THE RETAIL BUSINESS, THE TRENDS SHE IS SEEING IN HER INDUSTRY.IN MID-NOVEMBER, 2018 MENTEE ELLIE PRICE, HOSTED A SCREENING AT BLOOMBERG OF "THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING" FOR WIA MEMBERS. PRODUCED BY ACTOR GENNA DAVIS, IT'S A FASCINATING LOOK INTO WHY GENDER EQUALITY STILL HASN'T HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD. PETER T. GRAUER, CHAIRMAN OF BLOOMBERG WHO HAS A BRIEF APPEARANCE IN THE FILM, NOTED THAT THE PROJECT LINED UP WELL WITH THE COMPANY'S MISSION,"IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR US TO SUPPORT THIS FILM AS IT TACKLES THE HARSH REALITIES AND RAMIFICATIONS OF GENDER DISPARITY," HE SAID. "LEADERS ACROSS ALL INDUSTRIES NEED TO WORK TIRELESSLY UNTIL EQUALITY IS ACHIEVED ON ALL LEVELS."ALSO IN NOVEMBER, THE ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION LEADERSHIP COUNCIL HELD ELECTIONS FOR SEVERAL OPEN POSITIONS WHICH WILL BEGIN IN 2020. JOINING 2014 MENTEE ANGELIQUE JURGILL (PRESIDENT OF THE ALUM ASSOC), 2014 MENTEE NAOMI GOLDSTEIN (VP, OPERATIONS) & 2016 MENTEE MOLLY VANUCCI(VP, COMMUNICATIONS) WILL BE 2016 MENTEE VALERIEMARKS (VP, ENGAGEMENT), 2018 MENTEE MEGAN KILCOURSE (COUNCIL OFFICER) & 2018 MENTEE KRISTA SANDE-KERBACK (COUNCIL OFFICER).IN EARLY DECEMBER, WIA CELEBRATED THE HOLIDAYS AT THE BEAUTIFUL NATIONAL ARTS CLUB IN GRAMERCY, THANKS TO MENTOR CARINA DAVIDSON AND HER COMPANY ABERNATHY MACGREGOR,WHO CO-HOSTED THE PARTY WITH WIA. ALSO IN DECEMBER, MENTOR PAT HEDLEY HOSTED A BREAKFAST FOR WIA ALUMNAE CALLED: "THINKING OF INNOVATION: START UPS, NEW ROLES AND HOW INNOVATION AFFECTS YOUR CAREER". AMONG MANY THINGS, PAT TALKED ABOUT CREATIVE WAYS ORGANIZATIONS ENERGIZE THEIR TEAMS AND BRING A SENSE OF URGENCY TO ENCOURAGE EXPERIMENTATION. SHE ALSO OFFERED SUGGESTIONS FOR PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: MAKE THE TIME, GET EXPOSURE AS BROADLY AS POSSIBLE (READ, TRAVEL, INTERACT) AND EXECUTE ON NEW IDEAS.

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