Spring into Action with NYWSE

Tuesday, March 6, 2012 from 6:15 PM to 8:30 PM (ET)

Join NWYSE for a special networking event to jump start your year. NYWSE is celebrating rapid growth and a community of 1000+. Tapping into this vast group of women, host Taryn Miller-Stevens of Change.org will guide you through three activities to formulate your goals, traverse obstacles, and create new opportunities.

Speed Game-Changing
Goal Circle
Think Tank Accelerator

Beverages provided and please remember to bring business cards. If there is a particular social enterprise topic that you would like to see added to the discussion, please email NYWSE at [email protected] with a reference to this event.

Register at: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2868502769

 

EVENT SPONSOR

                                                                                                                                                                            In Good Company Workplaces provides women business owners with both a professional space to call their own and a strong peer network built through authentic, in-person connections and interactions. Our beautiful loft-like space is not only affordable but also available through several flexible membership plans (helpful for accommodating various and changing work/life needs). Members can use it as a place to work, a place to meet clients, and a place to hold classes and workshops.

                                                                                                                                                                  

Our community also benefits from opportunities to connect with other like minded women business owners (for collaboration, advice, expertise) as well as access to educational events and resources. Our events aim to facilitate not only the in-person connection, but also the exchange of sound and strategic business advice as well as tactical solutions.

Love + Water Designs: Every Drop Counts

By Victoria McNally, Guest Blogger

Love and Water Designs is an online community that connects artists with charities to create Wearable Philanthropy.  It was founded by Alexis Fedor, who originally began the site as a blog that featured new artists and ways to support charities, and wanted to combine the two endeavors.

“I wanted to create a for-profit company with the mission of giving back as its core focus. As an artist myself, I realized I wanted to expand the community I had around me into giving back through their art. I thought we could illustrate that a lot of a little adds up to a lot, fast!  That became my primary aim in creating the business plan for Love and Water Designs.”

Every month, the website hosts “design projects” in the name of a charity and invites artists from around the world to create designs inspired by that charity’s mission. Community members rate, vote for, and comment on these designs, and at the end of the month Love and Water selects one design to print on a limited edition t-shirt. The artist receives a cash prize, and Love and Water donates up to 50% of the profits from the sale of each shirt to the charity that initially inspired its creation. The name of the artist and charity also goes on the back of each shirt.

This year Love and Water is looking to drastically expand the amount of people who regularly engage with one another in its community. They’ve been publishing weekly articles on their blog featuring artists, charities, already submitted designs, and even community members who have purchased t-shirts. In particular, they have a major blog campaign going on right now called “We Are One,” which profiles a community member wearing their favorite shirt every Wednesday.  This is a way for other community members to get to know each other and give back.  They also maintain an active presence on Twitter and Facebook, and are looking to reach out to artists local to New York and to the global art world at large.

To purchase a shirt, join the community or just have a look at the site, visit http://loveandwaterdesigns.com.

 

 

Stepping Forward with Our 5-Year Vision

by Hannah Jang, Chief Blogger

As I walk into the room, I am greeted by Nevada Jean Lane, our graphic facilitator for our one-day visioning retreat in San Francisco. I am the first to arrive. I locate my name tag and proceed to find a seat. I take one quick glance at the agenda and think to myself, "This is going to be one jam-packed day!" 

Just as I am starting to anticipate the day's schedule, Michelle Lapinski from the San Francisco Chapter walks in. Given that this would be the first time I am meeting the women from the different YWSE chapters, I get ready for a handshake. Except, Michelle flashes a huge smile, hugs me tightly and excitedly says, "It's so great to finally meet you!" Minutes later, the other women quickly trickle into the room. Before I know it, we are all greeting each other with hugs. I quickly learn that this is the "YWSE Way".

From that moment on, I knew I was in for a treat.

Eleven creative minds gathered from all parts of the U.S. - Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, New York, and DC - to take on the challenging task of developing a 5-year vision plan for YWSE. To start, we are reminded of the "YWSE Values" and how our core values are the key principles that guide our conduct and our relationships. They connect us to each other and make our successes possible.

The empty canvas is eventually populated with our brainstorming and mind mapping. Nevada was able to beautifully capture our thoughts and ideas through this visual representation:

Our vision inspires us to dream bigger, reach higher and expect more for the future.

While the visioning retreat accomplished the immediate goal of bringing Chapter leaders together to develop a shared vision for YWSE, it is important to understand that the retreat itself was merely the first step in a process. The key to its impact is in the follow-up.  The work that remains is that of empowering and supporting Chapter leaders to implement program ideas and of monitoring progress through regular check-ins and follow-up meetings. 

An important outcome of the YWSE Visioning retreat is the visual reminder of the stepping stones that will allow us to reach our 5-year vision.

As we continue to serve our local members with excellence, we will need your help in building national community and external visibility through increased and improved means of our funding model and technology.

If there is specific "stepping stone" that you are interested in learning more about and/or would like to serve on a committee, please email us at [email protected].