Our 2023 Chapter Chairs are bringing it! We are filled with gratitude for our 62 Co-Chairs leading the 33 WIPN local chapters with creativity, commitment and collaboration. It’s energizing to see chapters back to in-person events as well as virtual gatherings. Since the beginning of the year, we have collectively organized and hosted nearly 60 motivational and educational events throughout the country with many more on the way.
We kicked off 2023 strong with an annual WIPN Leadership Summit in Dallas, TX in February. We are grateful to our event program/meals sponsors who made the Leadership Summit possible: JPM, Advisor 2X, BlackRock, Ameritas, Fidelity, and The Standard! We also appreciate all the firms who funded our leaders’ travel and lodging. The robust program with 40 attendees brought WIPN leadership together to team-build, reflect on past initiatives, and set and align on goals for this year and beyond. We focused on key areas: Operational Efficiency, Membership, Sponsorship, and Events. For those who could not join us in person, we continue to foster a strong sense of WIPN community via virtual meetings. We have Chapter quarterly calls, monthly Board Chapter Directors office hours, as well as monthly check-ins with Regional Leaders. Organized into six distinct regions, the Chapters receive continued support from their dedicated Regional Leaders, who work hard both behind the scenes and leading regional activities.
Special shout out to Emily Rassam, former Southeast Regional, who passed the lead of the region to Kari Lusby, and whose commitment to the WIPN cause is outstanding! Thank you, Emily, for all you do for WIPN, especially your work around our social media presence! On the heels of the annual Leadership Summit, we launched a new Dallas, Texas chapter! The new chapter divides our previous all-Texas chapter into two, the other of which is now the “Houston and Austin” chapter. Congrats to the new Dallas Co-Chairs Ayla Galeyeva and Kayla Foltmer! And big thanks to Katelyn Boone and Amanda Lewis of the Houston & Austin Texas for their leadership welcoming another chapter to the lone star state.
To meet the needs of our membership who do not not live near one of our current chapters, we are launching a virtual chapter. This also provides flexibility during times when competing business or caregiving priorities hold women back from participating in local chapter or national WIPN events. Our virtual chapter will also expand networking opportunities for our members who do not travel for business or attend industry conferences. Each chapter hosts (on average) 4 events per year and our virtual chapter will do the same in a webinar format. Although any WIPN member can attend any local chapter events, our goal is to engage women who are not currently able to attend our in-person events.
We expect the virtual chapter to be up-and-running during the fourth quarter. We are currently reviewing existing virtual members and discussing potential co-chairs to run the chapter. Any interest in helping us run the Virtual Chapter? Or perhaps you are thinking about starting a WIPN chapter in your area, joining a chapter committee, or volunteering for your local chapter to help our community grow and thrive? Contact Ivana Polonijo or Roberta Hess for more information.
