December Greetings!
Our December 9th meeting and holiday get together was a lot of fun at Methuselah. It was super to see so many new members and guests! Yuki Cohen did a terrific job hosting us; we love to support women-owned businesses. Karen O’Donnell enthusiastically led us through exercises on networking and we raised money too! We will put the money from the wine pull into our 2020 scholarship fund. The donated gift cards will make the holidays brighter for the families supported 18 Degrees.
At our Board meeting last week, we welcomed several new Committee members, which was exciting and means we can get more accomplished as a Board.
- Mary Vasquez-Slack is now Co-Chair of the Communications Committee, working with Andrea Hurley.
- Beth Gilbert is working with Shela Levante on Programming and
- Kalee Carmel is now an experienced Co-Chair of the Membership Committee, working side by side with Donna Collins.
It is not too late to reach out to any Board Member to help with your talents! The more members working on Committees, the better the Berkshire Business & Professional Women’s group can be!
Our January meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 6th from 5:30-7:30 at the Morgan House in Lee. Be sure to RSVP before the December 30th deadline. The meeting will be fantastic, with a noted speaker and author on women and leadership. This is a perfect topic for the start of your new year!!
Sally Helgesen, Leading Expert in Women’s Leadership
Sally is cited in Forbes as the world’s premier expert on women’s leadership, is a best-selling author, speaker and leadership coach. She will talk about her latest book How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job.
For 30 years her mission has been to help women recognize, articulate and act on their greatest strengths and help organizations build more inclusive cultures. Women’s distinctive strengths and behaviors provide them with many advantages. Yet the very habits that help them early in their careers can hold them back as they seek to rise.
Drawing on her work with #1 ranked executive coach and New York Times best-selling author Marshall Goldsmith, Sally will help us to identify and address the habits most likely to get in our way as we seek to move to a higher level. These habits include: Reluctance to Claim Your Achievements, Expecting Others to Spontaneously Notice and Reward Your Hard Work, Overvaluing Expertise, Building Rather than Leveraging Relationships, Failing to Enlist Allies from Day One, Putting Your Job Before Your Career, The Disease to Please, The Quest to be Perfect, Speaking While Emotional, Minimizing, Ruminating, and Letting Your Radar Distract You.
The BBPW Monthly eNewsletter is a place where members can contribute content regarding their businesses and other points of interest. Input is through the website. I hope to read some exciting articles in this issue!
Your board continues to be energized and is working well together on many initiatives. We are excited by new members and bigger attendance at our meetings. We remain committed to making the Berkshire BPW worth every minute of your time and energy.
See you out and about over the next two weeks.
With gratitude to both members and friends,
Celia
