For over two decades, the Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) has created a community of women in the San Francisco Bay Area to enhance stewardship of the environment through networking, career building and leadership development. Over the last year, WEN conducted a stakeholder analysis, reviewed the results of previous member surveys, and launched a strategic planning process. The results were clear – WEN has the potential and desire to implement higher-impact programs that will enable women in the Bay Area to succeed and advance in their careers. While the number of women in environmental fields is rising, women continue to face barriers to advancement and lack the support needed to excel in complex social and political systems. WEN can be a part of the solution.
WEN’s strategic planning process revealed significant demand for WEN’s services and the untapped potential for WEN to unite women’s voices across the Bay Area to drive change. Member surveys and stakeholder interviews discovered that:
- Professional women in the environmental fields want: mentoring, leadership development workshops, skills building, more connections to career advancement opportunities and member-led affinity groups.
- WEN’s reputation is strong and WEN is known for “high quality events,” “professional speakers” and for being “welcoming and approachable.”
- The majority of member survey respondents said they are willing to support WEN with donations or membership fees.
WEN’s Vision for the Future
WEN is ready to grow into the next level of impact by becoming a staffed organization that is strategic, financially sustainable and impactful. Our next steps are to create a business plan, to raise funds to continue to improve and to maintain our website, and to grow our network and community. To strengthen our capacity, we recently recruited several new board members. Please help me welcome Alison Brown, Aubrey Beltran, Joyce Ganthavorn, Ruby Tumber, Sandra Lupien and Shahira Esmail to the board. We look forward to a new year filled with exciting, relevant programming and a focus on strengthening our community.
Join Us to Help Women Rise to Environmental Leadership
We could not do the work that we do without you. You are an important part of this community! There are many ways to become (or stay) involved with WEN. As you end this year and begin thinking about the year ahead, please consider attending WEN events in 2018, joining our book club, volunteering your time and expertise, or donating to WEN. We are a 501(c)3 and your donation is tax-deductible! To learn more about opportunities to engage or to make a donation, please visit: www.wencal.org/join-us/
We look forward to seeing you in 2018 and wish you a happy holiday season!
