Women and their amazing accomplishments are being celebrated worldwide on International Women’s Day and throughout the month of March. Congratulations to our member financial institutions and affiliates on your efforts to promote, support, and develop women in business. Here in Australia, at my bank, Westpac, we are celebrating IWD in all 750 branches throughout the country: a first time endeavor involving 13,000 people in these events.
2010 marks our 10th anniversary, and I would like to extend an early invitation for you to mark your calendars for October 20-22 when our Annual Summit will be held in Washington, D.C. We are especially grateful to our premier sponsor and Summit host this year, Women In Business team of the International Finance Corporation, (IFC). This is going to be an exciting Summit, I can assure you all. There are many events and workshops as well as special guest appearances in the planning stages. So please plan on attending, invite other colleagues and especially other institutions who should become full members or affiliates. Be sure to visit the Summit section of this newsletter and click on the pre-registration link to receive information as we set the agenda.
Last month on February 24-25 I was joined by our Governing Board members for our annual strategy meeting held at IFC offices in Washington, D.C. Growth will be our focus this year: in membership and geographic representation. Our vision for the next 10 years is to increase membership among financial institutions and affiliated partners to mainstream access to credit and women’s wealth creation programs for women globally. Through our uniquely collaborative network, we are the leading organization of financial institutions driving women’s wealth creation. To execute this vision and to manage the activities of our organization, I am happy to report the Board has created an Executive Director role and has appointed Teri Cavanagh to the position effective March 1. Please read further on for a more detailed article. As April approaches and we begin our new fiscal year, we have ambitious plans to accomplish and much to celebrate. Thank you for your commitment to the GBA for Women and I welcome your continued involvement and contributions to our mutual and shared success.
Sincerely,
Larke Riemer
Head of Women’s Markets
Westpac Banking Corporation
GBA Board Chair
