Announcements and Opportunities

Nominations for the 2010 NAFE Women of Excellence are now open! The NAFE Women of Excellence Awards is a program that celebrates the achievements and accomplishments of NAFE members in their careers, businesses and communities. The nomination criteria include success in their professional endeavors (often overcoming the odds), vision and creativity, and helping other women.

Deadline is April 15, 2010. Enter soon!

Awards will be given in the following ten categories, including four brand-new areas of excellence for 2010:

Woman of Achievement – A woman who has attained a high rank at her company and has utilized her position, stature and expertise to break down gender bias and effect positive change for women.

Outstanding Entrepreneur – A woman entrepreneur who not only strives to build a great company, but also contributes to the success of other women entrepreneurs.

Mentorship Award – An individual who serves as an example of hard work and effective management and who demonstrates a powerful commitment to advising other women and helping them advance.

Community Service – An individual who is changing the face of neighborhoods through initiatives to provide services that benefit women.

Rising Star – An up-and-coming female executive with less than 15 years at a company or an entrepreneur in business for less than five years.

Service to New York City – An award for community service to honor an outstanding member in NAFE’s “home town” of New York. (new for 2009)

Activist Award – A woman who has worked to improve policies or practices effecting change for women at her job or in her community. (new for 2010)

Global Awareness Award – A woman who works to improve the lives of women internationally or who helps improve the dialogue among women across the globe. (new for 2010)

Health Care Champion – A woman who has demonstrated a commitment to supporting affordable, quality healthcare for women. (new for 2010)

Social Media Star – A woman who has harnessed social media to help women connect and thrive. (new for 2010)

Click here for the nomination form.

Click here to read about last year’s inspirational winners.

NAFE Discount on Whirlpool Products. Through a special arrangement with Whirlpool, NAFE members can reap big savings on Whirlpool appliances, accessories and other items. You and your family can purchase up to 12 products a year under the VIPLINK program. Sign up for the discount program – just click on the Whirlpool banner at the top of nafe.com. GROUP CODE:  AFE1A2051

Want to promote your business? A square display ad (120x120 pixels) in one issue of NAFE News & Notes is just $75.00. Larger skyscraper ads (600x120 pix) are a bargain at $175. Contact newsletter editor Paula Damiano to place your ad.

Network News

The For You Networks of Southern California held their 8th annual You Gotta Have Heart awards program. In the photo (left to right): Cindy Ashton, Gisella Thomas, Delores Burgess. Fifteen awards were presented at the gala event, held at the Foxfire Restaurant in Anaheim. "Everyone had a great time… We were all awed by the accomplishments of those present," said event chair Gisella Thomas, a Founding Director of the For You Network. Click here to read more about the winners.

5 Tips from Superstar Women CEOs
by Paula Damiano, Editor – NAFE News & Notes and nafe.com

March is Women’s History Month. But instead of looking back, let’s look to the future – with advice from women who have achieved contemporary success. These women have earned their CEO stripes in the toughest kind of competition, where billions of dollars are at stake. Read and learn what these highest-ranking executives have to say:

1. Strive for worklife balance: “Being a trailblazer has its own set of issues. Right now I am trying to navigate through all this while not forgetting that I have a core set of responsibilities that include being a CEO, mother and wife. Not in that order. The order is mother, mother, mother, CEO and… wife.” Indra Hooyl, CEO, Pepsico

2. Focus on what you can control. Realizing she needed to shift the company's attention from what was going wrong to the immediate action required, DuPont’s chief executive officer said, “I saw a lot of people who looked scared and didn't know what to do." So she directed DuPont's management to "figure out those ... things we can do something about, and get about doing them." Ellen Kullman, CEO, DuPont

3. Your most important resource is your own employees. “It was important for me to go out into the [workplace] and get people to feel comfortable talking to me. If they could feel comfortable, then I would learn what I needed to learn. … If your people don't feel valued and important, then it's hard for them to take care of the customers.” Mary Sammons, President and CEO, Rite Aid

4. Remember to give back. “Often, I have found that mentees discover the right answer or uncover the right path by simply talking about an issue with a mentor.  If a mentor listens closely and allows the mentee to reason her own way to a solution, the solution becomes more meaningful to the development of that young person.” Janet L. Robinson, CEO, The New York Times Company and 2009 NAFE Woman of Achievement

5. Rethink women’s role in the workplace. "I yearn for the day when...the word 'woman' is not an unofficial part of my title...for the day when there is no need nor interest in a list of most powerful women in business," Anne Mulcahy, Chairman and former CEO, Xerox

Learn all about your fellow business women on nafe.com under Member Profiles. Janice Gallick of CareCircle is currently featured, as well as Vikki Pryor, Robbie Motter and Teriilee Harrison. Click here.

Know another outstanding NAFE member you’d like to see profiled on nafe.com? Send details to NAFE News & Notes editor Paula Damiano.

• Go to nafe.com to view our ever-expanding Calendar of Events for opportunities around the country. The new Search function makes the Calendar even more useful and accessible.
• Use the Event Submission Form online to let us know about events in your area. Events submitted for the website will also be considered for the NAFE News & Notes– twice the exposure for one listing!

Check the NAFE Calendar of Events for network meetings, workshops and other happenings around the country.

Words to
Work By

“I often joke that I had to become interested in human rights because I was the only sister wedged between four brothers”

-Mary Robinson, first female president of Ireland (1990 to 1997) and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights