April 2009

It is with a bit of a heavy heart that I write my last President’s letter this month. I can’t believe a whole year has gone by… and it’s April again already! I have wholeheartedly enjoyed my role this year serving as the Burlington BPW President with my Board and with the entire membership. Thank you for all that I have learned from this experience. I would encourage all members to get involved and serve as a board member – new members too! It’s a lot of fun and a great way to get to know everyone.

April is the month we recognize Equal Pay Day. Equal Pay Day is held annually in April to signify the point into a year that a woman must work to earn what a man made the previous year. This year, that day is April 28th. As an organization, all local chapters of BPW do something to get the point across to the general public. Burlington has done many events, including visits to the state house in Montpelier and standing in front of the post office on tax day handing out Pay Day candy bars with and “equal” sticker attached. I would ask that everyone do what they can in your office or your community to educate people on the gap between men’s and women’s earnings. For more information and free tools to use – visit the BPW/USA website.

This month, at our dinner meeting, we will be installing the new Executive Board for 2009-2010. We are very excited to welcome Leslie Higgins as the next President and we are all confident that this will be a productive and exciting year for Burlington. With all the recent announcements from the National organization… now, more than ever before, we need to pull together and work hard to survive. We have just welcomed two new members and look forward to continuing that growth.

Lindy Hatcher, the incoming state President, will be attending our April meeting as well. Lindy will be sharing with us some of her experiences from Policy & Action Day 2009 in Washington DC on March 31st. Lindy is attending this year with Becky Tarte Richards, the Legislative committee chair for the state board. It will be wonderful to hear about their experiences!

Once again, thank you for all of your support this past year. I am happier than ever to become a new mom this summer and promise to stay as involved as I possibly can with BPW for ever and ever.

Best,

Maria Millikin, President
Burlington BPW

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