May 2009

It is an honor to begin serving as your 2009-10 President. As a member since April 2006, there is a great deal that I have learned from being a part of this BPW group and a lot that I will be discovering that I do not know. I want to give a special thank you to Marie Eddy for the excellent job she did leading the installation ceremony on April 8, 2009. The 2009-10 board is up of very fine and talented women; President-Elect, Caisil Weldon; Vice President, MaryEllen Mendl; Treasurer, Lisa Heald; and Secretary, Kathryn Parker. Thank you all for accepting your nominations and agreeing to serve along side with me. We will do our best to serve our membership.

I have been so fortunate to have the guidance of our Past President, Maria Millikin, transition me over the past few weeks in the art of becoming a President. I need a lot of practice! Maria, I send a special thank you to you.

May is here bringing in warmer weather, and the great greening and flowering from all the cold April showering. Finally! May is also the month when we honor our veterans on Armed Forces Day and celebrate Memorial Day. It is a time to reflect on the status of our veterans who find it a challenge to overcome war time memories and injuries and for many to ‘acclimatize’ to civilian life after war. Along these lines here are some things to think about this month with respect to women soldiers. There were 7,500 female troops in Vietnam; 41,000 in the Gulf War. To date, there have been over 160,500 female troops engaged in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Currently, women comprise 15 percent of military troops. Our women troops suffer casualties, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, sexual assaults, and loneliness. Whatever your stance on war, our military sisters/brothers deserve our support and advocacy. Investigate to see if there is something local that you can get involved in to make a corroborative effort for Vermont veterans and soldiers.

On a sad note, our loyal member, Barbara Kaufmann’s, father passed away on Tuesday, April 21. Barb was extremely close to her father. Please join me in reaching out to her with prayers and condolences.

This year our membership as well as L.O.s all over the US will be facing many changes and challenges. The Merger Plan vote will decide the future of BPW; and I urge you all to vote for the Merger Plan. Merge or Dissolve—that is the question before us. Adoption of the Plan provides the continuity of the BPW/USA mission, heritage, and legacy through the BPW Foundation. Dissolution means that BPW would cease to exist at every level. Please vote!

I support remaining a part of BPW if the Plan is adopted for a minimum of one year. Please pay your dues! We need time to investigate who we are, where we are going, and how we will manage our fiscal responsibilities under change. We will need everyone’s support this year in outlining and planning our future.

In the upcoming year, I want our membership to stay focused on who we are and will become as we discover the outcome of the membership Merger Plan vote. We can do this through commitment to the existing BPWUSA 10 Steps of Best Practices for Building Powerful Women! Some of these are Membership participation, retention, and recruitment; Young Careerist (YC) Program; Individual Development Program (IDP); Programs such as National Business Women’s Week and Equal Pay Day and Womenomics and Women Joining Forces and EOY, WOA, WOY and so on; Legislative Activities; and Leadership Development. This year is a good year to choose areas that interest you most and ask a Committee Chair to serve on her committee to develop a best practice for the good of our entire membership!
This year I will be asking that you be strong in attendance, energy, and involvement in BPW so that we can keep our local (and state) organization as wonderful and as much fun as ever. And, I do want us to have fun, more networking and laughter as we strive to keep the Burlington BWP great!
Most Respectfully,

Leslie Higgins
Burlington BPW President

802-951-5889
Leslie.ljwemyss13@gmail.com

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