PRESIDENT’S MEMO
VOLUME TWO
1ST JULY 2011
Dear BPW Nigeria Presidents/Secretaries,
A big welcome back and thank you, to all our sisters that were able to make the triennial BPW Congress in Finland!!!
It was an amazing time and I am sure that after reading this report you will not only be proud to be a Nigerian, you will be given some more project ideas!
Congress overview
The BPW international hosts a congress every three years, where all members worldwide attended. This provides a unique opportunity for the members to learn more about BPW, elect new officers that will run the affairs of the organization for the next three years, get business training, meet and network with other women and above all get inspiration!
The Nigeria delegation was a large group of 53 women!!! Well done, sisters!!
This years congress was held at the Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, Finland from the 17th to the 21st of June, 2011.
Each day started with a Plenary session where we had accomplished presenters lead these sessions. This was followed by the BPW general assembly where we learnt about “the business of BPW”. In the afternoons we had training sessions which were for our personal business competent and topics included, Branding and Communication, The Power of Mentoring, Emotional Intelligence, Making a business case for the Women Empowerment Principles ( just to mention a few)
The day generally ended around 5.30pm, with evening events on some days.
There was a Gala Night on the 20th and a Farewell party ( which rocked!) on the 21st of June.
Highlights of the Congress for Us
· An African, and former regional coordinator –Mrs Huguette Dossa ( Benin) was elected 2nd Vice President of BPW International.
· Mrs Nike Adeyanju-Osadolor was elected Africa Regional Coordinator, taking over from Mrs Huguette Dossa.
· Egypt won their bid to host the congress in 2016. This brings the congress to Africa after 26 years!
· Large delegation turn out sent a strong message to the congress that Nigeria is an active member of BPW International, and a federation to be reckoned with.
· We also have membership on some standing committees.
Implications for Nigeria
· With the Regional Coordinator being a Nigerian, we are now in a better position working with other countries, to grow the organization in Africa, and expand especially into the English speaking regions strongly.
· BPW international is now aware that Africans will now begin to via for positions on the executive board of BPW International.
· Our projects in Africa, will get more visibility within the club and thus solicit more support and partnerships.
· More clubs will open country wide and we are working on reaching out to all First Ladies to consider starting a BPW club in the country/region.
· Women Empowerment Principles will be launch in Nigeria in October at country congress and this will mean that all our members must ensure they are able to take up leadership positions in this country as we begin to push for this with the backing of BPW international and the UN.
· More projects that are targeted to benefit women and girls will be closely looked at and we must now begin to work on sustainable projects only.
· There will be more travel and networking opportunities for us, within the continent. But this will mean my office will have to set higher travel criteria in the future.
· We are going to start organizing more business training as BPW is about your business or career getting better. So more ways to empower us will be sought as well as connect us with potential partners and funders.
· To remain a Federation or to have your clubs registered with the international office, it is now imperative that ALL members PAY all their dues as when due to ensure we can make the country payments when due. We will no longer entertain late or non payments.
· Marketing on a national level- this is something we are looking at to help grow the membership country wide. It would be important that all clubs begin to document and send by email everything they are doing. If we don’t know, we cant help!
Challenges we noted as a Federation
· Our reporting system is poor, which means that we don’t have a full picture of what each club is doing. I propose we set up a Yahoogroup that we can all use to update ourselves.
· Quality of membership- As business and professional women, our organization is to attract women of timbre and caliber!! And not those wanting to use our travel opportunities as a chance to “escape” from Nigeria and thus bring disgrace on the club. We must work hard as individuals to educate, train and transform ourselves.
· Some members do not have a clear understanding of what BPW is all about. It is important that Presidents take time to educate their members on who we are and what we do!
· Some members don’t understand what the benefits are for them. These include mentoring and business support. I strongly believe that as a President of a club you must be the BEST advocate for BPW in your region, have one of the most successful business and is able to mentor others. All Presidents must be able to do this at a minimum.
· Funding for our projects- Nigeria now has to look at how the Friends and Partners of BPW programme works as we have to look for external partnerships to take the work forward.
· Our members have not gotten national recognition that many other BPW members in other nations have gotten, because we don’t understand the power in our hands!!
· BPW is not a social club and we have a mission and a vision being that:
"Each woman, as a citizen, must bring to the national policy of her own country, the contribution of forward-looking and constructive thought followed by determined action. Each woman must dedicate herself to protect and promote the interests of all other women in business and the professions."
Dr. Lena Madesin Phillips
Founder of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women
(BPW International)
All our clubs MUST be engaged in this as a minimum. My office has also decided to proscribe clubs that do not represent us well, or that are basically doing nothing.
Project Ideas
At Finland we got to meet and see what many other of our BPW sisters were doing worldwide and this is a quick summary of what I saw.
1. Cervical Cancer vaccine- Vaccines being donated by the EU to this club which was distributing to a group of women.
2. Equal Pay Day Campaigns- to ensure men and women are paid the same for the same job.
3. Business development workshops and seminars
4. Trade expeditions to help members increase their service range
5. Fundraising for disaster hit areas
6. Actively be advocacy groups to push certain women friendly policies in their countries
7. Sex education
8. Prepare lists of qualified women that can take Board membership positions and working with these women.
9. Members working together and mentoring each other
10. Environmental Clubs, Cafes, Businesses
11. BPW Girls summer camps
12. Skill acquisitions
13. Women talk show programme
14. Use part of club meeting time for business coaching
15. Girls education
This is by no means an exhaustive list, just some of my observations.
Going forward
The executives and I will have a meeting shortly and we will discuss extensively our agenda “after congress”, our regional plans and marketing plans. We have a big programme in October in Abuja, but you will all be involved in the planning.
I wish you a prosperous new month as well as a one that brings new members and opportunities for you all. Please feel free to call me (08033109818) if you are not clear on any issue.
Thank you all for the wonderful support and words of encouragement you have given me, I truly appreciate this.
Angela Ajala
National President
BPW Nigeria