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The Pensacola Women’s Alliance is an organization of professional and business women who are striving to make a difference for women in the community. PWA was formed in 1982 by Diane Miller and Isabella Grimes, two women who had learned about a new business connection for women that was expanding across the country. It was called NETWORKING.
Diane and Isabella each asked five women from a cross section of the business and volunteer community to join them to discuss forming a local networking organization. The first meeting of these twelve women was held in the Nautilus Chamber of the Commons at the University of West Florida. All were vitally interested in the concept and voted to meet once a month for lunch on Saturdays. Over that next year this small group formed a non profit corporation called the Pensacola Network of Professional Women. They adopted bylaws and affiliated with the Florida Network of Executive Women. That core group of women invited other women to join and soon the membership grew to 25 women. The organization focused on the reality that when women join networks and profit from them, this act has a ripple effect. Women need to support and encourage each other. Each time you help another woman, you are helping all women, and helping yourself.
In the years since this organization has formed, the membership has grown and the name of the organization changed to the Pensacola Women’s Alliance. We are now affiliated with The International Alliance for Women (TIAW) www.tiaw.org. PWA established a mentoring program for young women and strong scholarship programs at the University of West Florida, Pensacola Junior College and George Stone Technical School. We are not a fund raising organization. We pay annual dues and these dues have accumulated over the years. Our surplus funds have been used to establish the scholarship programs and make annual contributions. In 2007 we celebrated 25 years of networking and efforts to improve the opportunities for women in our community.
Membership in the Pensacola Women’s Alliance is by application. Our criteria for membership requires that the applicant must be a woman who contributes to the community in a meaningful way, either through her profession, volunteer service or public service (elected or appointed). She must enjoy an excellent reputation for integrity and leadership, and be willing to use her expertise to improve the status of all women. PWA wants the membership to be a cross section of the community. To achieve this, no more than 10% of the membership can be from the same occupation or profession.
PWA has nine regular meetings annually. These meetings alternate between lunch and dinner meetings. We do not meet in July or August. In December the Alliance hosts a holiday party and spouses are invited. Annual dues are $160 per year, paid quarterly. Membership is limited to 100 women. There are openings for new members to join.
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