The Final Chapter

"Experience is the best teacher of all.  And for that, there are no guarantees that one will become an artist.  Only the journey matters."

- Harry Callahan

 

 

 

 

Good Day EWI!

 

Well, this will be last blog for the year, and what a year it has been!  The journey I have taken as your 2012-2013 Corporate President has been a true blessing and joy in my life!  I cannot thank those that walked beside me enough!  Ronwyn, Darlene, Benita, Cindy, Cortney, Mary Helen, Lisa and Wendy have all been an incredible inspiration to me...your support has made it such an easy role to fulfill!

 

When we started this year I gave each of our Chairs a key chain as I truly felt they would be the "keys to our success" and I was not wrong!  The work these caring women undertook with their Vice Chairs and Committee Members was astounding!  You are the true heroes ladies!  My deepest gratitude to Pat Evans, Darlene Banogon, Carolyn Woodmansee, Kerry Feltenberg, Darlis Vauble, Jenni Burns, Jeanette Davis, Kim Fankhauser!  Additional heartfelt thanks to Lisa Stokes as Nominating Chair and Nancy Harrison as Credentials Chair.

 

I would also like to thank the staff members for their unwavering commitment to EWI!  Brittany, Kim, Bonny and Ashley - thank you for all that you do for EWI!

 

My deepest hope in undertaking this weekly blog was that through this exercise, I might inspire other members of EWI to read it and think to themselves, "I can do that too!"

 

As our great Founder Lucille Johnson Perkins and the first Board of Directors said so eloquently in our Chartering documents, "She profits best who serves most."  To me, that is the golden nugget of EWI.  For without stepping into servant leadership you are missing out on the greatest learning tool available through your membership. The lessons and skills that I have learnt throughout my time with EWI have been some of the most rewarding lessons in my life.  Is it a time requirement?  Absolutely.  However nothing worthwhile comes without dedicating your attention to it.

 

Heading into the final 48 hours before I fly to San Diego, I am sure my time will be looking like yours...trying to pack, manicure/pedicure, banking, etc.  As I count down the hours I will also be thinking of all the members I will be seeing next week as we celebrate our 75th Anniversary at LCAM!  I am very excited to head into this final week of my Presidency because it is a week dedicated solely to EWI and its members.  I cannot wait to spend this time with 355 other EWI member representatives!

 

For those of you not attending, I know you will be with us in spirit.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support this year!  I have never been so proud of being a part of EWI as I have been this year.  Thank you for the honor of serving as your Corporate President!

 

Keep the faith and please... continue to 20 Mile March!

 

Over and out.

- K

 



International Literacy Day

"To be a leader, you must be a reader!"

- Executive Women International

 

 

 

 

Good Day EWI!

 

Sunday, the 08th of September is International Literacy Day!  What a wonderful "day" to truly celebrate!

 

A friend just asked me why literacy is so important to EWI and I replied with our mantra that "to be a leader, you need to be a reader".  What a powerful slogan that is!

 

In visiting the UNESCO website about this special designated day, I read with interest the message from Ms. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of International Literacy Day.  She says,

 

"Literacy is a basic right and an essential motor for human development.  It paves the way to autonomy, the acquisition of skills, cultural expression and full participation in society.  Literacy is much more than an educational priority - it is the ultimate investment in the future and the first step towards all the new forms of literacy required in the twenty-first century.  We wish to see a century where every child is able to read and to use this skill to gain autonomy.  On this International Literacy Day, we call on governments to work together to achieve this dream.  The progress made in recent years shows that this is possible, and UNESCO is committed to doing all that it can to make it happen."

 

The UNESCO website also quotes the following stats I thought I would share with you today:

• 774M adults are illiterate, 2/3 of which are women (493M)
• 123M youth (age 15-24) are illiterate, 2/3 of which are female (76M)
• Of those 76M young girls, 54M of them live in just 9 countries with India having over 50% of them!  27M young girls in India cannot read or write

What about the children?  While visiting UNESCO's site I also enjoyed an interview from Wednesday with Room to Read.  The Founder of which, John Wood, is our keynote at LCAM on our own "EWI Foundation Literacy Day"!  Room to Read was the laureate of the UNESCO 2011 Confucius Prize for Literacy.

 

In the interview Room to Read states that, "There are currently 250M children of primary age who cannot read or write.  Literacy is the foundation for all future learning and we need to work hard to ensure these children are not shortchanged for the entirety of their education.  Room to Read's vision is for all children - no matter where they are born - to have access to a safe, effective school that can provide them with trained teachers and the tools need to develop literacy skills and a habit of independent reading."

 

I am so excited to hear John speak on Friday of LCAM week!  If that were not enough, we also get to hear from Inocente, Mark Shriver and Alaina Podmorrow that day!  WOW!  I sure hope you are coming to LCAM to help us celebrate our 75th Anniversary with this special day dedicated to Literacy!

 

In closing, my wish for all of you is to have some quiet time on Sunday with a book, or grab a youngster and sit down to read to them and share this incredible gift of literacy we have all been so blessed with just by virtue of where we were born.

 

Have a wonderful weekend reading!

 

- K