We are organizing a fantastic gala at the Koepelkerk in Amsterdam November 12, to celebrate our 25th Anniversary of this wonderful network. As a guest you are very welcome to register for the event. But if you are interested to become a member now, you might want to take advantage of a great offer we have for you now:

Full membership until December 31-2012 + ticket for the 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner on November 12 2011.

Join the network now and become a member until the end of 2012 & buy a ticket to our 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner on November 12th at the Koepelkerk in Amsterdam. We offer you this special package for € 245.

(The regular fee: € 175 for a membership from September 2011 until December 31-2012 and € 145 for a ticket to the gala; you save € 75).

Terms and conditions:
1. Apply for membership via http://epwn.etheryl.net/sessions/sign_up.

2. Send an email to http://membership@europeanpwn-amsterdam.net and explain that you will take advantage of this special membership offer for new members combined with a ticket to the gala. When your membership is confirmed, you will receive an email with further details.

3. Your payment should be transferred into our bank account within 5 days after you received your login details to the EuropeanPWN platform and before November 10th 2011.

4. All further conditions applicable to your registration for events apply, see http://europeanpwn-amsterdam.net/faq/tc-events-registration.

This offer is valid from October 17th until November 10th 2011.
In case you have questions, we kindly encourage you to send an email to membership@europeanpwn-amsterdam.net.

Today is International Women’s Day. Many of you will have know of International Women’s Day but some may not.

International Women’s Day has been observed since in the early 1900′s, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

Stuttgart (Germany) 1907,  the first Socialistic Women’s Conference was  held.  In 1908 a great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women’s oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal active in campaigning for change.
15.000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. In Europe, similar events occurred also to express women’s solidarity. Women demanded “bread and roses”; it was all about women surviving as well as demanding a better quality of life.

In 1909 In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman’s Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913. The date changed and March 8 became the National Women’s Day. The first International Women’s Day in The Netherlands was held May 12 1912; voting rights for women was the main issue. 

Between 1907 and now, a lot happened. History describes this in detail. Now, International Women’s Day is an official holiday in many countries in the world. This century show a significant change and attitude shift in women’s and society’s thoughts about women’s equality and emancipation. In 1975 The United Nations designated March 8 as International Women’s Day. Numerous large scale events are organized to honour women’s advancement and reminding the world of the continuing action that is required to ensure the progress of women in all aspects of life: professional, social and personal.

Now more than ever  in society many people spread the word about diversity, progress for women in organizations, career development and opportunities and moral. Even better, not only more people are active in spreading the word, more organizations – men and women – are active to promote women and create possibilities for us in finding our way in the workplace to find top positions.

Things are not going fast enough for a lot of us; nevertheless things are improving. We have more women in executive positions than before, more possibilities to grow than before and much more opportunities to organize our visibility than we could think of in the past.  Unfortunately, despite all that, we are still not paid equally comparing to our male counterparts, we are still not present in equal numbers in board positions and in general, we still have a lot to fight for in terms of being treated equal to men.

The biggest improvement that we have made over the years is that now these days we have a choice to be who we are and what we want to achieve. Let’s face it, this should be without saying and unfortunately it isn’t. But we are working on it and times will change. You as a member of EuropeanPWN are proof of that!  We are working towards creating careers for ourselves, we are managing our own businesses and we have goals which  we want to achieve. Of course, at times we think we are going too slow, but remember, we are are making progress and we should never forget that.

I want to congratulate you with all of the results which you have created in the past and I want to remind you to celebrate yourown successes. Find your momentum now for many more results to come! EuropeanPWN has a mission to support you and as members of this network, we will support each other where we can.

Enjoy your day and celebrate your success!

Caroline van Leuven
President EuropeanPWN Amsterdam

More than two-fifth (41%) of the employers surveyed do not offer any activities or programmes targeted at the development needs of women leaders. While only 21% of organisations said they offer some activities or programmes, such as flexible time arrangements, mentoring and coaching, another 11% said they are planning to add these in the future – surpassing a global average of 6%.

Read more:

Summary – Press release Survey conducted by Mercer

Summary report: Women’s Leadership Development Survey by Mercer

These are just some of the conclusions of the Emancipation monitor 2010 published jointly by Statistics Netherlands and the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) officially presented to the Minister responsible for emancipation policy, Marja van Bijsterveldt.

In the period 2001-2005 net labour participation (the percentage of people with a job of at least twelve hours a week) of women aged 15 to 64 years remained about the same. After that it rose substantially: from 54 percent in 2005 to 60 percent in 2009. The newest figures (which are not in the Emancipation monitor) show that the rate remains at 60 percent in 2010, too. The target of 65 percent, as set in the policy document Meer kansen voor vrouwen (More opportunities for women) in 2007 has therefore not been realised. The labour participation of men fell by 2 percent points during the financial crisis, to 74 percent in 2010.

For more information:
- Press release in English: http://bit.ly/CBSmonitor2010
- Summary of the Emancipation Monitor: Summary Emancipation Monitor 2010 in English

The complete text of the Emancipation Monitor is available via www.cbs.nl and Dutch bookstores.

Organizer: Anna Farrenkopf

Dear Members,

Please note that there will be some interruptions to registration and on line payment 30 November and 1st December 2010.

Our member-only platform is migrating to a virtual new home. We anticipate linking and full functionality will be back on line by Thursday but encourage you to email us directly if you need to reach us.

Thank you for your understanding.

Anna Farrenkopf and
the Board of EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam

You can take part in a live Q&A, lasting til tomorrow lunchtime (15 October 2010), with Patricia Tehan, headhunter at Lygon, an international executive search firm, and Peninah Thomson, an executive coach who directs a UK mentoring scheme that has been copied in France, Australia, South Africa, the Netherlands and Canada.

Women make up 11.7% of boards at the top 3001 European companies up from 9.7% in 2008 and 8.5% in 2006, the best progress since first BoardMonitor. Of a total 4,875 board seats, women occupy 571. As a result of quota legislation2 Norway remains at the top of the table in having 37.9% women on boards. Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain, Belgium and France have more than doubled the number of women on boards; the introduction of Corporate Governance Codes together with equal access legislations currently under discussion in a few countries is having a significant impact, as well as increased shareholder and media scrutiny of board membership.

Download the presentation here
Download the press release here
BoardWomen Monitor 2010 in the media
Article in the Financial Times

For press coverage in The Netherlands, please access:

Managersonline.nl

The article starts as follows:

“A group of women wearing fake beards stormed the podium at Veolia Environnement’s crowded shareholders’ meeting in Paris last month, challenging Chairman Henri Proglio over the gender makeup of his overwhelmingly male board. “Is it really wise to allow women to define the strategy of a company, a task requiring intelligence, an ability to react, and coolheadedness?” asked a disguised member of the feminist advocacy group La Barbe, or “The Beard.” She taunted the French water utility for having only one woman on its 17-member board.”

The bottom line: French boardrooms have long been a male domain. A proposal requiring that at least 40 percent of directors be women could change that.

Read the full article by clicking here.