October 2017
Monthly Newsletter of the Professional Women’s Association of Rome
Maria Grazia Panessa “Politically Correct”
PWA is an international hub in the heart of Rome where ideas and values, tradition and innovation, diversity, culture and professionalism meet and intersect. On our journey into the future our travel companions are respect, ethics, and a sense of social responsibility. This year we celebrate our 25th Jubilee Anniversary.
Letter from the President Just wandering downtown Rome window shopping in this gorgeous “ottobrata romana”, closer to an extension of September than we’re accustomed to, perhaps you’ve already noticed the incredible architectural makeover of Via del Tritone. We already know the chain stores Tiger, or Samsonite, or perhaps you’ve already tasted happiness in the form of goodies from ODStore (Dolce e Salato) choc-a-bloc with delicious sweets and chocolates ready for Halloween trick or treats. But what about the new flagship of La Rinascente? Have you been there, done that, got the T-shirt? Eight floors, visible if you look up from ground level to glass ceiling of designer clothes, accessories, perfumes, home furnishings, including the designer Food Hall bountiful with top brands of Made in Italy gourmet produce. Even its window-dressings are designer created, on the theme of working people, from security guards to chefs. However, maybe what you don’t notice is that the mannequin of Store Manager is a male (in reality Adriano imported from flagship Milano Piazza Duomo) and the mannequin of Customer Service is a female − with labels for good measure, silently, invisibly portraying to the public eye that glass ceiling that women can’t break. Yet women are the world’s most powerful consumers and account for 85% of consumer decisions globally. How does this feel? This issue of our Newsletter tackles just some of the many facets in women’s quests for recognition in the top echelons of power - be it corporate, political, or simply in the home environment. We’re happy to continue the conversation, so send us your feedback and say what you think! Valentina Ferretti
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Ivana Madonna editor newslettereditor@pwarome.org Hanna Suni layout designer www.hamedesign.com marketing@pwarome.org Valerie Baxter, Newsletter Consultant newsletterconsultant@pwarome.org
in this issue
4 Power to the Talented People
6 8 10 11 12
Women Transformed: From Ordinary to Extraordinary Maria Grazia Panessa: "Politically Correct" - Her Needs and Dreams Ready to Become a Top Manager: Watch Your Attitude! The WIN Magic The Power of Motherhood: Fact or Fiction? September Conference:Capitalize The Feminine Brain
14 to Expand Sustainable Business 16 Weaving a Web of Connection: Glori Selzer in Rome 17 PWA Mentoring Program
4 8 16 6
11 3
PWA OC TOBER Conference
18 October at 19.30 at Grand Hotel Palace
POWER TO THE TALENTED PEOPLE
Last season, Dior’s shirt featuring Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “We Should All Be Feminists” mantra took the fashion world by storm. At Paris Fashion Week on 26th September, designer Maria Grazia Chiuri unveiled a new feminist graphic shirt on Dior’s spring 2018 runway at the Musée Rodin. The importance of putting women first with impactful campaigns is a multi million revenue source and just one of the solutions for change in the workplace favouring women. Serena Zaninetta will help us understand the barriers still blocking women in leadership roles, and identify the practical steps we can take to change this. Adopting new people practices is at the heart of talent searches from now on.
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About Our Speaker
Serena Zaninetta Serena Zaninetta has a Degree in Jurisprudence from Genoa university and a Master in Organizational Management. She has been an HR specialist in outplacement since 2005 and is an expert in online communication & multimedia tools. Serena is currently Director and Senior Partner of Right Management management consulting based in Milwaukee, WI, part of the Manpower Group (a career and talent development specialist in management & company organization, professional and personal skills).
our partners
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Women transformed! from ordinary to extraordinary by Ivana Madonna
Over the past 70 years, women have been capable of extraordinary transformations. They’ve achieved rights that in bygone years would have been considered unthinkable, like the right to vote and to work. The majority of women’s rights however were granted only in the 20th Century. The right to vote in 1918 in the UK and in 1945 in Italy. Women in Italy have invested most of their existence in the construction of a united, peaceful Europe, one of thought, ideas, vision and reality. For their European and peaceful convictions, many have paid a high price, others, such as Simone Veil, after escaping the horrors of the holocaust and racial persecutions, were convinced that European unity and reconciliation among survivors was the only answer to give hope to future generations. If it hadn’t been for women, if there hadn’t been women’s tenacious battles for emancipation and liberation - conducted via a fertile intertwining of initiatives by associations, movements, political parties, institutions - Italy today would be a far
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more backward country, and many of the articles of its Constitution would not have been applied. Globally, female gender has progressed thanks to its capacity of reason with passion about self, its relationship with others, with the world, and with history. For example, let’s consider what has happened in the field of education, where women began to graduate only towards the end of the 19th Century and today, women in Europe excel male graduates. Women are no longer passive, but obtain their share of rights. Emma Watson’s UN speech has had an incredible impact in favour of women’s rights. The young British actress of “Harry Potter” fame, with her speech on equal opportunity has had a special magic effect With the initiative “Le donne dell’Agricoltura. Per una nuova idea di crescita” 2013 (Women in Agriculture. For a new idea of growth) how decisive the female element is underlined in the development of sustainable, multifunctional agriculture, attentive to the consumer needs.
Women take hold of their destiny. In agriculture, women as citizens, producers, consumers, educators are protagonists of their own lives, even though, often, they don’t seem self aware. Let’s consider what has happened in healthcare, finally on 9th October 2017, legislative attention has made the discovery that medical health is gender related. Left dormant in Italy over the past twenty years, the Lorenzin’s DDL (disegno di legge) or white paper presented to parliament is relative to clinical experiments and medical Orders. Among the laws in Art.1ter (application and diffusion of gender related medicine inside the SSN -sistema sanitario nazionale) National Health Service, the whole debate centres on the different experimental measures in place in Italy regarding gender related medicine. Traditional medicine has undergone a profound evolution through an innovative approach aimed at the study of gender impact and all the variables which characterize it (biological, environmental, cultural and socio-economical) on the physiology, physiopathology and clinical characteristics of illnesses. Medicine, since its origins, had an androcentric imposition, with the result that interest regarding female health problems were reduced merely to those specific aspects related to reproduction! The main challenge remains that of leaving behind previous paths, steeped in stereotypes and mirrors of discriminating social construction, by means of a lucid and dynamic institutional effort, in a clear logic of gender mainstreaming, capable of involving national and international decision makers,, health sector operators, training systems, non profits and above all women as users, aware of their rights. It’s also through concrete affirmatives of women’s rights to healthcare, through widespread recognition, and concrete operations of gender medicine, that a country’s civil maturity and democracy is measured. Women are surprisingly and rapidly
covering gigantic steps towards innovation with singular capabilities. Listening capabilities and tolerance are traits which history has constantly trained women, and now is the time to put them to good use also in political debate. All this leads us to presume that women will occupy new and more ample space, despite what general opinion likes to sustain. However, although the female population is vast and their voice stronger, parity of job opportunity, research, study, career requires more effort, adaptation and concession. ISTAT on Time Management (201314) - considered a strategic study on the knowledge of the population’s time management with reference to gender due to the division of roles in society and family- puts the accent on the diffusion of a non-marginal stereotype for both male and female. Consequently, it gives the idea that women occupy a secondary position in both the household and workplace. We are still a long way from a common ground where work and female participation can develop normally. For Layla Pavone, entrepreneur, founder of IAB Italia, managing director, Digital Magics, and councillor of Italia StartUp sustains “There are still few female founders of Start ups, only 13% officially present in the Register of young innovative enterprises. I compared notes with my colleagues and friends who are of the general opinion that this is stems from a basic prejudice regarding the capacity to have what it takes to try, because maybe they’re not experts in code, or because they graduated in humanistic disciplines. This hearsay demotivates them from taking up a project for “technological entrepreneurs”.It’s important to demolish these psychological and cultural barriers which limit and penalize female talent. Serena Zaninetta instead will help us understand the barriers still blocking women in leadership roles with practical steps to change and new actions to develop and appreciate talent in organizational management.
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Maria Grazia Panessa “Politically Correct” her needs and dreams by Ivana Madonna, Newslletter Editor
M
aria Grazia was born in Gioia del Colle a small town in Puglia or Apulia between the Ionian and Adriatic Sea. It’s name comes from the legend of a Queen who, having found a cache of buried jewels, had them made into a necklace, thus giving Gioia it’s name of ‘Jewels of the Neck’. If you chat with Maria Grazia for a little while, very soon you’ll discover how proud she is to belong to a region founded on respect of dignity. of human rights, of freedom for human life, which generally guarantees quality of life and the civil rights of the population. Puglia also pays particular attention to the needs of family and of the
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weaker sectors of society like the elderly, minors, the disabled and migration policy towards both immigrants in Puglia and Apulian immigrants abroad. It’s with these values that Maria Grazia grew up to be “politically correct” She graduated in Political Science at the University of Bari, specialising in International Economics. Her working experience is with diverse industries, both in Italy and England, where she covered positions ranging from Sales Secretary in Lottomatica, to Store Manager for Casatex Pratesi, besides being a part of the sales force of Burberry in Rome. At present she is engaged as a Luxury Sales Advisor for Lagardère Retail at Rome Fiumicino Airport, “Leonardo Da Vinci”
Times of passion Maria Grazia is passionately in love with politics, and has an indelible civic sense. She spent an idyllic period as a collaborator to the Italian Vice Consulate in Bedford, UK and considers herself particularly satisfied with her experience there, giving her the cutting edge on English language and customs. In 2013 she was proposed as a candidate for election to represent the Lazio Region and also for national government. She is also a constant volunteer to the Susan G. Komen foundation Race for the Cure. As if this wasn’t already enough, she is also enthusiastic about putting her professional expertise to the service of PWA. Maria Grazia came upon PWA in 2015 through a PWA member who introduced her into the fold of international professional women, and this summer she was elected Secretary. She is already very satisfied with her new role and is anxious to contribute her organizational skills to the Association. She also sustains, while she is still learning the ropes of a non profit organization, that it’s important to work harder, and focus better on PWA objectives.
Female Leadership and the career path Maria Grazia believes that women have not yet earned full legitimacy in female leadership, “perhaps because we’re incapable of demonstrating that great autonomy which stems from the reciprocal recognition of our differences”. She confesses to having difficulties in overcoming external conditioning and mobbing. Her advice to women in search of their first job, and employment in general is “never give up and insist until you find the path of your dreams. Leverage on your strengths like determination, education and great curiosity to create successful businesses and sustain them over time”. Maria Grazia is convinced that errors can’t be avoided - you learn by trial and error. Her key to success is to enjoy working consciously and with enthusiasm. Among her professional experiences she counts her current positions at Lagardère and PWA as the most rewarding, yet working in the UK with the Vice consulate and Lottomatica have left on her their own beautiful imprints. Looking towards the future, Maria Grazia wishes to dedicate herself more to her family, and why not just work hard - work smarter!
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Ready to become a top manager? Watch your attitude by Valerie Baxter, Newsletter Consultant Far more women are chosen as candidates for assessment at lower leader levels than at senior levels. “This conveys to women: It’s okay to be a lower-level leader, but you’re not yet ready to rise to the top.” But maybe not even that. At the operational level, the gender split is 75% men to 25% women. This plays into findings from the recent McKinsey/LeanIn.org study, which revealed that across the advancement board, from entry level to manager and from SVP to executive rank, women are less likely to advance, with the greatest disparity occurring between manager to director. Women are only 79% as likely to reach that level, compared to 100% of men. The McKinsey/LeanIn.org study points to two trends standing in the way of women rising through the ranks. Although the likelihood of advancement is equal at entry level, it drops off as fewer women take on roles that lead to executive leadership positions. More women are found in departments such as HR, legal, and IT, where job responsibilities don’t directly impact the bottom line. But a Deloitte study revealed that even among lower-ranking millennials, the disparity was evident. Twenty-one percent of millennial men said they lead a department or are members of their organization’s senior management team vs. 16% of women. DDI’s research adds to those findings indicating that the reason there aren’t more women in high-level leadership is not rooted in lower competence. However, significant distinctions did arise on three personality traits: 1) Inquisitiveness. Men scored 16% higher, which DDI attributes to several possible reasons, including the fact that there are more men in STEM careers that both reinforce and reward structured inquiry. “Also notable are cultural attitudes and practices,” the report’s authors write. “In some countries, women entering the workforce were raised in an environment that reinforced silence over curiosity.” 2) Impulsiveness. Men scored 11% higher than women on this trait. “We surmise that men are reinforced to ‘just do it’ without considering consequences,” the report’s authors write. Women tend to behave more cautiously, especially when considering a promotion, according to recent research from Harvard Business School. DDI’s researchers posit that women are also encouraged not to proceed until they are sure they can do something perfectly. 3) Interpersonal sensitivity. This is the personality trait in which women got 13% higher marks, and it is an asset, especially when leaders are in positions that rely on their demeanor and interactions with others. The study authors encourage organizations to consider emphasizing all types of diversity by promoting support groups, flexible schedules, sponsoring networking opportunities, and mentoring. The bottom line: another potential roadblock to women in leadership is communication. DDI’s researchers found that almost two-thirds of women have never had a formal mentor. “Even one good mentor means they are more likely to climb the organizational ladder,” they say. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lydia Dishman is a reporter writing about the intersection of tech, leadership, and innovation. She is a regular contributor to Fast Company and has written for CBS Moneywatch, Fortune, The Guardian, Popular Science, and the New York Times, among others. THE AMBITION GAP Aspirations may abound for women and men just entering the workforce and through middle management. The difference between the genders comes when aspiring to the top spot. At every stage of their careers, women are less eager than men to become top executives. This gap is widest at the senior
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management level. The reasons for the lack of interest ranged from not wanting the stress and pressure that came with the role and balancing work with family responsibilities. Interestingly enough, women and men were nearly equal in their confidence to be successful in the role, and having children didn’t seem to affect women’s response. Both men and women were also nearly equal in their feeling that staff would support them in a leadership role. But what about women’s attitudes? “You can come across as abrasive sometimes. I know you don’t mean to, but you need to pay attention to your tone.” “Your peers sometimes feel that you don’t leave them enough room. Sometimes you need to step back to let others shine.” “The presentation ultimately went well. But along the way, we discovered many areas for improvement. You would have had an easier time if you had been less judgmental about R---‘s contributions from the beginning.” This kind of negative personality criticism - watch your tone! step back! stop being so judgmental! - shows up twice in 83 critical reviews received by men. It shows up in 71 of the 94 critical reviews received by women. WHAT MEN CAN DO Senior leaders need to prove their commitment to gender diversity by participating in women’s events and publicly sponsoring high-potential female employees. • • •
Invest in initiatives that support women, particularly by reviewing employee compensation and closing pay gaps.
Set targets and hold leaders accountable for reaching them. Identify and interrupt gender bias from hiring (even recruiting software can cause disparity) to performance reviews (although men will never hear certain criticisms).
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Do more to give all employees the flexibility to find their own balance between work and life (taking into account that managers and staff have different ideas of what this means).
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Create a virtuous cycle by making it a priority to appreciate and encourage senior-level women who are at a point in their career where dissatisfaction runs high and can work against retaining them. Offer Outplacement provisions
Useful resources: http://workplacetrends.com/the-2015-workplace-flexibility-study/ http://fortune.com/2014/08/26/performance-review-gender-bias/
The WIN Magic by Hanna Suni
Nobel Peace Center
Eduardo at workshop
T
he WIN Conference in Oslo this October was my third Global WIN event. Every year it gets better. The more envelope myself into the WIN spirit, the more I am able to prepare, connect, enjoy and grow. This year - again - I met several new fun, interesting and inspiring people and the pattern was very international, everyone is living and working in an adopted country and therefore has had to move, adapt, learn and re-learn. Let me give you an idea of what a WIN-workshop is like: I met Eduardo Placer, Founder of Fearless Communicators at the first networking dinner and fell in love with his fierce passion and expression. I did a workshop with him on Fearless public speaking where we confessed our worst fears while speaking in front of a crowd. We wrote those fears down on an orange piece of paper, wrapped the piece of paper into a ball and through the balls around the room. Each of us randomly picked up ball and read out load the fears listed on it. There were about 40 people in the room and the same fears – making a fool of ourselves, forgetting what we had to say, not being up to the task – repeated themselves time after time. After reading the fears we were asked to tear up the pieces of paper and throw them up in the air in a liberating, exhilarating manner. What a gorgeous, orange rain there was in the room! We also did physical exercises to unblock our knees, release our lip tension and breath profoundly. It was a mind-blowing, eye-opening workshop that helped many of the participants to face and even get over their fears. Throughout the conference I worked with other
International WIN
professional and international women and the Norwegian AV-team (Joakin, Tage and Knut) in the plenary hall. I was responsible for the total mix of AV: lights, sound, video, presentations and music. It was something I'd never done before, but loved learning to do. And as a team we all did a fabulous job as did the rest of the WIN team in so many other areas of planning, preparation and execution. I followed all the plenary sessions and learned so much about life, emotions, connections, love and hope. I visited the Nobel Peace Center - that I found immensely inspirational - and the City Hall of Oslo where major Marianne Borgen hosted us for an aperitif. She invites groups from all over the world almost every day and was delightfully personable and humble. I did awakening sessions with yoga teachers and danced the Goddess Dance with Kaothar Darmouni from Tunisia (based in Holland). I had delicious meals while networking with great people. Food for the body, spirit and soul. A mind-blowing experience that I would not have missed for the world. WIN founder Kristin Engvig has created a truly unique and extraordinary conference that gives us participants so much it is not measurable in any currency. It is truly uplifting to hear messages of hope, achievements and joy in this epoch where so often we only see destruction, hatred and bitterness. I wish every woman - and man - in the world had the opportunity to participate and experience what the WIN magic is all about. We would leave a brighter legacy to our children and the generations to come.
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The “Power of Motherhood”:
Fact or Fiction?
by Cristiana Montani Natalucci, PWA Community director
“
Woman … you will give birth with suffering and pain! “– God said at the beginning of life on earth.
It is still like that, although much has changed for us during the centuries. We are freer, we can vote, we can earn money and choose our life in as much as we can determine to be “child free”, an unthinkable statement only some decades ago. These are important results obtained by feminists movements worldwide. Our sisters in the U.S. quietly propelled the civil rights movement; made Americans
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aware of gender discrimination; brought women out of the household — if they so chose; denounced rape culture; fought legal discrimination in the nation's highest courts; joined in the struggle for marriage equality. However, women have always been the minority of the minorities. Sadly, my opinion is that we still are a part of the “human race” as yet unable to achieve full power. The last US election proved that the Americans, after reaching the highest peak of liberal political behaviour voting
for Barak Obama, preferred not to vote for a woman. learly there appears to be a rift between historical trends and real life today. It is not true that we have the power we deserve. We are still struggling with principle discrimination: motherhood and career. Mothers in the workforce experience additional disadvantage compared to women who are not mothers, including a per-child wage penalty. The “motherhood penalty” may account for a significant proportion of the gender gap in pay, as the pay gap between mothers and non-mothers could in fact be larger than the pay gap between men and women. Mothers also face additional disadvantages compared to childless women and men. Some studies show that visibly pregnant women are judged as being less committed to their jobs, less dependable, less authoritative, more emotional, and more irrational than otherwise equal, nonpregnant female managers. Interesting findings came from two studies: a laboratory experiment with student participants (192 undergraduates – 84 men and 108 women in the 19 -28 age range in North America) and an audit study of actual employers (this audit study was incorporated into the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) enforcement guide issued to employers to help them avoid discrimination against mothers and other caregivers): For women, competency ratings were 10% lower for mothers compared to non-mothers among otherwise equal candidates.
Mothers were 6 times less likely than childless women and 3.35 times less likely than childless men to be recommended for hire. Similarly, mothers are also disadvantaged when it comes to promotions. Childless women are 8.2 times more likely to be recommended for a promotion than mothers. In the audit study conducted with real employers, childless women still have an advantage. They receive 2.1 times as many callbacks as equally qualified mothers. Mothers were also held to higher punctuality standards than non-mothers. On average, mothers were allowed to be late 3.16 days per month before no longer being recommended for hire, while childless women were allowed to be late on 3.73 days. Conversely, fathers were allowed to have more days late than non-fathers: 3.6 days per month compared to 3.16 days. Mothers were recommended a 7.9% lower starting salary than non-mothers ($139,000 compared to $151,000, respectively), which is 8.6% lower than the recommended starting salary for fathers. Among men, the trend is reversed, and fathers were offered a significantly higher starting salary than childless men ($152,000 compared to $148,000, respectively). It’s clear that, still nowadays, we haven’t got the power to remove a blocking bias for us: motherhood. Our capacity to generate life has not yet been integrated into a vision of society that frees women from the ancestral mission of becoming a mother, at the same time a discrimination.
Mothers were considered to be 12.1 percentage points less committed to their jobs than non-mothers while fathers were perceived as being 5 percentage points more committed than non-fathers. Compared to childless men, mothers were rated 6.4 percentage points lower with regard to commitment than childless men.
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SEPTEMBER CONFERENCE: CAPITALIZE THE FEMININE BRAIN TO EXPAND SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS by Dana Sabine Schuh Dott.ssa Irene Menis has a degree in physic but when she spoke at our last conference she did so driven by her love and dedication for transformation, breaking the topic down into very simple and understandable concepts. As an international PSYCH-K® and PER-K® instructor, Irene Menis uses these two subconscious shift modalities to
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help individuals and Corporations to catalyze consciousness expansion toward successful and sustainable evolution. In her speech she shared the principles of the PWA: ”Work Smarter not harder” which sounds quite reasonable in an era where global economic crisis and transformational changes are all around us. She did stress the
importance to create a consistent sustainable success, which includes every entity involved: individuals, groups, organizations, nations, civilization and even the planet itself! To reach that goal Irene proposed using the world’s most capable manager as your consultant: Mother Nature! This guideline was first developed by Robert Williams, author of the book “PSYCH-K The Missing P(i)eace in your life” and Bruce Lipton ph.D, who wrote the bestseller “The Biology of Belief”. So what are these Principles of Nature that when implemented help your business to thrive? Collaboration, Adaption, Diversity, Harmony, Cause and Effect, Resilience, Balance, Interconnectedness, Timing, Effective use of resources and More is not always better and it turns out that women are naturally wired for that! The more we translate those principles into behaviors by using the full power of our brain and mind, the easier it is to create sustainable success with your business! But how is this done? Modern science teaches us that we are only conscious of 5% of our cognitive activity (the perception of facts, reason, willpower, positive thinking, motivation) and that 95% of our brain activity goes beyond our conscious awareness (our physiology, thoughts, beliefs, emotions, memories, fears, skills, instincts and behaviors).
hemisphere instead holds our intuition and emotions, thinks in pictures, sees the whole, puts together and thinks simultaneously. With these differences in mind it is understandable that you can use your full brain power only when the ability of both hemispheres are available and equally accessible, because this gives you more choices in solution scanning and finding. A nice side effect: it also reduces dramatically your stress levels! And why is it that women are naturally wired for all of that? Interestingly, the Female’s brain is 9% smaller than the male brain, but as it contains the same number of neurons, the density is higher and the neurons are closer to each other, which means that the same signal reaches more neurons and with shorter synapses there is also less signal attenuation along the link. Furthermore our Corpus Callosum is larger which allows the Female brain to have a wider crosstalk between the two hemispheres which by the way makes us the better multi-tasker! Consequently, for females it is much more natural being in whole brain status!
The Conscious Mind represents our innovation, the Subconscious Mind our habits and the numbers show us that fostering change and innovation is a pointless struggle without the Subconscious Mind engaged and in order to make this shift the full power of the Brain is needed! To understand this so called “Whole Brain Condition” we need to know that our brain hemispheres have two very different ways to function. Our left hemisphere thinks logical and in words; it is very specific and analyzes and breaks apart, it thinks sequentially. Our right
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Weaving a web of Connection – Glori Zeltzer in Rome
A totally different and exciting networking event took place when we welcomed to our last ConnXion Glori Zeltzer, an American Licensed Psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience. Glori is not only working with individual clients, but has additionally utilized her communication and therapy skills in the corporate environment at Fortune 100 and small companies assisting with management training, personnel issues, and crisis intervention. She is specialized in relationship counseling and shared with us an amazing tool, called the “Way of Council”, which is based on the observation of indigenous peoples’ ways of connecting in community. She and her partner in life and love, Leon Berg, are sharing and teaching this approach to life, which they also call “The Art of Intuitive Conversation” and we had the unique opportunity to experience the beauty and power of connecting on a deeper level with the women who were attending. The principal guidelines of this way of sharing are very simple: speak and listen from your heart, be spontaneous and keep it lean, but the effect is truly magical! Simple as it sounds, this creates deep connection and is a lot of fun too! This was not only a very pleasant experience, but for sure all of us will have more ease connecting with and remembering the names and backgrounds of the women who were present, which was es-
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sentially the intention of the evening! Ours is a relatively small association with some new board members and many new members as well, so the idea of this different way of connecting was to know each other better and to bring out the best of each other, so that we can profit from the intimate atmosphere of the PWA and generate something new amongst us, with the association and with our businesses. Among the answers to the question what people liked most about this workshop were “the energy and connection”, “the human-centered approach” or “the chance to know your friends better” and we agreed that it was one of the most effective and fun network events most of us have ever attended! For sure we all wanted more, especially because this approach can also be applied to improve all kinds of relationships: with our business partners, employees, children, parents, friends, and lovers. As Glori states, this is really a beautiful way “to learn to appreciate our sameness, and embrace our few differences” and thus to deepen intimacy and create relationships that grow!
GROW AND LEARN PWA MENTORING PROGRAMS PWA aims to accelerate the advancement of women in all professions, facilitate mentoring, and enhance our leadership role in the community. The PWA Mentoring Programs provide highly motivated individuals with tools for personal development, their careers and leadership abilities. Through guided activities and formal mentoring partnerships, it strengthens and expands our network of women. • by encouraging women to help each other through structured one-on-one mentoring so we can all succeed. • provides an opportunity for participants to learn and share through guided activities which develop practical, goal-oriented career and leadership skills. If you are a PWA member pursuing a professional career and are willing to make the commitment, you are encouraged to apply. Please note that this program is not in any way connected with job placement. As a mentee, you will have an opportunity to: • Learn how to establish and maintain professional mentoring partnerships. • Explore career options and possible paths toward your career goals. • Set goals and develop a plan to take the next steps in your advancement. • Receive useful guidance and honest feedback from an advisor who has “been there, done that.” • Make a networking connection with someone farther along on their career path. • Learn practical skills that can be put to use right away in advancing your career. By mentoring another woman, you will have an opportunity to: • Pass along the mentoring and support you received, or become the mentor you wish you had. • Share enthusiasm for your own career, and catch enthusiasm from another. • Gain perspective on how far you have progressed, and reinforce your competency and expertise. • Develop as a leader and learn by teaching others. • Help another woman to avoid mistakes, persevere through difficulties, and reach important goals. • Build a mutually beneficial relationship with someone who may be able to help you in the future. • Enjoy the success of others, knowing you contributed to making it happen. LEADERSHIP Every team member contributes to the success of an objective. When you are adept at teamwork in both support and leadership roles, you will more easily advance to better jobs and executive positions.
By improving your skills as a team player and leader you will: • Enjoy fun activities and share your enthusiasm for growth with others. • Learn to effectively contribute to the success of a team. • Learn to lead, motivate and organize individuals and teams. • Develop career skills in event planning, public speaking, and written presentations. • Gain self-confidence as a leader in business. • Build and strengthen your professional network. • Contribute to increasing the presence of women in the professional community. PROGRAM OUTLINE & TIMETABLE Apply by January 7th — begin with Mentoring Session A Apply by July 31st — begin with Mentoring Session B Mentoring Session A: January 15th – Jun 30th Mentoring Session B: September 15th – November 30th APPLICATION & PARTICIPATION CRITERIA • PWA Membership: You must maintain membership to the PWA throughout participation in the program, and have started or be planning a professional career. If you are not currently a PWA member, please join right away. Contact our Membership director at membership@pwarome.org or see our website for details. • Registration Fee: New participants accepted into the program pay a one-time Registration fee of €25 (mentors excluded). Participation Fees: BIG SISTER €20 monthly (9 months) or €162 in advance (10% discount) Participation Fees: CARPE DIEM €40 monthly (9 months) or €324 in advance (10% discount) • Email Access: You will need regular (at least once per week) email access to communicate with the PWA Mentoring Coordination Team and your mentoring partners. • Internet Access: You will need regular internet access to interact with the PWA mentoring program. You may need to view or print the program materials in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. • Commitment to Mentoring, Career Development, and Leadership Activities: It takes time and effort to build mentoring partnerships and learn new skills. During the two Mentoring Sessions of your Choice (BIG SISTER or CARPE DIEM), we require a minimum of two communications per month, via email, Skype or telephone, with your mentoring partner. • Confidentiality: All parties are asked to respect sensitive personal information shared by mentoring partners. • Commitment to the entire program: It will take you 9 months to complete the PWA mentoring program and graduate. You are expected to commit to the entire program without interruption. At end of program term (December) you will receive recognition of your mentoring journey achievement. 17
PWA Year 2017/18 Event program
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e th e da tes
conferences conneXions dates to be announced
October 18 November 15 January 17 February 21 March 21 April 18 May 16
special events December Christmas Party March IWD June Summer Party Check out www.pwarome.org 18
Membership news New Members Welcome!
We would like to welcome Floriana Barletta, Josee Pelletier, Veronica Penzo Bianca Santillo, Stefania Santucci, Carlotta Sertori, Letizia Sinisi and Moira Spence as members who have recently joined our Association. PWA is a place that grows with each member, therefore we are looking forward to enjoying PWA together with you! Make sure to take advantage of all that PWA has to offer, from our monthly events to scholarships and Expert Resources, from the Mentoring programs to TimeOut Professional TimeBank. If you’d like to join, visit our website and contact MembershipDirector@pwarome.org .
2017-2018 PWA Board and Team members President Valentina Ferretti President@pwarome.org Vice President & Legal Advisor Adriana Tempesta VicePresident@pwarome.org Secretary Maria Grazia Panessa Secretary@pwarome.org Treasurer Lisa Rosen Treasurer@pwarome.org Programming Director Dana Sabine Schuh Programming@pwarome.org Membership Director Gerlie Saura MembershipDirector@pwarome.org Social Director Rossella Castaldo SocialDirector@pwarome.org Sponsorship Director Cecilia Bersani Sponsorship@pwarome.org PR Director Skaiste Rucyte PR@pwarome.org Newsletter Editor Ivana Madonna NewsletterEditor@pwarome.org Webmistress Rossana Scazzocchio Webmistress@pwarome.org Community Director Cristiana Montani Natalucci Community@pwarome.org Media communications assistant Karima Hassa Media2@pwarome.org
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Our In-Kind Donor
PWA Professional Women’s Association is a recipient of a Google Grants award. The Google Grants program supports registered nonprofit organizations that share Google’s philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy and the arts. Google Grants is an in-kind advertising program that awards free online advertising to nonprofits via Google AdWords.
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