The
theme, “New Dimensions of Leadership”
gives us several challenges at various levels.
How are BPW as a leading organization? How
influential are our members as leaders in
their countries and communities? Most of
all, how do we measure our success in our
leadership role?
I have
visited 20 countries so far in my presidency.
I have witnessed several excellent projects,
activities and excellent accomplishments
of members – both at individual level,
national level and international level.
BPW is full of surprise. We have among our
members, UN award winners, Nobel prize winner,
Executives in regional organizations, member
of parliaments, top CEO. Yet, it is not
easy to quantify BPW influence and our success
as leaders.
We
need a showcase to display our accomplishments
so that people would at least have a feel
of what we are and what we stand for. The
web site, www.bpw-international.org, has
been redesigned to serve this purpose. With
more input from all of you, it will continue
to grow.
We
also need to collect and disseminate more
evidences our success and leadership. This
is why I transformed “Beyond 2000:
Helping Women Help Themselves” competition
into “BPW Power to Make a Difference”
Competition with three categories –
advocacy, action, and leadership. This will
allow the scope of projects and activities
eligible for the competition to be expanded
and BPW accomplishments to be more comprehensively
documented. Winners of the first BPW Power
to Make a Difference competition will be
awarded at the BPW International Congress
in Merida, Mexico in 2008.
I
wish this conference to be an opportunity
to bring out the best from BPW members.
Chonchanok
Viravan
BPW International President
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