Message from WAM International President, Michele Costello
Fellow members and friends of Women Advancing Microfinance,
 2011 will be an exciting year at WAM, where ideas and efforts over the past few years will culminate in stronger initiatives and outreach. I would like to thank outgoing WAM International President Anne Folan for her leadership in 2010, and I look forward to building on her initiatives in 2011. We also need your individual commitment to WAM in order to make this year a success. Please think about what you can contribute in terms of time, money and talent, and commit to this goal at either your local chapter or the WAM International level.
Our first board meeting of 2011 was held in Washington, DC on the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. It was a fitting occasion to reflect on the IWD theme of "...celebrating the economic, political, and social achievements of women, past, present and future..." as it relates to WAM's mission to "...support women working in microfinance and microenterprise development through education and training, by promoting leadership opportunities, and by increasing visibility of women's participation and talent while maintaining a work/life balance." The WAM scholarship pilot program and SEEP Gender Working Group activities described further below will allow us to address these themes over the coming year.
This year, we will aim to enhance chapter communication/collaboration, highlight women, increase fundraising, and elevate the profile of WAM in the microfinance community through our WAM scholarship agenda. In 2010, we piloted the scholarship program with WAM NY, WAM DC and WAM Ecuador. WAM International and the chapters jointly fundraised for conference entry fees and scholarship recipient travel costs. Winners were selected in collaborative fashion between WAM International, WAM local chapter representatives, and conference organizers. In total, WAM sponsored 7 female microfinance practitioners to attend 4 trainings (WWB, SEEP, SMDP Ghana, AMiDA) which developed the skills and networks of the selected high potential women in the industry. In 2011, we aim to send new high potential practitioners to the same conferences while expanding the pilot participation to new WAM chapters. If you or your chapter is interested in getting involved, please contact me. By 2012, we can formalize the scholarship program approach based on our collective WAM International and WAM chapter experiences and feedback from this two year pilot program.
WAM International is also playing a critical role on the newly formed SEEP Gender Working Group, where we can implement our core value of "raising gender with a collective voice." Our WAM International consultant, Jenn Thomson, is also professionally facilitating this group. WAM International is engaged in this group formally thanks to the efforts of our outgoing WAM International President, Anne Folan. I encourage each chapter to discuss and share gender issues and recommendations that WAM International can raise in the Gender Working Group.
Please contact me with your feedback on these issues or with any other questions you have at
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. I will update you on developments around these initiatives over the coming months.
On a personal note, I was proud to wear my WAM badge at the CARE conference reception after our WAM International board meeting. It was a fantastic evening of networking and broad-based gender discussions, as well as an opportunity to share information about the great network we have in WAM. I ask that each of you also identify yourself as WAM members when you attend industry events or networking receptions. As a professional women's network, we are only as strong as our membership. I know we can grow our numbers and accomplish great things together this year!
All the best for a fantastic 2011!
Kind regards,
Michele Costello
President, WAM International
AboutWAM International
Launched in 2003, WAM (Women Advancing Microfinance) International is the only global network of and for the advancement of individual women in the microfinance industry.
WAM International Mission
The mission of WAM International is to advance and support women working in microfinance and microenterprise development through education and training, by promoting leadership opportunities, and by increasing visibility of women's participation and talent while maintaining a work/life balance.
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