Dear WIIT Members,
The Association of Women
in International Trade is 20 years old! It is hard to believe that in 1986,
Julie Hughes was our first WIIT president. Today, as I take over that position
for 2006-2007, I look back on the list of past
Presidents, and I am amazed and humbled at the incredible women who have
held this position before me. Many of today's leaders in international trade
in Washington, D.C. served as WIIT leaders.
WIIT was created to provide a professional outlet for advancing and supporting
women involved in international trade. In two short decades, it has grown
into a major organization recognized in Washington, D.C. as one of the leading
groups providing quality programs and professional development for members
of the international trade community and those interested in the field. These
achievements are the direct result of the many long hours and hard work by
the members who have donated their time and energy into making WIIT the preeminent
organization it is today.
We have evolved over the past 20 years. But as some of our more experienced
members take on leadership positions in their careers, I am encouraged by
the quality of young people who are now joining our association. I see so
many of tomorrow's leaders in today's WIIT! I am very excited for the coming
year.
There are three areas in which I want to focus our efforts this year: 1) membership,
2) programs, and 3) service. Our membership has held steady at just below
500 members for several years. I would like to see us double our membership
this year. And the way we do that that is for each member to get just one
person, one friend, or one colleague to join. I am sure that as you read this
letter you can think of two or three friends who could benefit from WIIT membership.
Ask them today to join.
Programs are our hallmark. We have consistently held quality programs, breakfasts,
brown-bags, WIIT-wide luncheons, professional development events, etc. While
we are an all volunteer organization and we are all incredibly busy individuals,
if we work together we can support each other to ensure that each of our sections
is able to present at least one WIIT-wide luncheon and three brown-bag/breakfast
briefings. Additionally, as mentioned previously, some of our members are
leaders in the trade area in Washington, D.C. and around the world. If we
all think of WIIT as an opportunity to present quality programs, we can use
our connections in Washington, D.C. and world leaders to provide speakers
for these events.
Service is a two-way street. As an association, I want WIIT to provide you
with the types of services you want. We provide programs, and networking opportunities,
but maybe there is more that we can be doing for you. Let us know. Please
contact any of your WIIT leaders or board members with ideas that you may
have and we will work to provide you with greater service. The other direction
of service is WIIT as a group providing services to others, not just our members.
In this effort, I would like to see WIIT become involved in efforts such as
forming a team to raise money for issues like heart disease - the number one
cause of mortality in women, killing more women than men each year: AIDS -
the fifth leading killer of women aged 35-44 and the leading killer of African
American women in several states: breast cancer - while not a disease exclusive
to women - it does impact more women than men: There may be many more projects
that you are interested in supporting. If you have an interest, we can join
together, pull our resources and make some significant contributions.
But more than anything else, as we celebrate our 20th Anniversary, I hope
that this year can be one that, 20 years from now, will have contributed to
the viability of this organization.
J. Nicole Bivens Collinson is Vice President of Trade Negotiations and Legislative Affairs for Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., an international trade and business practice/law firm, and co-managing partner of the firm's Washington, D.C. office
"WIIT has grown in
size and changed through two decades, but the vision of the original founders
remains meaningful. WIIT's goals at the beginning were to provide quality
educational seminars on trade issues and to provide networking opportunities
for trade professionals ... WIIT continues to offer a broad range of seminars
and brown bag events that provide information as well as networking opportunities
for WIIT members and the Washington trade community."
Julia K. Hughes(1987-89) President of International Development Systems
Inc., Senior VP of International Trade & Government Relations for the
United States Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel
"…What
WIIT changed… was that it provided a new network of women active in the
field. Many times, I called on fellow WIIT members for information on pending
legislation or emerging policy; and I was able to bring some new business
to my law firm from WIIT member companies. The network is everything -- if
you are active enough to be able to benefit from it."
Kathleen F. Patterson
(1989-1990)
Attorney/Mediator
" I continue to be
very proud of creating the first WIIT Africa Section. The members involved
in WIIT's Africa section have, over the years, greatly contributed to the
global spirit and energy pool of our organization."
Monique Roske (2001-2002)
Independent Consultant
International Business and Government Relations
"Over my term, we focused on … new and innovative programming, featuring topics such as technology and corporate social responsibility. In addition to serving women's needs in trade and certainly professional development, WIIT - DC is attracting a wide range of participants, both men and women, who find our programming relevant to their career or professional needs."
Angela Marshall Hofmann
(2005-2006)
Director of International Trade at Wal-Mart Inc.