Women in International Trade

OWIT Quarterly Update
Caroline Cooper
DC OWIT Representative

The Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT), of which WIIT is the largest member, held the spring Board meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico May 13-15. Representatives of chapters from across the country convened to discuss current and future plans for the organization, as well as to outline goals for the 2004 conference to be held in Tampa, Florida November 10-12. The meeting also served as an opportunity for OWIT representatives to review issues from past board meetings, including the voting structure within the organization and whether OWIT chapters should receive some proceeds from annual conferences.

In the next several months, OWIT will undertake to increase chapter development in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. The new OWIT Vice President for Chapter Support, Cathline Jones, will also seek to improve chapter-to-chapter support by increasing communication between chapters through new partnering initiatives and improvements to the OWIT website (www.owit.org). OWIT is also considering a new scholarship proposal as a means of encouraging smaller chapters to become more involved in board meetings and the annual conference. If any WIIT member knows of women working abroad in trade who are interested in forming chapters in their cities or countries, please contact either myself or Jennifer Mulveny, as we are both working with OWIT to expand the number of national and international OWIT chapters.

For the next quarter, my goals as OWIT representative will be to update/improve our webpage on the OWIT website, assist in preparing an OWIT representative manual, and increase awareness of WIIT activities among OWIT chapters through the OWIT website and newsletter. If you have any ideas or suggestions for doing so, please contact me at cooper_caroline@yahoo.com.

Back to Newsletter.