The conference in Bali was a great experience for me as your USA President. The welcome I received from all the delegations was unbelievable. Bali is beautiful and our Indonesian hosts made us feel like valued guests.
My first duty was to help with the International election; our own Teresa Hintzke was elected as International President and Taina Woodward as International Secretary. Congratulations to them both.
At the conference, we were 23 American women strong. We participated in many discussion groups. Akari Yamada led a fascinating discussion about changing roles of young women. She also presented the Millennium Development Goals presentation for the USA.
In September, our annual meeting was held at the Nippon Club in New York. Thanks to Seiko and Nana of the NY chapter for a lovely location and a wonderful luncheon. We discussed our priority of building a more youthful membership. I challenge all PPSEAWA-USA members to work diligently invite young women who support the goals of PPSEAWA to join our organization.
To further this goal, this newsletter will focus on PPSEAWA’s future leadership. I urge you to find ways to make this happen in your chapters. Thank you to Akari Yamada for being such an eloquent spokeswoman – please read her comments on how to reach younger women. And thanks too to Ema Woodward for writing about how attending her first PPSEAWA conference has motivated her and to Edna Crescas and Judy Grodin for representing us at the UN.
Our next newsletter will focus on YOUR activities in your chapters – we look forward to your sharing those.