President’s report on the AGM at Nice 2009

30 June 2009 by Rieke Smakman

AGM MEETING EuropeanPWN 2009

On June 26-27 2009 the EuropeanPWN board and presidents of all networks gathered in Nice for the Annual General Meeting (AGM). In a 1 ½ day session they looked back on past achievements, exchanged best practices and developed plans for the next year. Organized this year by the team of Nice Cote d’Azur’s president Susanne Forsman-Hey, participants were warmly welcomed by Team Cote D’Azur’s Ségolène Pin-Monsaingeon.

The outstanding growth and success of European Professional Women’s Network which now has 17 city networks across Europe, has resulted in the AGM 2009 delegates designing a new structure. The new structure to be announced September 30 will allow the board to better support the future vision as well as create value for key stakeholders, our members and corporate partners across Europe. “With 17 dynamic networks and more than 3500 members, the opportunities for connecting and sharing across local networks as well as our goal to continue to drive high impact programs across all levels of our membership, we have realized the need to identify a structure that responds to our network’s needs and expectations.” says Mirella Visser, President EuropeanPWN.

Mirella will serve as the President of the board through 2009 at which time a new organization structure and board will be announced and rolled out. An Extraordinary General Assembly (EGM) is planned for January 2010 in order to elect a new board to serve in the new roles and responsibilities. “This is an exciting time for the network and we’re entering a new phase in the development of our network to a match a bigger and broader vision of how we support the professional progress of women” says Marie-Claude Peyrache, EuropeanPWN Board member and President of the Paris chapter for the past 4 years.