As we enter 2023, I would like to thank you – our members, our sponsors, our volunteers, our friends, our community – for another successful year for Women Investment Professionals. Our success is clearly built on the passion and commitment of our supporters. We enter 2023 with continued momentum from our strategic initiatives as we reiterate and support our core pillar priorities:
- Deepen member engagement
- Extend our reach within sponsors and their employees
- Extend our reach across industry in Chicagoland
2022 was an exciting year for WIP, with multi-faceted developments. We continued to invest in our members and our sponsors. We are particularly proud of the progress that we have made in making our programming and our networking accessible, both financially and geographically. In particular, we made the following investments that we believe are of great benefit to you, both as members and sponsors:
- Reduced our membership fees and introduced a new category of student memberships
- Enhanced our benefits for sponsors at all levels
- Provided more opportunities for connections and networking at zero cost for members and guests
We were also pleased to inaugurate our newest award, a complementary award to our Trailblazer Award for a Distinguished Investment Professional. In 2022, we awarded our first ever Joanne Hickman Dodd winners and were especially pleased to be able to recognize two outstanding women. This award honors women early in their investment industry careers who have made outsized contributions to their teams, demonstrate a commitment to professional excellence, and exemplify the next generation of outstanding leaders. We look forward to continuing to recognize women with our annual awards as we build on our vision of Women Investing in Women.
As we look forward to 2023, we are excited to continue our broad programs of Professional Development, Educational and Topical Panels, small and large group networking opportunities, and support for women in all stages of their career development. In addition, we are enthusiastic to announce that we are embarking on a six-month project to invest in and implement a new membership software system and website refresh that will be easier to navigate, allow more seamless access to events, and enhance our data analytics capabilities. As ever, our goal is to better serve our members’ individual needs as well as provide new opportunities for connections among our members and friends.
We enter 2023 with a great deal of optimism about our future. We remain committed to our core purpose of fostering a professional community that actively inspires, empowers, and advocates for the advancement of women in the investment industry. Our goal is to ensure that our work and mission align with and best support our values of integrity, collaboration, and inclusivity as WIP continues to evolve. While aspirational, our vision is powerful as it encompasses Women Investing in Women – a community of women inspiring in each other the confidence to achieve their full potential.
As we look to the future, WIP is committed to ensuring that our programming remains valuable and relevant. We are excited about increased opportunities to gather in person with (and hugging!) extended family and friends while maintaining our ability to connect with members and friends across the country with our virtual and hybrid events. Most of all, we are grateful to you, our members, and our corporate sponsors, whose support is critical to our ongoing strength as an organization. As you look forward to 2023, have a win-win experience. Learn and grow, both personally and professionally. Become a WIP member or get involved in a WIP committee. Visit our website and social media for more information on how you can get involved – we look forward to welcoming you!
Nancy Prial, WIP President