President’s Council of Cornell Women | Monthly eNews | December 2013
I write this message to you reflecting upon my gratitude for being a part of such an amazing group of women working tirelessly in their respective fields, while at the same time advancing other women within our Cornell community and beyond. With respect to the members of the Communications Committee, I thank everyone for their efforts to produce the PCCW eNews and keep members abreast of relevant information via our various social networks. While we’ve been quite successful in engaging with 50% and 25% of our membership via Facebook and LinkedIn, respectively, we would like to make certain that we begin to increase our presence and reach through our Twitter account: @Cornell_PCCW. Whereas our Facebook and LinkedIn groups are private, our @Cornell_PCCW Twitter account is public and provides us with a unique opportunity to showcase the tremendous amount of thought leadership within our membership.
In the last nine months, during which our@Cornell_PCCWaccount has been most active, we’ve grown the followership to 462—composed mostly of professional women’s associations/publications, Cornell organizations and alumni, and PCCW members. We’ve also categorized Cornell followers into lists (PCCW members (45), Cornell alumnae (131), Cornell women (20), Cornell women students(41)) that enable us to easily identify and share information from its members.Our goal by the 2014 Annual Meeting is to double our Twitter account followership.
To reach our goal, we would appreciate having all of the PCCW members who regularly tweet follow@Cornell_PCCW, provide us with original content and announcements we can share with our followers, and occasionally“retweet”content shared by our account.
If you are NEW TO TWITTER, make PCCW yourfirst experience by visiting this link: ”Getting Started with Twitter”. Twitter is a really fantastic tool for anyone with great ideas to share and/or those researching new topics. Share your thoughts and ideas about your PCCW experience and information which might be helpful to other PCCW members and those interested in women’s leadership.
Should you have any content/announcements to share on Twitter, please feel free to contact Andrea Ippolito, our new @Cornell_PCCW Twitter account manager.
Wishing you safe and love-filled holidays!
Warm regards,
Liz Ngonzi (Twitter: @LizNgonzi)
Chair, PCCW Communications Committee
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CHAIRS' CORNER / CALLS TO ACTION AND
COMMITTEE NEWS
Hi all. Best wishes for this holiday season!! As the calendar year winds down, we quickly realize that our annual meeting in Ithaca is only a few months away! As we’ve been highlighting in our earlier newsletters, the Annual Meeting Planning Committee has lined up an exciting program entitled, Thought Leaders: Inspiring & Igniting Change For Women. We’re so looking forward to seeing all of you there. We know you have multiple demands on your time, but as one of our members likes to put it, consider the annual meeting a gift to yourself. It’s always a great time and is THE BEST way both to get to know the fabulous women of PCCW and to stay connected with what’s happening at Cornell.
Our various committees are all hard at work and continue to exceed to their past accomplishments. We won’t highlight them all here, but we’ll note some of the activities that are especially timely at this time of year.
· Membership: A special thanks to those of you who submitted confidential nominations for the PCCW Class of 2014. As always, we received nominations for many excellent candidates. Our Membership Committee will be reviewing the nominations and making their recommendations for new members to President Skorton in December. Remember that even though decisions are made only once a year, we are happy to accept membership nominations from you at any time. So, if you meet someone socially or professionally that you think could be a great PCCW member, just go to the PCCW website and nominate her for the PCCW Class of 2015!
· Alumnae Engagement: The Alumnae Engagement Committee has been busy organizing regional events this fall and is planning several more throughout the school year in various parts of the country. In October, we had a great turnout for a dinner in Los Angeles and a very successful networking event with young alumnae in New York City. A holiday party in New York City is planned for the evening of December 11 at the home of Marlene Krauss. Thank you, Marlene, for hosting this event!
We want to give a very special shout out to PCCW Member Lisa Staiano-Coico, President of City College of New York, who graciously invited our membership to attend a wonderful CCNY lecture by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on November 18. A large contingent of our members attended, including one who flew in from Chicago just for the opportunity to see and hear Justice Sotomayor in person. Thank you, Lisa!!!!
If you are interested in planning events in your area, reach out to Chair Dianne Renwick or Vice Chair Anika Daniels-Osaze about being a regional liaison.
· Mentoring: The Mentoring Committee is busy planning two mentoring luncheons for our upcoming annual meeting (always highlights of the weekend), and in the meantime, it has once again helped connect many of our members to host student externs around the country during the students’ winter break. Mentoring women students and younger alumnae is an important part of PCCW’s mission and always a personally rewarding experience for our members. More mentoring opportunities through university programs are available during the students’ Spring Break. If interested, please contact Chair Sara Emerson or Vice Chair Yonn Rasmussen.
· Grants: The student scholarships and fellowships awarded from our PCCW endowed funds have just been awarded for this year. We will invite the recipients to join us for breakfast during the PCCW annual meeting:
President's Council of Cornell Women Cornell Tradition Fellowships
§ Emma Craven-Matthews '17, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences from Middlebury, VT, has not yet declared a major.
§ Megan Rose Alzona '16, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences from Toms River, NJ, is majoring in Biological Sciences.
§ Allegra Cullen '17, a freshman in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences from Schenectady, NY, is majoring in Communication.
President's Council of Cornell Women Leadership Scholarships
§ Shelby McClelland '15, a junior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences from Smartsville, CA, is majoring in International Agriculture.
§ Madeline Salinas '16, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences from Danville, KY, has not yet declared a major.
Patricia Carry Stewart President's Council of Cornell Women Scholarship
§ HaeSoo Cheon '15, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences from Cumming, GA, is majoring in Psychology.
Elizabeth C. Everett '97 President's Council of Cornell Women 20th Anniversary Undergraduate Scholarship
§ Esther Han '16, a sophomore in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences from Tenafly, NJ, is majoring in Applied Economics and Management.
Gloria and Roger Lang PCCW Scholarship
§ Emily Zerishnek '14, a senior in the College of Human Ecology from Norfolk, VA, is majoring in Human Biology, Health, and Society.
President's Council of Cornell Women Dr. Victoria Husted Medvec Scholarship
§ Monica Neira '15, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences from Lodi, NJ, is majoring in Psychology.
Last but not least, we are thrilled to announce that member Penny Haitkin has accepted our invitation to join the PCCW Steering Committee as Chair of the Ad Hoc Annual Meeting Planning Committee for our Fall Annual Meeting on September 12-13, 2014 in New York City. Steering Committee Sustaining Member at Large Lynda Gould will also assist with this effort. For those of you who volunteered to work on the Meeting Planning Committee for the New York City meeting, you can expect to hear from Penny in the near future.
As you can see even from these brief highlights, there are so many ways you can be engaged with PCCW and give back to Cornell in the process. We hope you have already found ways to participate. If not, we’re always here to help!
Best,
Linda and Jill
Linda M. Gadsby '88
Jill A. Goldy, MS ILR '78
Co-Chairs, PCCW / Calling all PCCW committee chairs! The “Calls to Action” section of the monthly eNews is your chance to ask the PCCW membership at large for their help or simply get the word out about your recent activities. Please submit your “call to action” requests to Heidi Grenek no later than the 3rd Monday of each month for inclusion in that month’s eNews.
Communications Committee
Two-second survey! The Communications Committee would like to know if you would like a short session at the annual meeting on using social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Please take the short, two-question survey.Annual Meeting Committee
PCCW Annual Meeting 2014February 28–March 2 (Friday to Sunday)
Thought Leaders: Inspiring & Igniting Change
for Women
We are delighted to announce that all speakers for our annual meeting are now confirmed. The exciting lineup will include these notable women:
· Kimberle Crenshaw '81, Professor, UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School
· Nita Farahany, Professor of Law and Research Professor of Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke University
· Sandra Fluke '03, attorney and women’s rights advocate
· Jeanine Prime PhD '00, Vice President for Research, Catalyst, a well-known organization that advocates for women’s issues in business
· Kathy Savitt '85, Chief Marketing Officer, Yahoo
· Kate Snow '91, National Correspondent, NBC News
If you haven't already made hotel reservations, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible. Registration opens in late January with the full schedule.
Come for the learning, inspiration, networking, friendship, and fun… join us!
Alumnae Engagement Committee
The Alumnae Engagement Committee in the New York area is seeking interesting venues at which to host its events. In the past, members have generously shared their beautiful houses, apartments and offices. We need to refresh our list! If you have an office with a beautiful art collection, an apartment with lovely views, or just a comfortable setting which can accommodate at least 20 people, please consider sharing it with the Alumnae Engagement Committee for one of our future events. We would appreciate locations both in and outside of Manhattan. Member-donated venues allow us to have nicely catered events, at very reasonable costs, in wonderful settings. To share your space, please contact Dianne Renwick and write "PCCW Venue" on the subject line.MEMBER INTERVIEW / MEMBER NEWS
Debra A. Wein
BS HE '90
Hingham, MA
PCCW member
since 2012
Debra Wein ’90, MS, RD, LDN, NSCA-CPT*D, CWPD is a nationally recognized expert on health and wellness and has designed award- winning programs for individuals and corporations across the country. Her mission is to inspire individuals to make simple and positive changes in their lives that improve their health. She is president and founder of Wellness Workdays, a leading provider of worksite wellness programs, and president and co-founder of Sensible Nutrition, Inc., a consulting firm that provides nutrition and wellness services to individuals. With more than twenty years’ experience, Debra develops custom-tailored, scientifically based, resource- focused programs based on the latest nutrition and fitness research. She teaches at the undergraduate and graduate levels at several well-known Boston universities and is often called upon to speak at national and regional conferences. Debra was appointed to the Wellness Planning Committee of the New England Employee Benefits Council in 2013 and to the President's Council of Cornell Women in 2012. She is a Certified Wellness Program Director through the National Wellness Institute and WebMD, and is certified as a personal trainer by The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM-HFI) and The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA-CPT*D). Debra has worked with hundreds of companies, including Putnam Investments, Brown University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rockland Trust, Perkin Elmer, Old Mutual Asset Management, Waters Corporation, the Town of Westwood, Bentley University and Harvard Business School. She is Program Director of the Wellness Workdays Dietetic Internship and offers the only ACEND-approved worksite wellness focused internship for dietetics students interested in becoming Registered Dietitians. Debra holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in nutritional sciences and applied physiology from Cornell ’90 (Nutritional Sciences) and Columbia Universities, ’93 (Applied Physiology and Nutrition).
What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?
Over the past five to ten years, wellness has evolved from a focus on fitness—offering gym membership reimbursements and onsite fitness classes—to a focus on the overall health of employee populations and how it impacts a company’s bottom line. Employers are facing large increases in health insurance premiums and are passing costs on to their employees while also taking steps to ensure employees get healthier. Almost half of the nation’s businesses offer wellness programs, and many of the companies are now measuring and requiring results.
Employers have expanded their offerings to include mental and emotional wellness, stress reduction and financial fitness, as well as programs that target metabolic syndrome and smoking cessation. Many businesses also offer programs to improve the health of spouses and children.
These days, companies with comprehensive wellness programs conduct biometric screenings and analyze trends in insurance claims to evaluate the health of their employees and determine the health challenges facing their population. They build on this information by finding out what types of programs their employees are interested in and then create programs that target both the needs and the interests of their population. Employers often provide incentives for participation such as winning an iPad, a paid day off or receiving a significant reduction on monthly health care premiums.
Wellness Workdays provides a full range of creative programs that achieve results. We offer the strategic design, evaluation and assessment that companies need to ensure that their programs are successful, and we track results and calculate the return on investment for each program. Our wellness programs have won a number of awards from industry organizations and the media.
What are some of the technology trends impacting your business? Can you explain the impact, if any, that social networking and Web 2.0 has made on your organization or you personally?