Next Step Up the Ladder?

1,600 Colorado Women Select Women'sVision Foundation

How do you prepare for that next step up the corporate ladder?

For more than 1,600 of the "best and brightest" women in approximately 30 of Colorado's largest and most progressive companies, Women'sVision Foundation is their source of choice.

The only professional organization in Colorado dedicated exclusively to advancing business women, Women'sVision offers high level networking and leadership programs throughout the year for mid-level managers to senior executives.

Member companies include Accenture, Ball Corporation, Centura Health, Citywide Banks, Coors Brewing Company, CH2M Hill, Comcast, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, Faegre & Benson, First Data Corporation, Kodak, Lockheed Martin, McDATA Corporation, Qwest, and Xcel Energy, among others.

And each October, members and non-members alike, pack the Adam's Mark Hotel for the Women's Success Forum, a full day of insight, information and inspiration from nationally and internationally known speakers.

Keynoters for this year's Women's Success Forum, slated for Thursday, October 20, at the Adam's Mark are Lisa Gersh Hall, co-founder of the Oxygen TV network and David Whyte, nationally known organizational development expert, best selling author, and "corporate poet."

Sponsors include Accenture, Centura Health, Coors, CH2M Hill, Vectra Bank, Colorado Biz Magazine, Comcast, The Women's College of the University of Denver, and Zenith Magazine, among others.

The keynote by David Whyte marks the first time that a man has addressed the Women's Success Forum.

"The single most important aspect of the Women's Success Forum is to validate women as leaders-that they can lead, should lead, and must lead in the changing workforce of today and the future," said Steffie Allen, founder of Women'sVision Foundation and Board Chair.

"David is so articulate on how women lead and how necessary it is to have them at the leadership table that he was a must for us to bring in." A Denver native, Allen is known nationally and internationally for her work in advancement and retention of business women. She also is the first woman recipient of the Dan Ritchie Award for Ethics in Business, awarded for her work on the board of HealthONE (HCA.)

Noted Christie Doherty, Women'sVision Foundation president, "The Foundation is characterized by a passion for the cause of women in the workplace, for women not only having the opportunities they deserve, but also empowering women to make an impact in the organizations in which they work. "It's about claiming your power and being the best you can be," she adds.

"That's how the first Women's Success Forum came into being," adds Doherty, who also is the co-creator of the Women's Success Forum. "We wanted to provide business women in Colorado an opportunity to come together and celebrate who we are and learn from each other."

Doherty, whose corporate leadership spans more than 20 years in three major companies, US West, Time Warner Communications and Qwest, has invested her career in being a catalyst for change. Her mission is of creating organizations where men and women can work as equal partners in organizations which thrive because of their inclusive natures.

"Starting with the first Women's Success Forum, we placed a significant emphasis on work/life balance. That still is a strong component of claiming your leadership role and continues to be critically important for women today. Other areas of focus include navigating through transition and downsizing, keeping your skills current for inevitable change, developing rich networks, and realizing and claiming your personal power."

While the Women's Success Forum is the annual signature event of Women'sVision Foundation, it is only one of approximately 10 leadership development programs from the Foundation.

One of the premier programs is the year-long Women'sVision Leadership Institute, where women at Colorado companies such as Xcel Energy and McDATA Corporation are getting the opportunity to hone their skills.

Approximately 80% of female executives completing the Institute program get promoted within six months afterward.

"No way I could have pulled this (project) together without the Institute," commented Rita Clark, Xcel Energy, Energy Supply. In a male dominated industry, Clark has responsibility for parts warehouses in electrical power generating plants throughout Colorado.

Institute alum Deb Morton, Director of Business Systems Development at McDATA Corporation, adds, "I felt I didn't deserve a seat at the decision-making table; through the Institute I learned that I don't have to ask for it-I've earned it."

Never before has there been a more opportune time for women to advance into corporate leadership, with aging Baby Boomers at director level and above positions at or nearing retirement now.

Approximately 57% of the skilled and educated workforce today is women, and that number is growing.

"The culture shift taking place in the workforce is presenting significant new challenges to businesses. It also is presenting new opportunities for professional women and men," Allen noted.

She cites factors for this change that include managing challenges of operating in a global economy and effectively utilizing the work styles of all four generations now in the workforce.

"Throughout all our programs, events and networking, our purpose is providing leadership development for creating a better workplace and a better world-places where the human spirit thrives," added Allen.

"Women in senior positions is just good business," said John Kelley, CEO, McDATA Corporation, Broomfield. "Women'sVision is proving itself such an intelligent approach for tapping this strong pool of talent for leadership."

David Wilks, President, Xcel Energy Supply, concurred, "Women'sVision is a terrific resource for our company."

For more information on leadership development programs from Women'sVision Foundation, call Lucy Strupp, Vice President, Member Services, 303-470-7576, or visit us at www.womensvision.org.

8th Annual Women's Success Forum
7 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday, October 20
Adam's Mark Hotel, 1550 Court Street, Denver

Keynote Speakers:
Lisa Gersh Hall
President, Chief Operating Officer,
Co-Founder of the Oxygen Network,
the only woman owned and operated TV network

Currently responsible for day-to-day operations of the company, Lisa grew Oxygen from its inception to today's distribution to 54 million homes.

Prior to the creation of the Oxygen network, this dynamic business leader and attorney invested approximately 15 years experience in creating strong corporate partnerships, negotiating financing and other strategic relationships.

David Whyte
Coporate Poet, Best Selling Author,
Organizational Development Expert

In organizational settings, David illustrates how we can foster courage and encouragement-qualities required if we are to respond to today's call for increased creativity and adaptability in the workplace.

One of the few poets to take his unique perspective on creativity into the field of organizational development, he is author of the well-known "The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America."

And throughout the day:

Breakout Seminars on:
Personal Effectiveness
Leadership/Feminine Leadership
Claiming Your Personal Power

And the Annual "Tribute to Women in Business" Luncheon

Capacity crowd expected.
Register today.
www.womensvision.org
$295 members; $395 non members
Sponsorship available: Call Sally McDonald,
Vice President, Business Development,
303-470-7576