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Join IWIL | Committees
| SIGs |
Members Only
IWIL Participate
Looking for substance in your professional and personal relationships? Need a
guru or are you a guru? Need to be a part of "women who get it"? Joining
and participating in Illinois Women In Leadership opportunities allows you to
explore potential and develop opportunities. It is up to you, however, and that
is how the acronym IWIL came into being! We all said "I will" when we
were asked to be involved and stay active. Here are some of the benefits you
will have with your membership:
- A directory of the full membership, published annually, is given to
each member. Professional information about peers appears with their
photo (encouraged). Personal information and second career information
is also listed. You'll be able to use the directory to find resources
for just about any field.
An updated directory in Excel format is also posted in the Members
Only section of the web site.
- You'll attend monthly meetings and programs which are educational
in format and friendly by design. Each month offers something new and
different. Most meetings are either lunch or breakfast but there are
special events throughout the year. Every time IWIL gets together WE
WILL have a program, even if it is to socialize and network, make contacts!
YOU WILL find that IWIL is a great source for information about what
is going on in town. Our speakers and panel members are top in their
field.
- Pick up ideas and apply them in your professional, community and personal
life. Bring something to write on and a pen when you get together with
IWIL members. Speakers get us started and we take what we learn wherever
we go. We brainstorm, we plan, we incorporate, and we act! Check
out the programs now.
- Committees helps you grow as a professional, learning and contributing
as you go. You choose. It can be in an area you already know about or
it may be a topic you have an interest in but have never pursued. The
important message is - Get Involved! Becoming a member of IWIL means
you can contribute actively. The more you participate the more you benefit.
- Your own mentor helps you get the most from IWIL. Your contacts for
questions and information will be the Board of Directors, the chair
of the Membership team,... and your very own personal mentor. This woman
of substance will be one of the first people you meet. Consider her
your own encyclopedia, reference manual, hostess, and friend - she is
our gift to you as a new member!
- Inter-group relationships with other organizations plays in Peoria.
There's a similarly based group of women leaders in Peoria, Illinois.
If you have business there or want to connect with them, we can get
you connected.
- Lasting friendships are born.
Year after year after year we hear story after story after story about
how long some of our members have known each other. We're not sure which
came first: the chicks or the egg. Bring your friends with you or enjoy
meeting new friends at each meeting.
- Employment opportunities do pop up. Part of the value of meetings
and of networking is that we get the word about out what needs to happen.
If you need a job, spread the word to the membership. It has happened
that members know of opportunities and can be matchmakers.
- IWIL members have always been givers. We are involved as board members
for charitable organizations. Individuals have been nominated and won
about every award in the area. We gather our forces and ask them to
help us when there is a cause - be it one time and unique or on-going.
We are women; we care about people and our world; we are expressive,
participative, and active. There's always something for you to do. Say
IWIL.
Is there a more dreaded word in our vocabulary? Look what usually follows it:
(committee) meetings, (committee) work, (committee) decisions... why would anyone
ever want to be a part of a committee?
Before you click on the "Committees" link,
answer that question for yourself. If you need a "starter" consider these
benefits realized by those who do join committees:
- You strengthen relationships with other women who share a similar interest.
- You see results.
- You have a great time.
- You are challenged to manage your time and talents.
- You experience the synergy of teamwork accomplishing more than several
individuals doing things on their own.
- You lead.
- You set an example.
- You have something to talk about when people ask, "What's new?"!
- You make a difference to a lot of people.
- You are needed.
- You learn.
- You grow.
- You make an impact.
Yes, committees provide lots of challenges. There are the dynamics of getting to know
work and communication styles. There is time management. There is even disappointment.
But there are reasons committees exist -- what needs to be done gets done. More than that
though, committees are the journey to the destination. They are the path to the
accomplishments, the continuation, the success, and the organizational life itself.
You want to be on that trip!
Long before IWIL actually was chartered the organizers knew that there is not an
organization on Earth that meets all the members' needs all the time. Rather than
try to put in place one huge army of women who do everything together the decision
was to celebrate the diversity of interests. Thus, the creation of Special Interest
Groups, or as IWIL refers to them, SIGs. The notion behind SIGs is for small groups
to form because of a shared hobby, interest, pass time, curiosity -- you get the idea.
IWIL's Board of Directors sanctions the SIGs "officially" and once that
is done each SIG is organized, run, and maintained by those who are in it. There's
no minimum number of people or meetings. You don't have to prove anything to
anyone and you don't have to produce any results. Call it the more laid-back
component of IWIL, if you will. Here's a way to try something out, something
you've wanted to do and never were able to. Join a SIG. Or maybe you got away
from a favorite activity and want to get back into it. Form a SIG. Perhaps you
have one dream to pursue, one goal to accomplish, one event to attend -- call on
your SIG for support.
IWIL is about business, about government, about education, about professionalism.
But, it is also about friendship. You'll find associates and peers throughout the
organization; you'll make acquaintances and friends at meetings and events; you'll
deepen relationships as a committee member or a board member; and, you'll make lasting
friendships in SIGs.
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