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Member Programs
- Annual Leadership Conference is an annual event that provides leadership training to the women of the Coachella Valley through featured speakers and panelists. The program also honors an accomplished woman leader in the Coachella Valley.
- 2008 Conference is titled "Take the Lead". October 24, 2008 at the Indian Wells Country Club in Indian Wells, California. A dynamic one-day conference geared to women of all ages seeking to realize or "reinvent" their leadership potential and advance to the next level professionally and personally. This symposium is designed to provide women with viable and immediate strategies to effect leadership in various arenas-work, health, finance, philanthropy, "green" lifestyle initiatives, and more.
Committee Chair:
Christy Majors
leadership@womenleadersforum.org
- 2007 Conference was an International TIAW Conference titled "Inspiring Women Leaders - Global Collaboration". Held November 8-10, 2007 at Renaissance Esmeralda, Indian Wells, California. For more information, visit: globalforum.tiaw.org
- 2006 Conference was titled "Turning Vision into Reality". Held October 27, 2006 at Renaissance Esmeralda in Indian Wells, California. Click here to view the 2006 Program Agenda. Click here to view pictures!
- Desert Women Entrepreneurs supports unique needs of women business owners in the Coachella Valley. DWE, the networking arm of WLF, promotes connection between women business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs seeking resources and empowerment. We facilitate gatherings to enhance connection with other women business owners, provide programs for expanding business knowledge, and promote opportunities for being involved with the most dynamic and powerful women in the Coachella Valley.
Committee Chair:
Jasenka Sabanovic
dwe@womenleadersforum.org
Annual Fundraiser: A Nite Out with the Girls - Proceeds benefit WLF leadership programs, with particular emphasis on our scholarship program, which helps Coachella Valley young women achieve their postsecondary education goals. Our objective is to plan and execute a fun evening that includes shopping, eating, fun entertainment and charitable giving for approximately 500 women. Our goal is to raise in excess of $60,000. See recap
- Frequent & Informative Membership luncheons featuring well-known speakers & leaders.
Community Programs
Young Woman Ambassadors is a mentoring program designed to provide life skills, social, and financial empowerment for young women. Sessions include budgeting, overcoming barriers, personal marketing, and ethical behavior in the workplace. The goal of this program is to provide students' valuable actualization skills and tools to assure success in higher education and in their professional lives.
Committee Chair:
Jane Treacy
ywa@womenleadersforum.org
Wall Street Teens is an annual day-long seminar designed to empower high school students with financial and leadership skills. One young woman is also the beneficiary of the Mary T. Roche Seed Fund, a financial initiative that grants each recipient $500+ to invest under the supervision of a WLF Trustee. The awardee works on "growing her money" and is granted the funds upon her 21st birthday. To review our 2008 conference recap, click here
Committee Chair:
Rebecca Kenary
wallstreetteens@womenleadersforum.org
WLF/TIAW Microbank Program Chaired by WLF member Margot Nelligan in partnership with The International Alliance for Women (TIAW), WLF's new Microbank Program was inspired by Indian Wells Mayor Mary T. Roche's generous donation in fall of 2007 - on behalf of WLF - to TIAW's MicroEnterprise Development Program.
What is a Microbank? A $5,000 donation establishes a 'bank' in an underdeveloped country. The bank's purpose is to provide small - or "micro" - loans to local citizens; thus fostering their economic empowerment and advancement. These small loans provide citizens with working capital to create and sustain income-generating microenterprises.
TIAW effectively targets women for these microbanks: they represent 75% of the 1.2 billion people who live on less than $1 per day. Research in this area has shown that women are the most effective poverty fighters, consistently investing their earnings into their businesses and families. By becoming self-sufficient, these enterprising women can help lift their families out of poverty. As their businesses grow, others in the community have access to employment, helping even more families to overcome poverty and build strong village economies.
The first WLF-sponsored bank sponsored is being established in a small town in Mexico called Tula Hidalgo. TIAW has partnered with a local organization, Asociacion Pro Mujer de Mexico (PMM), to manage this and other microbanks in the area. PMM has been in operation since 2001, following the lead of Pro Mujer Bolivia, Pro Mujer Nicaragua, Pro Mujer Peru, and Pro Mujer Argentina. PMM provides microloans to its clients. Moreover, the organization also provides services in diverse areas including gender, anti-domestic violence, and women's rights training. PMM also offers basic health services - generic and female-specific - such as Pap tests, diabetes assessments, and breast cancer diagnostic testing.
TIAW will provide WLF with evaluative assessments from WLF's microbank in Tula Hidalgo. WLF's Microbank committee plans to expand this program by sponsoring new microbanks in other areas.
Committee Chair:
Margot Nelligan
microbank@womenleadersforum.org
WLF Scholarship Program: WLF Scholarships are given to female high school graduates attending college, university or trade schools as first year students from Coachella Valley Schools.
WLF awards at least one scholarship to a student at each of the Valley high schools according to criteria below. Selection of students is made by each school, not by WLF Committee.
WLF Scholarship Criteria - Female students may be considered as follows:
- Recipient must be a graduate of a Coachella Valley High School
- Recipient must have a GPA of 3.0 or better
- Recipient should have completed the SAT I, SAT II or ACT
- Recipient must be in need of financial assistance
- Recipient must be an American citizen
- Recipient must be active in school & community activities
- Recipient must complete a one-page essay stating goals and reasons
or justification for scholarship
- WLF Scholarship funds are paid on behalf of recipient, directly to selected
College or University
- WLF Scholarship funds may only be used for up coming school year
Donations to WLF Scholarship Fund are tax deductible and may be made directly to address below, online at any time (Make Scholarship Donation) or added to WLF dues. For questions, please email:
scholarships@womenleadersforum.org
Mary T. Roche, Co-Chair
Susan Weisbart, Co-Chair
WLF Scholarhship Fund
Box 4328
Palm Desert, CA 92261
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