OIWC Expands Professional Development Services to Members

The Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition (OIWC) is delighted to announce a new initiative to assist women in becoming more influential in the Outdoor Industry through education and mentoring around the topics of Professional Development. OIWC will be providing seminars, online materials, mentoring and coaching to help members grow professionally to become leaders in their organizations and industries.

OIWC will launch this initiative at the 2006 Summer OR show with the first set of free seminars. Offered on Wednesday, August 9, three one-hour seminars will address leadership concepts, tools, and techniques to take away and implement immediately in your organization. The current schedule is:

* 1:00 PM Leadership vs. Management
* 2:00 PM Networking
* 2:30 PM Managing and Leading Upwards
* 3:30 PM Networking
* 4:00 PM Collaborative Leadership Principles
* 5:00 PM Networking cocktail hour

In addition, as part of this initiative, OIWC will launch a new members-only section on the OIWC website (www.oiwc.org). This section will include Professional Development materials, articles, and an Ask the Expert link for you to get assistance with the immediate issues you are facing.

The Professional Development Committee is led by:
Pollyanna Pixton, Chair, the President of Evolutionary Systems and the Director of the Institute of Collaborative Leadership with the intent to create leaders who build organizations where all people collaborate to reach corporate goals.

Charla Brown, the HR Director at Backcountry.com, thrives on coaching managers, counseling employees and utilizing the internet to connect with others, increase her knowledge, and of course, buy outdoor gear.

Donna Gandt, who works at The Timberland Company supporting process improvement and project management for the global supply chain organization. Donna is passionate about “making it better” – whether at work, at home or in her community and although new to the outdoor industry in general, is excited about helping women in the industry achieve their professional and personal goals.

OIWC is a non-profit corporation focused on the mission of equipping women to achieve their success. OIWC is sponsored at the Gold Plus level by Fox River, REI, and WL Gore. At the Gold level, sponsors are Jansport, Mountain Hardwear, and The North Face. Silver sponsors are Thule, Hi-Tec, Black Diamond, Burton, Camelbak, Hooked on the Outdoors, The Forest Group, K2 Sports, Marmot, Outdoor Retailer, Timberland, and Tubbs. Bronze sponsors are Leisure Trends Group, Backpacker Magazine, GoLite, Leki USA, Moving Comfort, Outdoor Industry Association, OutdoorMind, SIA, Sierra Magazine, Kelty, and Cascade Designs.


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