Empowering Women Network, Inc. (EWN)

is the largest professional women's organization in the Midwest founded by Georgia Dudley.  EWN is focused on leadership and the advancement of professional women. A full service women's organization offering its members and guests, monthly networking events, business related round-tables, business development training, business coaching and mentoring, all guided by the belief that truly successful women nurture their health and well-being, relationships and personal growth as well as their careers.

Podcast (35 minutes) EWN's Founder, Georgia Dudley speaks at EWN's 2008 Anniversary Event -  

"The Women's Team"

To play directly, click this link or cut and paste into your browser: http://media.libsyn.com/media/ewn/WomensTeam6_19_08.mp3 

Video Clip (20 Seconds):  EWN Monthly Meeting

http://animoto.com/play/0e2e65474dd409803fa9c7b53dea91ef

Video Clip (20 Seconds): EWN Progresssive Luncheon

http://talkitup.typepad.com/weblog/2007/12/closing-out-the.html

www.linkedin.com (Groups: Empowering Women Network)

Empowering Women Network, Inc., was created out of my desire to help women thrive in their careers, particularly younger or less experienced women. As a full-time business owner and single parent, I had been the lucky beneficiary of advice and moral support from experienced businesswomen. I felt a strong need to give something back. In the fall of 2001, I formed a group of professional women who showed an interest in being a resource to other women, perhaps by staking out a viable position on the Web in the form of a network. Early on, we realized something was missing from our efforts. But that crucial element eluded us, despite the dozens of hours we spent doing research, we abandoned the idea of a network and our meetings came to a grinding halt. About six months later, I was listening to Fran Drescher promote her book, Cancer Schmancer, on "Larry King Live." As she talked about empowering women, I suddenly realized that empowering women means more than helping novices succeed in business. After all, women have to succeed in their lives too. In addition to careers, women have close relationships, friendships and children. They have homes to maintain and meals to prepare. They usually are the jack-of-all-trades in the household – accountant, chauffeur, maid, cheerleader, confidante, delegator and trusted keeper of the family schedule. They are mindful of their spiritual and physical needs, though at the end of the day, there often is little time or energy left to nurture anything except the desire for a good night’s sleep.

It suddenly dawned on me what was missing from our original concept. We had forgotten that women struggle to balance a good many things in their lives besides their careers. And that’s when that crucial element became abundantly clear: balance. Women need to master the art of balance because life should be more than a balancing act. Re-energized, our group reconvened in April 2002 and sought to define how women could achieve balance in their lives. We settled on four key areas: professional development, personal growth, social relations and health and well-being. By nurturing all of these needs, women could lead more centered and rewarding lives.This is the mission of Empowering Women Network, drawing upon the tremendous gifts, talents and resources of its growing membership. And therein lies another key to our viability: EWN is about women helping women. We do this through monthly meetings, seminars, workshops, coaching services and, of course, networking events. In time, this Web site will grow to contain a wealth of information and resources for women who seek balance in their busy lives. Instead of searching the Web high and low for one piece of information or another – as I once did – women will turn to this single, convergent site.

Dr. Damayanti P. Vasudevan, Vice President Diversity & Inclusion, RR Donnelley.  Dr. Vasudevan, is a management professional with 24 years of experience in consulting, teaching and counseling in corporate, municipal, medical and academic organizations.  With expertise in organizational development, leadership and psychometrics, she has developed numerous programs and tools to enable individual and organizational growth & development and has taught management and psychology courses at several universities. For the past 11 years, she has focused on corporate diversity and inclusion strategies. Currently as Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion at RR Donnelley, she is responsible for driving inclusion focused workplace, marketplace and community outreach strategies that distinguish RR Donnelley’s as a business partner of choice.  Dr. Vasudevan earned a Ph.D. in Management, University of Cincinnati; M.S. in Industrial and Organizational Psych. University of Illinois; M.A. in Educational & Counseling Psychology and B.A. in Psychology, University of Tennessee. Recognitions include Outstanding Young Women of America, Chitrahar Woman of the Year, Chicago Mayor Daley’s Certificate of Appreciation, and is a 2004 graduate of Leadership America.  Her professional and community involvements include: Corporate Conference Co-chair for Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Women Employed, Chitrahar Cultural Academy and Apna Ghar Women’s Shelter. She also serves on the Robert Morris College Graduate Program Advisory Committee, Chicago Workforce Board, Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Women’s Leadership Board, PUSH Excel Board and Empowering Women Network Advisory Board.

Natalie Oh joined JMB Insurance as part of the acquisition of Schlesinger Associates, Inc. in 2004.  She brings a decidedly consultative approach to the Employee Benefits & Financial Security Department of JMB.  An attorney by training, her primary focus is to educate her clients and to provide them with an informed selection of choices.

Natalie specializes in the advanced marketing of employee benefits including medical, dental, life and AD&D; short and long term disability; long term care, and flexible spending accounts.  In the financial security area, she specializes in the marketing of executive and buy-sell life and disability insurance as well as trust-owned life insurance for estate planning purposes.  Natalie’s day-to-day role is to help manage the Employee Benefits & Financial Security Department, ensure client satisfaction, and to keep abreast of changing regulations and compliance-related issues.

Natalie received her law degree from DePaul University College of Law.  Although she originally intended to pursue a career in criminal prosecution, she was diverted to the insurance industry under the tutelage of Bruce Schlesinger, Senior Vice President and the Employee Benefits and Financial Security Department’s Practice Leader.  As a result, she obtained her CLU designation through the American College.  In addition, Natalie is a Registered Representative of the NASD. With more than 8 years of executive and employee benefits experience, she specializes in advanced marketing and compliance issues such as HIPAA, COBRA and FMLA. 

Renee N. Duba - Head of Wealth Management Services, CFP - William Blair & Co. LLC.  Renee joined William Blair & Company's Investment Management division as a portfolio associate in 1990.  Prior to joining the firm, she was a financial planner for IDS Financial Serivces.  In 1997, she developed and implemented William Blair & Company's comprehensive financial planning and consulting services practice, Wealth Management Services. With over 20 years of experience, she works closely with the firm's clients to build and implement comprehensive financial plans encompassing the entire specturm of wealth-related issues. She's a Certified Financial Planner and an Accredited Asset Managment Specialist, as well as a licensed Life/Health/Vairable Contract Insurance Representative in the State of Illinois. Renee is a member of the Financial Planning Association and Empowering Women Network, Inc. She holds a B.A., DePaul University, Chicago, IL; AAMS, Institute for Wealth Management , CFP, College for Financial Planning, Denver Colorado.  Renee lives with her husband and two children in the Chicagoland area. 

Rita A. Castonguay Forden joined the American Cancer Society in March 2004 as Vice President of Income Development. With over 20 years of experience, Rita has been charged with creating new strategic development opportunities for corporations, foundations and high net worth individuals. 

Prior to joining the American Cancer Society, she served as vice president of Major and Planned Gifts for the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.  Rita was with the organization for more than a decade where she moved through the ranks from manager to director to vice president by the age of 29.  As the youngest person at United Way to hold this distinction, Rita was recognized as one of Chicago's "future leaders" by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 1997.  She also received the national "Innovation Award" by United Way of America in 2000 and the "Team Leader Award" in 1999 and 2002.

Rita received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Loyola University.  During her career, she has served on numerous boards and associations.  She is currently on the Board of SCPGC and Empowering Women Network (EWN). 

Rita lives with her husband and two children in the Western Suburbs of Illinois.

Amanda Schatz, Executive Vice President, National City Bank. Amanda manages the business development activities of National City’s branch network in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.  She joined National City in 1997 as an associate in the Retail Management Development Program.  During her career,  Ms. Schatz has been involved primarily with managing banking centers and serving as a consultant to small business owners. Ms. Schatz received a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio and a Masters of Business Administration degree from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Amanda is a member of the board of trustees of Sharing connections, a leader of the Voices for Illinois children associate board, Springboard, and serves on the advisory board of Empowering Women Network.  During her career she has chaired and served as a board member of numerous civic and charitable organizations.

Patti Ross is the IBM Market Executive for Global Women Business Initiatives. She is also assigned as the Central Region Market Development Executive.  In these capacities, she is responsible for developing IBM’s strategy for and marketing to businesses owned or operated by Asians, Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans. Her global responsibilities cover women owned and women led businesses in North America, Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Patti has extensive first and second line management experience in the information technology industry.  Ms. Ross’s previous IBM positions, with U.S. responsibility, include assignments in the Field Engineering Division, Chicago Regional Support Center and Chicago Parts Distribution Center.   She held the position of Business Unit Executive at various geographic locations within the Midwestern geography, with responsibility for customer satisfaction, achievement of expense and revenue objectives, technical performance and the morale of over 200 employees.  In her assignment as Career Business Executive she had responsibility for skills acquisition and development, productivity and salary administration and equity for over 150 Client Executives and Marketing Representatives.  Patti has had several other assignments including operations management.  

As a strong leader and advocate for women business owners, Patti serves on the Board of Directors for the Empowering Women Network (EWN) and Enterprising Women Magazine.   She is on the National Advisory Board for the Women’s Leadership Exchange.  Patti also serves on the Advisory Board of The Center for Women’s Business Research and the Women Presidents Organization (WPO).

Deanna Salo, Partner, Cray Kaiser, Deanna Salo began her career in public accounting with Cray, Kaiser in 1986 and became a shareholder in 1998. Her responsibilities include training and supervision of a staff of 30 employees. She is involved in all facets of the services the firm provides to clients, including audits, reviews, compilations, various tax services and consulting services. Deanna is actively involved in various women business organizations including the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and Empowering Women Network (EWN). Through her active participation as the committee Chairperson for the Education to Business committee of the Oakbrook Area Association of Commerce & Industry (OBAACI), she continues her commitment to reinvest in the surrounding communities.

Barbara Bruno, President, HR Search, Barbara is a passionate and enthusiastic Business Owner. She has spent the majority of her career as a working manager in her extremely successful Chicago search firm HR Search, Inc., specializing in placing Human Resource, Legal and Administrative Professionals as well as her staffing firm Cardinal Staffing Services. She has consistently maintained TOP PRODUCTION throughout her thirty-year career. Barbara formed a joint venture from 1996 - 2001 with a public recruiting firm in Texas and opened offices in Dallas and Houston. She was asked to develop sales training for their offices nationwide, which resulted in an increase in sales of 240%. Barbara was compelled to develop training products to enhance the production and lives of the hundreds of people in her audiences nationwide. In 1998 Barbara created Good as Gold Training, which is currently one of the leading distributors of training products for the recruiting and sales professions, including books, CD and her latest brochure "117 Proven Sales Techniques Guaranteed to Drastically Increase Your Income". Barbara also conducts Sales Seminars and Keynote Addresses for major corporations, human resource professionals and women's organizations throughout the US and Canada. Her training is practical, logical, innovative and provides methods that can be implemented immediately. She has appeared on many radio programs, authored articles for magazines and trade journals and is a contributing author to several books.

Helen Kasper, Sales Executive, Select Customer Accounts, The Hartford. The Hartford, a Fortune 100 company, is one of the nation's largest financial services and insurance companies, with 2005 revenues of $27.1 billion. The Hartford is a leading provider of investment products, life insurance and group benefits; automobile and homeowners products; and business property and casualty insurance. International operations are located in Japan, Brazil and the United Kingdom. The Hartford's Internet address is www.thehartford.com.

Helen is the former Vice President of Marketing for Citizens & Hanover.  She began her career in 1986 in Cleveland, Ohio with Aetna Property & Casualty. In her 20 years in the insurance industry, Helen has held increased levels of responsibility in Underwriting, Marketing, Sales and Management. She has worked for three national carriers in branch offices throughout the Midwest and New York State, leading each to previously unreachable levels of production, retention, efficiency, and profitability.

Helen's rise through the industry and success at every stop along the way is attributed to her unique and refreshing blend of enthusiasm, determination, creativity, leadership talent, integrity, industry expertise, professionalism, and unparalleled marketing and communications know-how.  Helen received national recognition for these attributes by being nominated for the 2005 NAWBO Corporate Woman of The Year Award.

Helen holds the CPCU designation and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Notre Dame College in 1986. Helen is currently a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Sales & Marketing Executives International, the CPCU Society, and Empowering Women Network (EWN). Ms. Kasper serves on the Advisory Board for The Urban Insurance Partners Institute (UIPI), EWN, and J. Krug & Associates.

Susan Fignar, President, Pur-sue™ Inc. Susan is an internationally recognized corporate consultant, motivational speaker, educator, and professional presence trainer with 25 years of business experience. Since 1991, Susan has worked with many leading corporations, including IBM, KeyBank, KPMG, and United Airlines, teaching individuals and teams how to polish their professional appearance, refine workplace etiquette, become a team leader, and strengthen professional relationships. A passionate, positive, and powerful trainer and coach, Susan teaches people how to exceed their potential by providing them with the necessary skills and action steps to achieve professional and personal excellence.

The goal of EWN's Leadership Team is to provide a support network for prospective new EWN members while they are in the decision making process before becoming an EWN Member. 

They are a powerful team of women who believe in the VALUE EWN provides professional women. Above all, they have a desire to share their own EWN experience with others!   

Debra DeFrancesco

       Director, EWN Leadership Team

Coldwell Banker

Damara Diamond

Strategic Environs

Barb Bruno 

HR Search, Inc.

Lennie Rose

Rise Public Relations, Inc.

Patty Loris

GCG Financial Services

Courtney Parks

Life Coach

Pam Stella

IIT - Rice Lake Campus

Lisa Hoffman

Premier Administrative Services, Inc.

Peggy Niles

Accounting & Business Concepts, Inc.

Anna Ricci

Arbonne International

Kammie Dove

GCG Financial Services

Susan Fignar

Pur-sue*, Inc.

Karen McClure

Creative Inks, Inc.

Rosemary DiMonti

Red Rooster Consulting

Tara Farnsworth

Coldwell Banker

Katherine Topel

Powership, Inc.

Laurie Lathrum

John Hancock Financial Services

Heather Neal-Martinez

National City Bank

Lisa Czarnecki

Leslie Cesario

Certified Public Accountant

Elene Cafasso

Enerpace, Inc.

Chris Hoskinson

State Farm

Kathleen McEntee

McEntee & Associates

Eva Dahm

Coach Catalyst

Sandra Blanco

Attorney at Law

Ranchel Moore

Northwestern Mutual Financial Network