WorldWIT
Company: WorldWIT Inc., Boulder, Colorado
Company Description: Founded in Chicago in 1999, WorldWIT is the world’s largest online networking organization for professional women in business. WorldWIT reaches over 30,000 women globally via free, moderated, local email discussion groups like ChicWIT (Chicago) and BritWIT (U.K.), and thru local events and activities in 24 countries and 70 cities around the world.
Nomination Category: Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneur Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Woman's Business Association of the Year
Nomination Title: WorldWIT
Tell the story about what the nominated organization achieved during the eligibility period (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
WorldWIT is the voice of more than 30,000 women globally. Our membership is free thanks to the support of generous sponsors. Our organizations goal is to support and enable women in business to reach their career and personal goals.
The idea is that although there are thousands of professional women working in e-business, law, technology firms, marketing, sales, education, and so on—the challenge was that there has not been an easy way for us to connect with each other or use our brains and resources to help the community. WorldWIT has created the outlet to move that process along.
WorldWIT's position is that all of us can help each other in different ways. Experienced women can mentor younger women and help them steer through the pitfalls that may be in front of them. Women fresh out of school or even in school now can help us understand what the generation 'raised with the internet' views as important, and so on. So we use the lists, our events, and communication via our site to bring these different viewpoints together; to advance careers, help build businesses, find new jobs, clients, employees and achieve the balance that is necessary in every working woman’s life.The launch of each new local chapter now brings a new form of integrated networking and knowledge-sharing to women-in-business communities around the world. WorldWIT looks to where there is a tremendous opportunity to create a strong community based on the combination of online, quick information-sharing and face-to-face events across a specific city, state or region. Liz Ryan met the needs of many business women all over the world and delivered much more than most women had hoped. Thus, creating a more equitable and business-friendly society for women of today and tomorrow both locally and globally. WorldWIT is now represented by 70 chapters in 24 countries. A year ago, only 40 chapters existed. Four more countries will be launching chapters in the coming months. Of WorldWIT’s Founder and CEO, Tom Peters, author and business guru had this to say…” “Liz Ryan is a woman on a mission—the right mission. She’s taken a sledgehammer to the glass ceiling. The business world needs the female perspective. WorldWIT is making that happen, whether the old (or young) white guys like it or not.”
Here is what our members say:
*“This is the best network of women helping women in the world!! :)”*“I love my WorldWIT online group and the networking and ideas I get for my job and my life.”
*“I like the camaraderie. I found my apartment AND my job on WorldWIT.”
*“A huge ‘Thank you’ for the Women’s Leadership conference, an empowering, informative, and energizing conference. I was engaged the entire day.”
*“An amazing email list. It makes me feel empowered as a woman.”
*“I found my cold-caller, my mentor, my dog (yes, my dog) and numerous other things on WorldWIT.”
List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: List each link on a separate line, begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.website.com]. NOTE: You may submit supporting materials for your nomination offline, but only judges who request them will see them:
Please see news links in our newsroom section.
http://www.worldwit.org/WorldWITInTheNews.aspx
Pay special attention to TIME magazine in March, '03 (link below) and Fortune, Oct '03 (PDFs on site), TIME magazine mention as a job source in Nov 03, CNN,
CNBC, CN8, and San Fran Chronicle (May 04).http://www.time.com/time/insidebiz/article/0,9171,1110030310-428069,00.html
Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography of the leader of the nominated organization:
Prior to founding WorldWIT, Liz Ryan was the first female vice president at U.S. Robotics. She writes a weekly column for BusinessWeekOnline and is the resident on-air ‘career’ expert for Denver, Colorado’s NBC affiliate. She has had articles published in Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal, HR Innovator, Computer World, Minorities and Woman In Business, REAL magazine and on About.com.
She received a B.S. from Loyola in Chicago in 1986, and an M.S. from Northwestern. A trained opera singer, Ryan attended the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, and continues to sing professionally. Liz and her husband have five children.