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Join us Thursday, March 4 when we welcome Mary K. Meyer McAleese, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science at Eckerd College to kick off Women’s History Month. Already in 2021 we’ve seen Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States break a long standing glass ceiling. Globally, women are experiencing increased representation as leaders and decision makers in politics and business. This “Quick World Tour” of the women and places around the world will highlight some of the impact made by including half the population in all phases of government and policy making.

More about our speaker: 

Dr. Meyer McAleese teaches courses relating to International Relations, Women & Gender Politics, and Latin American Politics.  She received her B.A. and M.A. from the University of South Florida and her Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst.  Her research interests include inter-American relations, women’s human rights in the Americas, and the roles of women in peace processes.  Her publications include her book (co-edited with Elisabeth Prügl), Gender Politics in Global Governance (1999), and other articles and chapters on women and gender politics in the Northern Ireland peace process; the diffusion of the United Nations Security Council’s Women, Peace, and Security Agenda in the Americas; Latin American regionalism; and the status of women in the international relations profession.  She serves as a Contributing Editor to the Library of Congress’s Handbook of Latin American Studies, Associate Editor for the Oxford Encyclopedia of Latin American Politics, and member of the editorial board of PS: Political Science & Politics.

She was a founding member (1995-96) and former chair of the International Studies Association’s (ISA) Women’s Caucus for International Studies, aimed at improving the status of women in the profession.  She later served two elected terms as ISA Treasurer and received two ISA service awards.

She has traveled extensively in Latin America and Europe and has lived for extended periods in France, Ireland, England and Mexico.

To join us in person, click here to make your reservation.

To join us virtually, click here to join the zoom call by noon on March 4. Please also consider making a donation to our Connie Passmore Scholarship Program.

Just in time for the Holidays, best selling author Jen Smith, comes to our luncheon meeting on Thursday, December 3rd to help us during a season known for overspending and get a head start on good habits for 2021.

Jen Smith is a personal finance writer and best-selling author of The No-Spend Challenge Guide. She’s been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Business Insider, and more. She helps ambitious millennials save money, earn more, and pay off debt as quickly as possible. You can read more of her work at ModernFrugality.com or hear her every week on the Frugal Friends Podcast.

Click here to reserve your spot if you plan to join us at 400 Beach Seafood and Tap House on December 3rd.

If you are attending by zoom, please know that we understand the myriad of reasons why you are unable to attend the meeting in person. We’re delighted to be able to provide you access with this new technology to keep you connected with those who share the vital mission of equity in the workplace. Since the beginning of this pandemic, our ability to raise funds for our Connie Passmore Scholarship has suffered greatly without opportunities for fundraising events. If you are able, please consider making a donation to the fund by clicking the button below.

Congressman Charlie Crist contacted us in honor of National Business Women’s Week and offered to join us on our zoom call this coming Thursday at 5pm  before our fundraiser. He wants to hear what concerns we have as working women during this pandemic and then take our stories to Washington as Congress continues to debate another stimulus package.  It will be a free-flowing forum for you to ask any questions about his work as a congressman, COVID-related matters, or any other topics relevant to women.

Join the zoom call with this link: https://zoom.us/j/97730527051

Healthy Eating and Holiday Cheer can be difficult unless you have BPW’s not-so-secret weapon, Wendy Wesley. Our favorite Food Policy Advocate and Nutritionist returns to help us raise funds for our Connie Passmore Scholarship with a virtual cooking class on Saturday, November 14th at 11 am. Wendy is hosting this one hour class to help give you some great information for navigating holiday meals and avoid the seasonal pitfalls of overeating and poor nutrition.

With your $35 donation, you’ll receive admittance to this fun and informative virtual cooking class as well as your very own BPW apron to help keep you looking sharp through your holiday cooking. Order now to have the opportunity to have yours in time for class on November 14th.

For those that will be joining us, if you’d like to cook along side with Wendy, here’s the recipe she’ll be preparing:

• 1/2 cup black rice (or sub wild or brown rice)
• 1 cup vegetable stock or water
• 1 10oz package of baby bella or white button mushrooms
• 1/2 cup vegan parmesan cheese or feta cheese
• 1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons jarred garlic or 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
• Pinch each salt and pepper

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and rinse the rice in a fine mesh strainer to remove the starch. Bring the stock or water to a boil and add rice. Bring back to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

  While rice is cooking place walnuts into the oven and toast for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside. Remove mushroom stems and clean caps. Brush caps with olive oil or melted butter and bake for 10 minutes without filling. Chop mushroom stems and walnuts and mix together in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add rice, garlic, salt and pepper and cheese to the mushroom-rice mixture. Place generous spoonfuls of the mixture to the pre-cooked mushroom caps and return to the oven for another 15 minutes. Remove and serve warm or a room temperature.

If you are attending by zoom, please know that we understand the myriad of reasons why you are unable to attend the meeting in person. We’re delighted to be able to provide you access with this new technology to keep you connected with those who share the vital mission of equity in the workplace. Since the beginning of this pandemic, our ability to raise funds for our Connie Passmore Scholarship has suffered greatly without opportunities for fundraising events. If you are able, please consider making a donation to the fund by clicking the button below.

Zoom Info:

Join Zoom Meetinghttps://zoom.us/j/96776856347?pwd=ajlmSEVhL0UrUzFYZjJJK3BvZnJOZz09
Meeting ID: 967 7685 6347
Passcode: 400550
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aprA7qN6O

Join us virtually when we welcome Robin Davidov from the League of Women Voters to our Zoom meeting on Thursday, September 24th at 6PM for an hour jam packed with information to help you be an informed and effective voter. Robin will review the constitutional amendments and school board races that we’ll all see on our ballots. Additionally, she’ll address the various methods by which to vote and how to make sure your vote is counted including dates and deadlines for absentee and early voting.

Our mission has been and continues to be equity for women in the workplace and one of the most effective ways to encourage workplace equity is to vote for it and for candidates that support it. Be engaged with the voting process and know who and what you are voting for in every election. Our foremothers are counting on us.

Click Here to Join Zoom Meeting

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Like you, we’re delighted that this new technology is providing the opportunity for ALL of our members and guests to stay engaged and enjoy our speakers at our meetings. However, as the number in attendance at our meetings is reduced so are the limited funds which are used to further our mission including our Connie Passmore Scholarship. If you are able, please consider making a donation to the fund by clicking the button below.

Join us September 3rd at 400 Beach Seafood and Tap House when BPW welcomes (back) Wendy Wesley to our BPW Meeting. Wendy is a food policy activist and a licensed and registered dietitian/nutritionist who works to improve the health of the community. She provides free public health education, individual nutrition counseling and advocacy for access to nutritious foods in here in her hometown of St. Petersburg.

Many of you may recognize Wendy from her appearances on local day time news programs advocating for healthy eating, her fabulous YouTube videos, or her articles on food insecurity on St. Pete Catalyst. Some of our seasoned members remember Wendy as a member of our local organization who, while working on her Masters in Nutrition, was a Connie Passmore Scholarship recipient.

Wendy currently manages a health education program for a local non-profit and is a former clinical dietitian for an acute care hospital. She is an expert on consumer nutrition and an advocate for access to affordable and nutritious foods in her hometown of St. Petersburg. To learn more about Wendy, visit her website at www.WendyWesleyNutrition.com Or visit her YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/wendystpete

To attend the meeting in person, please click here to register for the luncheon. 

If you’d like to join by zoom click here.  The meeting will begin at 11:30 am and be available until we adjourn at 1pm.

Like you, we’re delighted that this new technology is providing the opportunity for ALL of our members and guests to stay engaged and enjoy our speakers at our meetings. However, as the number in attendance at our meetings is reduced so are the limited funds which are used to further our mission including our Connie Passmore Scholarship. If you are able, please consider making a donation to the fund by clicking the button below.

At our August 6^th meeting, Sheena Qualles-DeFreece will be speaking about the St. Pete Timebank where she currently serves on the Board of Directors.  The St. Pete Timebank was started by BJ Andryusky in late 2016 as a grassroots movement in her kitchen with two close friends.  The Timebank is a medium of exchange, rather than dollars every person’s hour has the same value, no matter who is contributing.  The core belief is that everybody is an asset to our community.  It’s simple:  one hour equals one credit.

After earning dual degrees in economics and political science from Rutgers University, Sheena spent more than two decades working in managerial positions at a variety of financial institutions, primarily in debt collection and commercial-asset recovery.

Then in 1998 she left her financial career, earned a graduate degree in education, and spent the next 13-plus years teaching middle-school reading, history, and language arts.

Two successful careers later, she viewed her new stage in life, namely ‘retirement’, as giving her the freedom to pursue her passions so she created Kidzonomics®, a non-profit whose mission is to “Cultivate the minds of our youth with financial literacy tools and concepts that will enhance their financial acumen.”

Click Here to Make your Reservation

If you wish to attend by zoom:
Topic: BPW Luncheon

Time: Aug 6, 2020 11:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

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Meeting ID: 511 832 7405
Passcode: 592928
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Like you, we’re delighted that this new technology is providing the opportunity for ALL of our members and guests to stay engaged and enjoy our speakers at our meetings. However, as the number in attendance at our meetings is reduced so are the limited funds which are used to further our mission including our Connie Passmore Scholarship. If you are able, please consider making a donation to the fund by clicking the button below.

Join us March 5 when we welcome St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman as he presents “The State of The City,” an update on the activities, events and latest happenings that affect not only the citizens of St. Petersburg but the entire Tampa Bay Region. Of particular interest to the Business and Professional Women, Mayor Kriseman will address the local economy and upcoming opportunities for all of us to participate in the future of St. Petersburg for the remainder of his term and beyond.

Please join us on February 6 as we welcome D YaeL Kelley who was recently named the MUSE Visual Arts Award winner for 2020 by the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance.  The MUSE arts awards shine a spotlight on special people who inspire and guide St. Petersburg as a true City of the Arts.  Please join YaeL as she shares why  the Arts  are so important to the health and success of the community.  She will share her journey and how St. Petersburg has risen  to become an international arts destination.  YaeL shared this quote ““My grandmother taught me that I am a part of my community, that the health of that community depended upon me and that my identity was not who I claimed to be, but who claimed me. We are who we are through every connection we have made or will make.”   I hope you can join us for this enlightening discussion.

D YaeL Kelley lives and works at her studio in the Artist Enclave of Historic Kenwood in St. Petersburg, Florida.  Her eclectic heritage influence her current explorations.  YaeL was born in Ohio and grew up in Florida, where she sold her first work at age 14.  She has since lived in England, Arizona and Texas.  While in England she attended Suffolk College of Art and Design.  She has worked in the visual arts, in museums and in the theatre.  Her career spans more than 40 years as a professional painter, arts advocate and certified instructor/demonstration artists for several major arts manufacturers, which include Crayola Crayons, Winsor and Newton, and Daler Rowney.  She is a past president and artist in residence of the center for Contemporary Arts of Abilene, past vice-president of the Texas Visual Arts Association, served the city of St. Petersburg on the Arts Advisory Committee and the Mayor’s Transition Team for Arts and Culture.  She is a founding member of the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance.  YaeL has enjoyed many solo shows and group exhibitions throughout her career and is represented in St. Petersburg by Red Cloud Indian Arts Gallery.  Her paintings are in collections internationally.

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