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January 13, 2021
Welcome to 2021! As we look to the future, it is important to make a decision for where we’re going and what we would like to achieve in 2021. It’s also important to reflect on 2020 - the accomplishments, trials, and lessons over the past twelve months.
To say 2020 was a year of unparalleled change for many would be an understatement, but this is especially true of Women in Electronics. Together we made some strides! From the successful launch of the WE mentorship program, the introduction of our Life Balance Series, to the launch of our official book club, and release of WE Radio, the WE community was exposed to professional and personal training at a whole new level. A couple of major changes that proved to be highly successful were the transition of the Women in Electronics Chapters to a virtual platform and transitioning the Annual Leadership Conference “Even Better Together” into a virtual event where our male colleagues participated for the first time. We learned that the virtual platform brings even more opportunity for industry leaders to develop together and opens doors to creative ways of development and training opportunities.
As our member outreach continues to grow so does our expansion into Europe! The Europe launch was a significant moment in WE’s history as well as a symbol of our goal to one day bring Women in Electronics across the entire globe. WE greatly benefited from the formation of an Advisory Council consisting of industry leaders who have helped shape growth strategies for our future, while welcoming new members to our Advisory Board. WE also formed an Advisory Chapter Council to help lead the chapters, which proved to be highly effective. These additions, while bringing a fresh perspective and different ideas, have provided other Board members with the opportunity to continue to pursue new challenges and advancements within the WE leadership committee structure. Women in Electronics is still a grassroots effort. We welcome your participation! If you have interest in becoming more involved, please email [email protected] for information on current volunteer opportunities.
Our corporate sponsors are steadfast and supportive, and we are excited to see even more companies within our industry signing on to lend their support. WE cannot thank our sponsorship companies enough for their contributions; it is with their support that WE is able to continue to bring world-class training and programming to our members. WE has also solidified our efforts with fellow industry organizations, ECIA and ERA, meeting regularly to stay abreast of developments while also discussing ways to support one another’s efforts.
Membership feedback to these efforts as well as to other developments in 2020 has been extremely positive and serves as a guide for our programming in the months to come. We’re excited to introduce fresh new trainers and topics, introduce the WE Business Acumen Program, launch our inclusion and diversity training package, further enhance our community outreach and service efforts, and finally to build upon the success of our chapter and mentorship programs in 2021.
Last but not least, we have been working tirelessly on achieving our 501c3 status, which we received in December! We are officially independent of our management company with a very skilled internal non-profit accounting team and legal team to come alongside us to reach our desired growth goals. Thanks to the Executive Team for this accomplishment!
WE is proud of the many achievements made over the past twelve months that was made possible through the partnership with our sponsors, participation from members, and dedication and efforts on behalf of the WE team! We look forward to sharing the Women in Electronics Annual Report in the coming weeks.
As Eleanor Roosevelt so wisely stated: “It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan." Let’s work together to build on the successes of 2020 and make 2021 a year to thrive – united together in the industry.
Happy New Year WE Community!
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