October 2016
Monthly Newsletter of the Professional Women’s Association of Rome Celebrating our Silver Jubilee Anniversary
PWA is an international hub in the heart of Rome where ideas and values, tradition and innovation, diversity, culture and professionalism meet and intersect. On our journey into the future our travel companions are respect, ethics, and a sense of social responsibility. This year we celebrate our 25th Jubilee Anniversary with Inclusion theme.
With guns you can kill terrorists, with education you can kill terrorism. This striking motto was coined by Malala Yousafzai, a teenage scholar and a fervant advocate for female education. She had become an object of hatred by voicing out her thoughts and the Talibans tried to assassinate her in October 2012. She miraculously survived and ever since she was released from the hospital after a long series of operations, she has dedicated her life to promoting education for girls throughout the world, meeting world leaders such as President Obama and Queen Elizabeth II and talking before the UN and at Harvard University. In 2015 she inaugurated a school for Syrian refugee girls and her not-for-profit Malala Fund continues to invest in projects and initiatives that promote equal education. As Malala's quote shows, it is knowledge and information − education − that will change the world and give us all the courage to stand up and have our say. It is out of ignorance and unawareness that hatred, prejudice and misbelief stem. This is why we must fight for education for everyone, so that the world will become more informed, educated and fair. And we don't have to do brave, exceptional things like Malala. Simple actions are the perfect start and make a difference. I adopted my first child at distance in Kenya over 10 years ago and am now "accompanying" the second one through his elementary schooling. PWA has also decided to adopt at distance an African girl through the newly inaugurated ME2-scholarship and give her the opportunity to study at Pareto University. Come and help us in our mission; all you need to do is join our meetings and events and spread the word. Inclusion means engagement and involvement and is the opposite of indifference and passiveness. Because we can.
Hanna
2
Hanna Suni editor and layout designer www.hamedesign.com newslettereditor@pwarome.org
in this issue
4 Educating the Future of African Women 6 Lifelong Learning
8 Member Spotlight: Rossana Scazzocchio «techs IT easy»
10 Education, the Future of African Women
12 September Wrap-up: Through the Looking Glass 13 PWA: A Smart City for Smart Women
14 Photo Recap: October Eclectic ConneXion
16 Rowing with the Team: Inclusion at WIN 2016
18 Excuse Me, Can You Tell Me What I Should Wear This Season? 19 Grow and Learn − PWA Mentoring Programs
20 Cultural Corner: Contemporary Autumn in Rome 22 Women and Words
education for all
8 4
14
16
20 3
PWA OCTOBER Conference 19 Oct at 19.30 at Grand Hotel Palace
Educating the Future of African Women
4
Opportunities for African students to study abroad are increasing. Universities worldwide are interested in investing in African students due to their lack of opportunities and funding available on the African continent. There is a growing demographic of Africans studying abroad and it is becoming fashionable to offer some of the brightest minds in Africa an opportunity to study in Europe, America and Asia. Strictly for the privileged few who already excel in their studies.
So how do we even begin to chisel the monolithic block of access to higher education for African women? Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia sums it up: “The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough.”
Yet over 40 million school age children have never stepped into a classroom. Two thirds of these are girls (UNESCO). We are well aware that armed conflict is the biggest threat to education in Africa, as government spending goes in this direction. African universities, grossly overcrowded, are few and far between. Emigration leads to a loss of highly educated people and financial loss to African countries.
Then there are economic and territorial exclusions: What about poverty stricken and rural areas?
Gender exclusion is a major contributor to preventing women from university access, as parents inevitably choose to educate the son, not the daughter.
Pareto University’s solution to some of the most daunting educational challenges faced in African countries will be presented by its founder and CEO, Prof. Bruno Poggi, who we welcome as guest Speaker on the topic “Educating the Future”.
bruno poggI Prof. Bruno Poggi, Bolognese with a degree in Pedagogy, is an expert in online communication, market research and opinion polls. Lecturer in Psychology of Communication at Bologna University, his multifaceted experience in diversity ranges from Hebrew culture to homosexual marriage, from drug addiction to micro-crime. His interest in Social psychology issues prompted him In 2010 for the Dipartimento Antidroga della Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri to contribute his research “Stili di vita e uso di sostanze” (Lifestyles and use of toxic substances) as part of the Annual Report on drug abuse to Italian Parliament together with “La percezione della figura del tossicodipendente in Italia” (Perception of the drug addict in Italy). In 2011 for the Italian Cabinet he contributed to a report on Youth and Employment in Italy, discussed at the EU Summit of Youth & Employment. In 2013 he founded, together with prof. Rosaria Salerni & Dr. Sergio Vasarri, the Accademia Pareto, a totally online higher education platform, going on to design and manage the IT platform of the “Virtual Parliament” . Since March 2016 he has been chair holder of Political Communication at the Faculty of Political Science at UNINT Rome and in June he founded and is currently CEO of Pareto University Ltd., a virtual university with accredited professors for online degree courses 24/7 recognized by African Ministries of Education.
Sponsored by
5
lifelong learning
It’s never too late to learn something new!
by Lisa R Tucci - Founder, TestaAlta Quantum Learning Network - SuperCamp Art&Media Communications - Museums & Exhibition Services
As the Italian representative of Quantum Learning (USA), I am a big believer in Lifelong Learning. There are so many Webinars, Slideshares, e-books and more, you can up your game in virtually anything you set your mind to. Here are a few good places to start:
Rome Business School supports PWA members by offering one scholarship for a short course each semester to a PWA member (value €1400/1500). There is also a 10% discount to PWA members on all RBS courses and a possibility of engaging PWA experts for remunerated professional activities within the school.
DON't MISS THIS!
Also, keep your eyes open for initiatives by another esteemed PWA partner organization, John Cabot University, including this week’s Institute for Entrepreneurship on making the most use out of Online Marketing and Social Media marketing!
For more on upping your game in content marketing, check out HootSuite’s incredible initiatives and webinars.
6
While wanting to learn more in any field? Khan Academy offers many exceptional courses- even for students who want to pursue subjects they love or those that they need help in… in English.
You want more online courses in anything from Chinese to Social Enterprise Management? Check out a MOOC near you! These are Massive Open Online Courses and Coursera.org is a great place to begin. Other resources include edX or Mooc List.
Closer to home, here in Rome is our very own UPTER Institute offering fun classes for adults on almost every topic (in Italian). Rome Auditorium often hosts events for widening your knowledge like the recent TedxCNR – for science learning or lecture series on music or the arts. Check out museums near you as well, you’d be surprised what may come up.
Wherever you are,
it’s never been easier to find groups/
talks/sources for learning more and
improving your game of life!
7
Rossana Scazzocchio
"techs IT easy" By Valerie Baxter, President
W
youngster’s dream: Travel! She recalls that in Spain it was trendy to buy Camperos, when in New York she had a shopping list of T-shirts for her friends. It was the age of Clarke’s shoes and Lacoste polos, in Rome almost a uniform!
Rome in those days rolled out the carefree pastimes of Sundays on the beach. It was all about «appearing» rather than «being»; weekends spent partying and dancing. Yet this wasn’t really Rossana’s scene, she wasn’t all that interested in dancing. We’re talking about technology and innovation! Think about those people who’ve changed the world radically, whilst now we live technology daily. Paradoxically in Rome as a teen, Rossana in hindsight relates «I didn’t realise that the world was changing as I was inside that world».
As an ardent traveller Rossana discovered a different dimension. She revelled in being independent, thinking out of the box. Instead of the classic, the traditional, Rossana opted for the unusual, off the beaten track. Travelling alone, making her own itinerary, she was fascinated by Cuzco, a city in the Peruvian Andes, once the capital of the Inca empire. She even dreamed of living forever in Perù, was attracted to Mexico, discovered the thrill of a brand new Hotel in Bali. She still remembers the atmosphere, the smell of a dessert made of black rice, and different tastes that linger on in her thoughts, even today.
Her adult world started after a Master in Mathematics when Rossana started working at the electronic centre of Alitalia, enjoying the perks that came with working for an airline, essentially every
When Alitalia outsourced its electronic centre to another company, after 6 years Rossana initially chose to work as a consultant for another company in the IRI Group (Istituto per la Ricostruzione
e could define Rossana as a «pure Roman», succeeding several generations born and bred in Rome. Her generation is that of total contrast with conformist parents’ ideas, political dissention (post 1968); it’s that of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Tim Berners-Lee. It’s the technological revolution!
8
Industriale) but then by chance changed her mind, became an entrepreneur, a freelance IT consultant which proved to be one of the best decisions she ever made as she experienced her first great love. Mathematics & informatics formed her most successful career. Rossana considers herself lucky, constantly adjudicating herself plenty of work, despite the crunch in employment. For Rossana, the economic crisis was keeping her occupied until 2015 whilst her colleagues changed direction as over a span of 20 years the accounting system of SIGMA, the Italian branch of a UK company suffered contractions in the labour force, then Galileo, hence restructured to become Travelport. All these were economic evaluation moves which in Rossana’s opinion lost sight of the company’s history and objectives, overriding savings in the software world. Maternity was a huge wake up call for Rossana. She was obliged to accept the challenge of another new dimension in her life, as she ultimately found herself solely responsible for bringing up her son, without support from her husband. Insecurity as a single parent became her strength and encouraged her to work towards her son’s independence. Drawing from her own experience of education, where women excel as students of mathematics, yet are passed over in the workplace as engineers, Rossana often finds discrimination against women in the higher echelons of Italian corporate structures. In her view this is rooted in a false mentality created by the major software producers, and translated by many women as a lack of confidence in their own worth. In reality, as an entrepreneur Rossana continues to receive confirmation of her own strength rather than her insecurity. For her son, Rossana provided an education in an international school to give him an extra gear in the global workplace (she confesses that expressing herself in English tends to hamper her in conversation). This is where PWA becomes part of her empowerment scene. Rossana likes the diversity and
intellectual challenges she finds among PWA members. She realises that when obliged to do something, she willingly rises to the challenge and after a cold start (in English), last year she decided to enter into PWA activity with a specific role worth her time and effort. Rossana was responsible for co-creating and launching the totally new PWA website, working in close proximity with the web designers from Sabianlab, together with Hanna Suni for graphics and yours truly for content. Her initial involvement in the PWA team as webmistress then led her to embrace the new challenge of TIMEOUT professional timebank, as part of the leadership team, doing what she does best: taking care of its sophisticated exchange software. TIMEOUT professional timebank for Rossana is a welcome challenge. She likes the way an initial approach, solely professional, over time includes an important human dimension: growing to like the person with whom you exchange your skills. She declares that «the social aspect fits - it really belongs to me». Rossana is fascinated by intergenerational inclusion. She has always, since motherhood and through her work in informatics, embraced the concept of fairness or justice in relationships between children, youth, adults and seniors, particularly in terms of treatment and interactions. She believes PWA needs to maintain its promises (particularly those made among Board and Team members) whereby subsequent generations are able to understand their commitments and honour their responsibilities, unafraid to declare not only how they wish to be involved and accountable for their actions, but also unafraid to ask for help when they’re struggling. To quote a maxim by Robert Tew (Chairman, Newcastle Knights Ltd): «The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow».
9
Education, the future of African women by Cristiana Montani Natalucci A popular Indian motto says that when a woman born, the energy of the entire universe rises and becomes more enlightened. This is an extraordinary way to consider the intrinsic value behind the feminine «being» that should be used in the world as a transformational process. Hospitals, schools, universities, companies and institutional organizations should welcome the intelligent and open- minded approach, the sensitivity and the managerial capabilities of women. Because women have the strength to build life! Unfortunately, I have to highlight SHOULD BE, because it doesn’t always happen in all parts of the globe. There is a lot of work to do to empower and strengthen women. According to the Gender Review of the 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report released recently in Paris, education and gender equality are central concerns in the new sustainable development agenda. The Education 2030 Framework for Action recognizes that gender equality is inextricably linked to the right to education for all, and that achieving gender equality requires an approach which 'ensures that girls and boys, women and men not only gain access to and complete education cycles, but are empowered equally in and through education’ (UNESCO, 2016). All need to be given opportunities for active participation in society, for their voices to be heard and their needs to be met (UN Women, 2016).
America and the Caribbean (73%), Eastern and South-eastern Asia (76%) and Europe and Northern America (85%). In 2014, 44% of children around the world were enrolled in primary school, ranging from about 20% in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to 85% in Europe and Northern America. MAJOR PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION, BUT MUCH MORE IS NEEDED. Genuine progress was achieved in gender parity in primary and secondary education, alongside rapid education expansion. In 2014, gender parity was achieved globally, on average, in primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education. But the global averages mask continuing disparity in many regions and countries (Table 1).
The Report claims that «gender parity» in access to educational opportunities is an unfinished business. IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, THERE IS GENDER PARITY BUT ENROLLMENT LEVELS ARE VERY LOW. Access to early childhood development programmes, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, can reduce inequality by ensuring that all children begin formal schooling with equal foundations. Good health and nutrition, early and continuous cognitive stimulation, and supportive home environments are key constituents of early learning that pay lifelong dividends (UNESCO, 2015). The 2030 Agenda reaffirms that all children deserve the strong foundation provided by early childhood care and education of good quality. In 2014, the global pre-primary gross enrollment ratio was 44%. Southern Asia is the region with the lowest participation rate (18%), followed by sub-Saharan Africa (22%) and Northern Africa and Western Asia (29%). Much higher rates are observed in Latin
10
DESPITE OVERALL POSITIVE TRENDS, THERE IS STILL GENDER DISPARITY IN ACCESS AT THE PRIMARY LEVEL, MOSTLY AT GIRLS’ EXPENSE. At the primary education level, where gender disparity persists in 37% of countries, this is at the girls' expense. Such gaps are concentrated in Northern Africa and Western Asia, where 95 girls are enrolled in primary school for every 100 boys, and sub-Saharan Africa, 93 girls for every 100 boys. The largest gender gaps are in Northern Africa and Western Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Analysis shows that, globally, 47% of the 32 million girls who were out of school in 2014 are expected to never go to school, compared with 35% of the 29 million boys. More boys than girls – 47%, compared
with 32% – are likely to enrol late. Girls face the biggest barriers in sub-Saharan Africa. Of out-ofschool girls, 50%, or 9 million, will never enter a classroom, compared with 41% of out-of-school boys (6 million). Compared with 33% of girls, 42% of boys are expected to enter school. We are really happy to know that these collective international efforts are giving results. There are a lot of scholarship opportunities for young girls and women. The following examples, and there are many others, prove this important training process targeted to African women:
community and Africa as a whole WAAW Foundation Scholarship for African Women.The Working to Advance African Women (WAAW) foundation aim to increase the pipeline of African women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) related disciplines, and work to ensure that this talent is engaged in African innovation. WAAW Foundation offers Annual Scholarship program for Undergraduate African female students. These real examples of scholarships for African women are really important, because they have the power of transformation. Women can start to believe in themselves, to build their self-esteem, to become strong and free. Education is an essential tool for enabling and empowering women to realize their rights and dreams and fight inequality. Nelson Mandela, one of the most inspirational world leaders, said that “Education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world”.
MMMF Grants for Women Studying in South Africa. The Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund (MMMF) grants are offered for female students from developing countries who are currently studying in South Africa at the University of Pretoria, the University of Cape Town, University of Stellenbosch or the University of Witwatersrand MILEAD Empowerment and Leadership Fellowship for Young African Women. The MILEAD Fellows Program is a one-year leadership development program designed to identify, develop and promote emerging young African Women leaders to attain and succeed in leadership in their
11
PWA, a SMART CITY for SMART WOMEN
A
ccording to Wikipedia, the goal of building a smart city is to improve quality of life by using urban informatics and technology to improve the efficiency of services and meet residents’ needs. We all want to improve the quality of life, yet we could consider PWA as a smart city more along these lines, so aptly put by Steve Jobs: “Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them”. Last month in my article “PWA Jubilee 2016/17- Great Expectations” I outlined the plan for our Jubilee year 2016/17 containing snippets of information useful for those wishing to explore the ‘city’ of PWA. Well, we’ve gone further - we’ve produced a roadmap of the tools available to members with a revised SMARTPACK especially for our Jubilee! If you are a new or recent member, please make sure you get your copy from our Membership director, Adriana Tempesta. Part of PWA’s mission is to empower and inspire women in the working world. Another part of that mission is to support and sustain women’s intent and ambition to become successful. Our SMARTPACK contains the characteristics of PWA resources to fulfill our members’ needs. Our Mentoring programs Big Sister for Personal Growth and Carpe Diem for Business Support start in January 2017, so please sign up by 30th November 2016. Our partners John Cabot University (JCU) and Rome Business School (RBS) offer scholarships, special projects and teaching opportunities to PWA members. TIMEOUT professional timebank is a means to improve our skills through exchange with those offering the skills in which we lack confidence or don’t have. Our Conferences and ConneXions allow us to meet likeminded women to foster learning and networking opportunities. PWA Expert Resources directory is a tool to find professionals among our members with specific competences to offer. It also showcases your own business or profession. All this and more are included in your membership to PWA. But what really fuels women in PWA is the welcome they receive, the energy they feel, and the friendships they cultivate. Through our monthly Newsletter we tell the story of “the People We Are”, we discuss new trends in the workplace and offer different perspectives on current affairs of interest to women. Our website has become the
12
By Valerie Baxter, President focal point of PWA activity, resulting in more visibility and many new members which enhanceour reputation. Our dynamic social media pages count on contributions from members who help us to stay abreast of various topics, by sharing information, opinions and opportunities. Reaffirming our position regarding the Gender Gap, this month we’ll be talking about education in an inclusive way, and we can win this challenge by promoting higher education, to give women the cutting edge in the workplace. How many times do we hear successful women say, “I had to work twice as hard to be recognized only half as much by my peers”? Gender inequality in education is another tip-of-the- iceberg issue facing women worldwide, and especially in African countries, as they struggle to enter the workplace not only as qualified labour, but also to obtain recognition as future leaders. Our Jubilee Contest ME2 promoting inclusion has an important Sponsor, Banca Generali Private Banking to support the winning project/event. We would like to express our gratitude to private banker, Dr. Paolo Damiani through Valentina Ferretti, our Sponsorship director for believing in our initiative, transforming a dream into reality. Another important achievement is the launch of our PWA ME2 Scholarship, a tool by which we want to facilitate access to Pareto University by a deserving African woman in order for her to pursue her ambitions. We invite you to share this achievement by giving generously. Help us adopt a female student at a distance! In PWA we’ve seen over time that achievements like these are possible only with the contribution of women who believe in what they do, and strive for excellence daily. Because they make time for what they truly want, for themselves and for others. Our prestigious award PWA Woman of the Year is the highlight in appreciation of this process and is open to all members simply via their participation in PWA activity. Last but certainly not least, after a year of preparation, a year of incubation, now thriving in its second year with room for expansion, we are proud of our collective leadership, a unique example of nonprofit governance. Well done ladies!
September Conference: Through the Looking Glass
PWA started off the Jubilee Conference Season at the luxurious new location of Grand Hotel Palace on Wednesday September 21st. Corrado Sterpetti from HP Europe, Asia and Middle East shared his experience of diversity and gender inclusion and gave examples of best practices put in place at HP where everyone, starting from the top management completely supports these important themes. Sterpetti's presentation sollecited a large number of questions and comments making the conference truly interactive. After the presentation members and guests enjoyed a lovely aperitif with cocktails in the hotel restaurant.
By Valerie Baxter, President photos and story by Hanna Suni
13
October Exlectic ConneXion photos and story by Hanna Suni
The October Eclectic ConneXion was all about showing off your eclectic manner, your quirky personality, talking about your broad interests. PWA hosted the Eclectic ConneXion at Vitio Rooftop Bar of the Argileto Residence in Rione Monti. There was food for all senses: beautiful view and sensual location for sight, delicious food and drinks for taste and smell, lounge music for hearing, and even a jacuzzi for touch for the very eclectic ones. As a special perk, PWA members have a discount for the SPA services for a year. I had a wonderful chance to try out the Non Plus Ultra for two and highly recommend it to anyone looking for luxury relaxation in an elegant, yet stimulating atmosphere. Join us on November 2nd for the next Literary ConneXion at Il Barattolo for another occasion of networking and fun!
14
My scholarship course at the Rome Business School by Cristiana Montani Natalucci Two days, sixteen hours, a lot of professional stimulus and a journey into new communication and marketing sectors. This was my vibrant experience at the marketing scholarship held by the Rome Business School at the end of September. The programme was huge and well detailed focus the basis of the marketing: clustering of the target, product positioning, touch points, architecture of a campaign. I am a Senior Communication and Project Manager and I was delighted to observe the marketing approach from a communication point of view. It was intellectually stimulaying and the training confirmed a consideration I made when I was at the University: communication is the mother of the other disciplines such as marketing, PR, advertising, buying, and now social PR
and social advertising. Why do I think this whilst the majority of the professionals in this sector think exactly the contrary? The answer is simple. Communication is the art of "communis agere" from Latin that refers to the ancestral process of sharing everything: at the beginning of the earth, meat and water for subsistence; in the modern era, information and ideas for persistence. Communication like a primordial instinct; marketing and the other disciplines as techniques that assure the exchange of everything we consider essential to our life. The training was definitely worth my time. I now feel more enriched and more "communicative" than ever.
15
ROWING WITH THE TEAM INCLUSION AT WIN 2016
W
hat would your chances be of winning the race, if in your crew of 10 rowers you had 2 completely motivated and engaged members, 5 just sitting there doing nothing and 3 actually rowing against the rest of the team? I would say ’close to none’. Yet, according to research this seems to be the alarming situation in an average American corporation in 2015. This is why inclusion - feeling engaged and involved - is crucial for the success and survival of any company, community or organization. Inclusion was one of the most frequently pronounced topics at the WINConference - Women’s International Networking Conference, founded by Norwegian Kristin Engvig. The 19th edition, held in Rome at the end of September, had Leading the way with beauty, connexion and confidence as its theme and it shone bright throughout the entire 3-day event, where participants from all over the world shared, learned and connected. Rome’s new mayor, Virginia Raggi, was the main speaker on the opening day. She addressed the topic of inclusion stating that she finds the Italian pink quotas offensive towards women, as by definition, inclusion means hiring a person regardless of their gender. When I discussed this at lunch with Anne Stevens, member of the WIN Advisory Board, she admitted it is true, but that in a prejudice and biased world, we have to begin
16
somewhere. Major Raggi also declared that during her mandate she would promote remote working and in my opinion this, if applied also at the public level - while also giving mothers the possibility to work from their homes and continue breast feeding or caring for their children - would be a great solution to Rome’s number one problem: traffic during rush hours. It was also enlightening to hear renowned male speakers such as Raj Sisodia, Nigel Nicholson, Dean Van Leeuwen and Graham Sparks pronounce that future companies, societies, communities and families will thrive if governed by feminine values: authenticity, empathy, curiosity, creativity, intuition, inspiration, collaboration, compassion, enthusiasm, care, flexibility and vulnerability. Prof. Nicholson’s article delivers a very strong, positive message about women and their way of doing and being. I also found Dean Van Leeuwen’s workshop inspiring: he states that the quest of any reputable activity must be to deliver meaningful benefits rather than produce higher profits for shareholders or gain power or wealth. The Corporate Forum of Inclusion and Diversity dug deeper into the practical aspects of inclusion. Six experts from diverse international companies explained how inclusion and diversity are promoted within their organizations and shared their stories and best practices. It was enlightening to hear about the Medtronics' Women’s Network that allows for photos and story by Hanna Suni
flexible working hours and provides nursing rooms and virtual support networks for working mothers. HP has Mama books for women on maternity, Green T-shirt-day for supporting their LGBT personnel and a special, corporate-wide Inclusion day on December 10th. DSM tediously reports important diversity numbers in its Annual Report and Shell conducts employee engagement surveys and offers mentoring programs to monitor and promote inclusion. Job sharing and flexible part-time jobs are tools these companies use to include women as they are facing or returning from maternity leaves. Having all management levels do bias-training* and role modeling were also considered some of the most effective ways of promoting diversity, for if the top management is not un-biased and inclusive, the entire company will suffer. It was also exciting to hear the experts talk about generational, religious and regional inclusion in the form of reversed and cross-mentoring and personalized holiday-schemes according to employee’s religion. In reality, the entire WINConference is all about Inclusion and promotes the concept in a magnificent way. The conference materials include a Learning and Discovery Journal where unique tools and creative writing spaces are offered to the participants for reflecting, questioning, learning and wondering. It is a great way to engage them to dive deep into the knowledge and wisdom that the coparticipants so generously share. Inclusion is also promoted by using name tags that are exactly the same for all the participants, from the most experienced to the first-comers, and plenary speakers mix and mingle with ordinary participants at lunches, coffee breaks and dinners. Each and every person I talked to shared the same experience of feeling engaged, connected and involved. Finally, WIN delivers an extremely positive and uplifting message of hope, faith and possibility. I feel it is exactly what we all need to hear. * To test your own biases, you can use the Harvard Project Implicit tests that are free online resources.
Medtornics' stand promotes inclusion
Mayor Raggi giving her speech
WIN team members showing off the spirit
A heart-felt thank you to each and every member of the team for having been part of my fabulous WIN experience. I felt inspired, uplifted, excited, amused, healed, also challenged at times, but in every moment I felt safe. For the whole team worked together and was there for each other.
17
By Isabella De Rham Hearst Magazines
Excuse me, can you tell me what I should wear this season? I work for a publishing house of women's magazines, and the question above is one I get asked often by many women. The answer is not easy to find, because this is an epoch in which everything goes − but so does also the opposite of that everything. If it is short, then it should be super short, or alternatively, very long. The 70's styles are going crazy with mixed fantasies, and the volumes are exaggerated. In fact that's precisely it: everything always has to be done with exaggeration, carrying every detail to excess. I find it is a symptom of our time, when we have lost our sense of proportion. So, seeing what goes around at the moment, the secret is to grasp a clever accessory or detail and then match it to our more classic and congenial outfit, because what we see on the catwalk, in the end, is just a game. A "fun" accessory can also lift our spirits and animate a rainy day... For this fall a must that you have to have in the wardrobe are velvet shoes, loafers or boots it does not matter, as long as they are velvet!
18
GROW AND LEARN PWA MENTORING PROGRAMS PWA aims to accelerate the advancement of women in all professions, facilitate mentoring, and enhance our leadership role in the community. The PWA Mentoring Programs provide highly motivated individuals with tools for personal development, their careers and leadership abilities. Through guided activities and formal mentoring partnerships, it strengthens and expands our network of women. • by encouraging women to help each other through structured one-on-one mentoring so we can all succeed. • provides an opportunity for participants to learn and share through guided activities which develop practical, goal-oriented career and leadership skills. If you are a PWA member pursuing a professional career and are willing to make the commitment, you are encouraged to apply. Please note that this program is not in any way connected with job placement. As a mentee, you will have an opportunity to: • Learn how to establish and maintain professional mentoring partnerships. • Explore career options and possible paths toward your career goals. • Set goals and develop a plan to take the next steps in your advancement. • Receive useful guidance and honest feedback from an advisor who has “been there, done that.” • Make a networking connection with someone farther along on their career path. • Learn practical skills that can be put to use right away in advancing your career. By mentoring another woman, you will have an opportunity to: • Pass along the mentoring and support you received, or become the mentor you wish you had. • Share enthusiasm for your own career, and catch enthusiasm from another. • Gain perspective on how far you have progressed, and reinforce your competency and expertise. • Develop as a leader and learn by teaching others. • Help another woman to avoid mistakes, persevere through difficulties, and reach important goals. • Build a mutually beneficial relationship with someone who may be able to help you in the future. • Enjoy the success of others, knowing you contributed to making it happen. LEADERSHIP Every team member contributes to the success of an objective. When you are adept at teamwork in both support and leadership roles, you will more easily advance to better jobs and executive positions.
By improving your skills as a team player and leader you will: • Enjoy fun activities and share your enthusiasm for growth with others. • Learn to effectively contribute to the success of a team. • Learn to lead, motivate and organize individuals and teams. • Develop career skills in event planning, public speaking, and written presentations. • Gain self-confidence as a leader in business. • Build and strengthen your professional network. • Contribute to increasing the presence of women in the professional community. PROGRAM OUTLINE & TIMETABLE Apply by January 7th — begin with Mentoring Session A Apply by July 31st — begin with Mentoring Session B Mentoring Session A: January 15th – Jun 30th Mentoring Session B: September 15th – November 30th APPLICATION & PARTICIPATION CRITERIA • PWA Membership: You must maintain membership to the PWA throughout participation in the program, and have started or be planning a professional career. If you are not currently a PWA member, please join right away. Contact our Membership director at membership@pwarome.org or see our website for details. • Registration Fee: New participants accepted into the program pay a one-time Registration fee of €25 (mentors excluded). Participation Fees: BIG SISTER €20 monthly (9 months) or €162 in advance (10% discount) Participation Fees: CARPE DIEM €40 monthly (9 months) or €324 in advance (10% discount) • Email Access: You will need regular (at least once per week) email access to communicate with the PWA Mentoring Coordination Team and your mentoring partners. • Internet Access: You will need regular internet access to interact with the PWA mentoring program. You may need to view or print the program materials in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. • Commitment to Mentoring, Career Development, and Leadership Activities: It takes time and effort to build mentoring partnerships and learn new skills. During the two Mentoring Sessions of your Choice (BIG SISTER or CARPE DIEM), we require a minimum of two communications per month, via email, Skype or telephone, with your mentoring partner. • Confidentiality: All parties are asked to respect sensitive personal information shared by mentoring partners. • Commitment to the entire program: It will take you 9 months to complete the PWA mentoring program and graduate. You are expected to commit to the entire program without interruption. At end of program term (December) you will receive recognition of your mentoring journey achievement.
19
CULTURAL CORNER
By Laura M. Rizzi www.latraroma.net
R
ome… Capital of Contemporary Art? Rome’s renowned Estate Romana or Roman Summer filled with arts events is definitely over, but the Eternal City is ready to offer an incredible autumn entirely dedicated to Contemporary and Modern Art.
Usually everyone − Italian residents and foreign tourists alike − spends a few days in Rome to visit the archaeological sites and take in the Renaissance paintings and Baroque fountains and squares. What they don’t know is that Rome could be much more. This is the ambitious challenge and goal of many of its cultural institutions − such as Roma Capitale, GAM; MAXXI; MACRO; PALAEXPO, The Auditorium − that are working together to create a program of activities dedicated to modern and contemporary arts: visual arts, cinema, dance and music. The first appointment kicked off with Contemporaneamente Roma (October 10th – 16th), featured 500 artists and more than 60 events in museums and private galleries. Palaexpo just inaugurated the 16th Edition of its Art Quadriennale that offers a changing map of artistic and cultural installations in contemporary Italy until January 8th, 2017. Divided into ten exhibition sections, each entrusted to a different curator and exploring a specific theme, method and approach, it’s a great opportunity to see 99 artists with their 150 recent artworks, many produced especially for the event.
By Laura M. Rizzi – L’altra Roma It is possible to visit a temporary exhibition, Roma Anni Trenta until October 30th. It takes place at La Galleria d’Arte Moderna (GAM) and pays homage to the first three editions of the Art Quadrenniale (1931 - 1935 – 1939). Important artists such as Mario Sironi, Scipione, Mario Mafai, Giuseppe Capogrossi, Renato Guttuso, Enrico Prampolini, Giorgio de Chirico, Alberto Savinio, and Gino Severini exhibited their artworks there.
Mario Sironi 1934 Rome’s National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM) just reopened with a new temporary exhibition entitled Time is Out of Joint (October 11th, 2016 April 15th, 2018). The title from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is perfect for this dysfunctional project lead by the new Director, Cristiana Collu. The gallery hosts one of the most important collections of Italian art extending from 19th century Realism to the Avantgarde of the 20th century, displayed in two different, but entirely complementary itineraries. The galleries now present works not in chronological order or by thematic sections; instead, enormous rooms feature very different masterpieces all together. The visitors will now find in the same room works by Giovanni Fattori, Giorgio De Chirico and Renato Guttuso! The museum has decided to do away with any maps, catalogues and panels to encourage visitors to walk up and down freely, on their own and at their whim to engage with the works in new and surprising ways. The point is this: What, exactly is the main purpose of a National Gallery? Usability for every type of visitor, Education of the next generations through didactic itineraries, Development of masterpieces or Creation of cryptic exhibitions? This is a question for Hamlet!
20
Antonio Canova Ercole e Lica and Pino Pascali Bruchi
Our trip in modern and contemporary art brings us to the Complesso del Vittoriano featuring ca. 60 artworks of the American artist, Edward Hopper (Upper Nyack 1882 – New York 1967). It’s a selection of oils on canvas, watercolors, sketches, and etchings from the Whitney Museum of American Art. The thematic sections follow his career step-by-step from his early works to the French period with views of Paris till the masterpieces dedicated to American cityscapes and landscapes with the characteristic «freeze frame». The silence, permeating an empty cottage is a constant suspense in the American countryside in which something could happen. It is no wonder that Hopper inspired film directors from Alfred Hitchcock to Wim Wenders. Until February 2017.
Yayoi Kusama, Marc Quinn, Joana Vasconcelos, Francesco Vezzoli, Tom Wesselmann and Andy Warhol are brought together in a highly interactive itinerary in which visitors can take pictures, send tweets, write on the wall, pose for a selfie; essentially a show-and-tell of this most wondrous expression. Colorful and original are also the art works: sculpture, paintings, photos and video. An extra is the «audio partner» who describes the works; in fact, there are five different audio guides with different characters for adults (John, Davis, Coco and Amy) and for children (Lilly and Biagio, two funny little dogs) for a unique love experience!
Robert Indiana, Love 1966/99 sculpture
Edward Hopper Cape Cod Sunset 1934 And at the end, LOVE! This is the title of a truly enjoyable temporary exhibition at Chiostro del Bramante until February 19th, 2017. The big event Love. L’arte contemporanea incontra l’amore celebrates the 20th anniversary of cultural activities of DART, Chiostro del Bramante. Love is expressed in different ways and shapes, as in real life. Many artists such as Robert Indiana, Gilbert & George, Vanessa Beecroft, Francesco Clemente,
Joana Vasconcelos Coraçao Independente Vermelho#3, 2012, made with red plastic forks!!!
21
women and words
22
Amo nei giorni di sole quando il sole colora l'azzurro abbraccia i tuoi sensi esplode nell'anima. Amo nei giorni di pioggia quando il grigio pervade i pensieri e le nuvole catturano i sogni fondendo lacrime e pioggia. Amo nel silenzio quando sola mi perdo nei sogni quando tendo una mano all'illusione quando intorno è solo muto ricordo. Amo nell'esplosione di suoni quando l'amore è un frastuono che stravolge e vivere è una dolce follia. Respiro forte la vita... ed è già Amore.
poem Elvira La Rocca painting Rosanna Chiani
PWA Jubilee Year 2016/17 Event program
sav
e th e da tes conneXions November 2 December 7 February 1 March 1 April 5 May 3 June 7
conferences November 16 January 18 February 15 March 15 April 19 May 17
special events December 16 - Christmas Party March 11 - IWD June 16 - Jubilee Summer Party
Check out www.pwarome.org 23
Powersave Solutions Ltd., with more than 20 years of experience, provide business to business energy saving lighting solutions through the supply of retrofit high grade LED lighting which can produce significant electricity savings of up to 70% while making a sustainable and responsible contribution to helping the environment. Our projects to date include commercial business centres, shopping centres, sporting centres, industrial manufacturing facility, hotel, cafeterias, health care facilities, etc. Industry and commercial buildings account for more than half of today’s energy consumption and at Powersave Solutions Italia we choose the most appropriate energy solution for each organization supporting its sustainable growth. In today’s world with high energy prices and rapid climate change, Powersave Solutions Italy provides proven expertise in developing, constructing and operating greener and more economical energy lighting products. By manufacturing our own products we are in a better position to offer significant benefits in terms of volume, prices and warranty terms, innovation and design. In line with government directive, all lamps that are lower than grade B will be banned starting from September 2016. LED’s are A classification and offer better durability, longer life, unrestricted design, safety, longevity and more economical than any other light on the market.
Life Coach Italy s.r.l. contribuisce allo sviluppo del potenziale umano per il benessere personale e organizzativo. Conta su un vasto network di qualificati professionisti che operano da anni in vari settori negli ambiti Life e Corporate, con particolare riferimento alla metodologia del Coaching in linea con gli standard di qualità di International Coach Federation. Life Coach Italy offre una serie di servizi integrati e innovativi caratterizzati da: • Competenza • Personalizzazione • Trasparenza • Rispetto della Privacy
www.lifecoachitaly.it 24
Membership news New Members Welcome!
We would like to welcome Cynthia Bomben, Maria Rita Genco, Marcella Greco, Monica Ierussi and Lisa Rosen, as members who have recently joined our Association and Valeria Parisi who has come back. PWA is a place that grows with each member, therefore we are looking forward to enjoying PWA together with you! Make sure to take advantage of all that PWA has to offer, from our monthly events to scholarships and Expert Resources, from the Mentoring programs to TimeOut TimeBank. If you’d like to join, visit our website and contact MembershipDirector@pwarome.org .
2016-2017 PWA Board and Team members President Valerie Baxter President@pwarome.org Vice President Michela Lazzè VicePresident@pwarome.org Secretary Secretary@pwarome.org Treasurer Treasurer@pwarome.org Programming Director Christine Sterpetti Programming@pwarome.org Membership Director Adriana Tempesta MembershipDirector@pwarome.org Corporate Member coordinator Maria Banks MembershipCorporate@pwarome.org Associate Member coordinator Nicole Giacomarra MembershipAssociate@pwarome.org Social Director Laura Rizzi SocialDirector@pwarome.org Sponsorship Director Valentina Ferretti Sponsorship@pwarome.org PR Director Marta Schneider PR@pwarome.org Newsletter Editor Hanna Suni NewsletterEditor@pwarome.org Webmistress Rossana Scazzocchio Webmistress@pwarome.org Community Director Cristiana Montani Natalucci Media@pwarome.org Mentoring Program Manager Maria Letizia Nesta Mentor@pwarome.org Special Projects Annalisa Cicerchia SpecialProjects@pwarome.org Think Tank Alessandra Tacconelli Thinktank@pwarome.org Media communications assistant Media communications assistant Karima Hassa Media2@pwarome.org Legal Advisor Adriana Tempesta Legal@pwarome.org
25
Our In-Kind Donor
PWA Professional Women’s Association is a recipient of a Google Grants award. The Google Grants program supports registered nonprofit organizations that share Google’s philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy and the arts. Google Grants is an in-kind advertising program that awards free online advertising to nonprofits via Google AdWords.
Our partners and sponsors
Main Sponsors