April 2008TTN has grown remarkably fast in our eight year history - from a dozen members in the first livingroom get-togethers to more than 1,000 paid members today. New members find us because their friends, spouses, career counselors or kids say "you need to know about The Transition Network." A story in the Wall Street Journal brings in dozens of new members looking for support in their own transitions. That growth tells us we're working on the right issues - - but we can't help noticing that we don't have a lot of women of color as members. Most of us have spent our working lives in multi-racial organizations, we live in multi-racial cities, and we think of aging as the one experience shared by people of all races. Now we need to be thoughtful about defining what TTN offers for women of color, and take practical steps to reach women of color to let them know about TTN. A multi-racial peer group in New York City, which calls itself the Think Tank, have taken a leading role in emphasizing diversity. In a recent meeting, facilitator Grizelle Howard led a discussion of TTN's appeal to women of color, and how to achieve greater racial and ethnic diversity within TTN. Some key points from that discussion:
- TTN has a unique voice on the issues of aging and transitions that women don't find in other organizations (sororities, church groups, civic organizations) - we need to emphasize that in our outreach.
- Increase the number of women of color on TTN's Board and Advisory Board. Joan Dawson has just joined TTN's Board, and Joan Dawson and Gloria Coles have been members of our Advisory Board for the last year.
- Attend TTN programs as a group, to support each other and demonstrate our diversity to newcomers
- Work with our Program Committees to increase the number of speakers who are women of color
- Partner with other organizations to present programs with multi-racial speakers and audiences - Two such programs have already been offered, one on not-for-profit board services and one on financial matters, in collaboration with the Asian Women's Leadership Network, 100 Hispanic Women and Coalition of 100 Black Women.
- Include women of color in our printed materials and Website photos
TTN's leadership is committed to increasing our diversity - - but as a small and growing organization, needs the help of many of our members to make that commitment a reality. Let me know what YOU think we can do to reach and engage women of color in our important and fulfilling activities.
Betsy Werley
Executive Director
|