If you wish to read past PWA newsletters, download them as pdf files

September 2004

October 2004

November 2004

December 2004

If you wish to read past PWA newsletters, download them as pdf files.

May 2005

April 2005

March 2005

February 2005

January 2005

Tuesday, 18 October 2005 started out like any other day for me in my new hometown of Milan. I moved here in December 2004 from Minneapolis, USA, with my husband, whose career path brought us both here. I came knowing full well that it would not be easy to find a job. But we had made our decision and I was optimistic about finding opportunities that would take advantage of my experience in marketing. By now the excitement of moving to a new country and having my days free to explore my surroundings were giving way to a realization that this was indeed my new life and I didn’t know what to do with it! I had been out of work for longer than I had ever been since I was 15 years old; I knew I needed a fresh challenge, but didn’t know how to go about finding one.That Tuesday morning, I went to a Benvenuto Club coffee meeting, where my friend Andrea Wiarda – whom I had met through PWA – told me about a job opportunity that might be of interest. She called fellow PWA member Carolyn Wade, who had told her about it, and passed me the phone. Carolyn explained that SDA Bocconi University’s Alumni Association (AMSDA) was seeking someone to help grow the Alumni Network, including building the website and developing other tools. Since I love to network and was familiar with the reputation of Bocconi, I was happy to comply immediately with her request to forward her my CV. That same afternoon, I received a telephone call from a staff member of SDA Alumni Relations to schedule an interview for the following day.

When I met with the AMSDA board member and hiring manager the following afternoon, he had already received a reference from Carolyn. The interview went well, and he told me the next step would be to meet the President of AMSDA. Forty-eight hours later, the appointment was set up.

On Monday, 24 October at 4 p.m., I arrived for my second interview. An hour later, I was being welcomed to the team and asked to start the next morning at nine! Tuesday, 25 October seemed a world away from the Tuesday only one week prior, which had seemed like any other day, but in fact was the beginning of a bright new phase in my Italian life.

On Wednesday 26th, I attended a PWA Networking aperitivo where I looked forward to meeting and thanking Carolyn for her helpful role in my story. She in turn introduced me to fellow PWA member Pilar Chaparro and SDA Bocconi employee, who had told Carolyn about the opening. Without the networking that brought me to Andrea, Carolyn and Pilar, I wouldn’t have now my wonderful new job, which I truly love.

Monica Prom
PWA Member

PWA Milan has crossed the 100 mark in this new membership year. The Membership Directors thought it might be interesting to share a little information on PWA’s members with readers of the Newsletter by presenting a brief cross-sectional analysis; in short, a description of “who we are”.The Professional Women’s Association of Milan (PWA) is an international group of women living and working for the most part in the Milan area of Italy. The membership is growing every day, and as of mid-November it numbers more than 100 women.

A truly international organization, PWA’s members come from 16 different countries, from Italy and its European neighbours to countries in North and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia. Italy is in the lead representing 30% of members, followed closely by the USA, after which comes the UK and Canada. Twenty-three per cent of members are dual citizens, most of whom include Italy as one of the nationalities.

PWA is strongly anchored by its renewing members, as demonstrated by the fact that 51% of our members were enrolled last year as well, and a further 7% are former members returning to PWA after a period of absence. New members bring new energy and represent 42% of the total. This combination makes for a healthy state of growth for the association.

About two out of five of PWA’s working women are employed by a company, and this same number of members is then split between independent workers and entrepreneurs. The remaining 20% consists of women who work in the fields of government, education, and research; who are pursuing higher education; or who are simply in a transitional period. PWA is professionally varied. Its members cover 27 different professional fields with a strong representation (30% collectively) in marketing and public relations, information technology, and education and training.

The PWA woman is between 24 and 70+ years old, with 46% representing the core 30-40-year age range.

Members are attracted to PWA for professional development, personal growth, networking and socializing. For many, the decision to join PWA stems from the search for new career opportunities or the desire to develop their own businesses; for others, new friendships or help with orientation in Milan and Italy are more important. Members seek contact and communication with other women who might be going through a similar life stage or work situation and with whom something can be shared or learned. Whatever the reason, membership in PWA seems to represent an important opportunity to start a new page in life, or to build on one already opened.

Pamela Fries and Alenka Petan
Membership Directors

In order to understand better what the perceptions of PWA are of those who know the association well, those who know it a little and those who have never heard of it, a survey was recently conducted of the opinions of 15 women representative of each level of familiarity. The aim was, first, to discover how well PWA meets its members’ expectations and, second, to find out the views of those who had been a guest only once or twice or had heard of PWA only via word of mouth. In-depth interviews were conducted in order to gain even more insight than traditional multiple choice or open queries.The women who participated in the survey were demographically diverse, in terms of age, marital status and nationality. Some were entrepreneurs, some were from the corporate sector, and some worked for smaller companies.

PWA member Francesca Arra, an innovation policy and project manager with experience in data collation and analysis, prepared a list of guidelines, areas to cover and interview techniques designed to elicit responses that would be the most complete possible. After the interviews were finished, Francesca analysed the data and drew the following conclusions, which the current Board is using as guidelines to continue to shape and improve the overall PWA experience.

The Speaker Dinners and Speaker Meetings were widely appreciated since they combined the opportunity to network and to hear and interact with interesting speakers. It was mentioned that the time allotted to the speakers sometimes was not sufficient and that the aperitivo area in the bar was too crowded. These issues have already been addressed by extending the Speaker Meetings by half an hour to 9.30 p.m. and by moving the cocktail hour venue into the restaurant.

The desire to be integrated more easily into the group was mentioned repeatedly. Newcomers often find it difficult to meet members; and learning about all of the benefits of membership, also, is not an easy task. The Orientation Directors are concentrating this year on putting into place specific action plans that introduce newcomers to others and communicate clearly the value of PWA to those not familiar with the group.

Networking expectations was a common theme: almost all of those interviewed cited a desire to expand their circles of contacts as a primary motive for becoming involved with PWA. It was stated frequently that there were obstacles to personal interaction that could be removed by providing an atmosphere more conducive to professional and personal exchanges. In response, focus has been placed on providing a comfortable environment without size constraints and inappropriate distractions where members can meet: the area at the StarHotel Rosa used for the aperitivo prior to Speaker Meetings has been expanded; and networking events have been converted into unstructured affairs where participants can mix and mingle as much as they like for the price of a drink.

Increasing PWA’s professional services was suggested as a way of raising the perceived value of membership. Therefore, the Professional Services table has been launched to encourage the exchange of members’ promotional material; also in the works is a Professional Services Offered board on the PWA website, where members will be able to post – free of charge – announcements of their services, including links to their sites. New membership benefits will continue to be implemented and existing ones will be further explained and publicized.

The Board is constantly striving to be proactive in soliciting feedback from members and guests and acting upon suggestions that have a wide appeal so that PWA Milan may continue to grow in a direction that contributes to the professional and personal progress of its members.

The assistance of Francesca and of the women who participated in the survey is appreciated and gratefully acknowledged.

Maria Lassila
Vice President

This year marked the eighth annual Women’s International Networking (WIN) Global Leadership Forum, held on 6-8 October in Geneva. Nearly 500 women and men convened on the subject of “Leadership for the Future”. PWA has been a partner network of WIN since the conference began in Milan in 1998.I am often asked what WIN is like, what it is all about. In the words of the WIN website <www.winconference.net>, the annual forums are “designed for women and men who want to be part of shaping the newly emerging paradigm of leading results through authentic action”.

But what does this really mean?

The interpretation of such a phrase would surely vary from one participant to the next. However, I think all would agree that the conference provides:

the possibility to gain relevant skills and knowledge via specialized workshops;
the chance to make new business, associational and personal contacts, and to renew existing ones, during the many networking occasions built into the programme;
and especially – and here is where the “shaping the newly emerging paradigm” comes in – the opportunity to gain inspiration, motivation and new ideas, through the plenary speaker sessions and debates.
This year, four key concepts threaded their way through the presentations, all essential components of successful leadership in the 21st century. These, in my view, represent the meaningful and inspiring core of the conference.

Know your strengths and believe in yourself
Nearly all of the speakers emphasized this trait, in as many different ways: Know yourself, what makes you tick, what gives you energy. Find the environment that you thrive in and that is best for you. Know what you’re good at and like to do, and do it. Identify your distinctive competencies. Don’t try to improve from incompetence to mediocrity; it’s much easier to go from good to excellent. Draw on your gifts. Don’t submit to your fears and insecurities. Get out there and use 100% of your potential.

One woman’s story, that of Victoria Petrova, was particularly striking. Victoria followed her dream, trained as a doctor and became a cardiologist. However, she could not afford to remain in that profession. Since Russia’s centralized medical system paid so poorly, she could not come close to supporting herself and her family. Therefore, she became a secretary in the better-paying world of business. Victoria worked her way up step by step, believing in her abilities and persevering, despite difficult moments. She is now head of Human Resources at Rusal, the third largest aluminium company in the world.

Presenters repeatedly referred to the phenomenon that men think they are better than they really are, whereas women do not think they are as good as they truly are. One often-quoted statistic: men apply for a position and think they can do it well if they master 60% of the job, whereas women tend to do so only if they know 100% (or more!) of the job. According to Mr Alex Tosolini, a firm believer in the abilities of women – and, incidentally, General Manager of Procter & Gamble, Poland and the Baltic States – women need to learn to be arrogant in order to close further the gap with men in the corporate world. His reasoning: if women start learning to be arrogant, they might start realizing that they are better than they think … and it is unlikely that they will actually become arrogant in the process.

Know where you are going and make the right choices
The second prerequisite for effective leadership is being clear on your goals, setting the bar high, and pursuing them relentlessly: As long as you have the passion for it, you can do whatever you want. Stop talking about it and start making it happen. Go after opportunities when they arise. But don’t choose the easier roles. If you don’t push, stretch and challenge yourself, you will be contributing to that infamous glass ceiling by inadvertently limiting your possibilities for advancement. Rediscover the courageous person that you are. Take risks!

Women are more and more assertively choosing their priorities these days. This may be considered as making sacrifices, yet it really boils down to making strategic choices and accepting them. Women are taking control of their lives, not letting outside factors control them. Work-life balance, anyone?

Food for thought, on the subject of choices: Alex Tosolini, originally from the Turin area, knowingly chose to work for a company that rewards performance (Procter & Gamble), rather than working for the main local Italian employer … because of the high levels of nepotism that still exist in Italy.

Build bridges, make connections
In today’s world it is becoming increasingly necessary to establish connections – between individuals, departments, companies, cities, governments, and so on. The world is becoming “inter-reliant”. Good leaders “create a common platform”, have “cross-boundary rotations”, and “encourage open collaboration between eco-systems”. In short, they network effectively. The ability to build bridges, relationships and partnerships is crucial to achieving success.

Women, as it turns out, are better at relationship-building than men. Women excel at working well in groups and have higher levels of social intelligence, i.e. the ability to communicate with, motivate, understand and leverage the skills of others.

As one presenter quoted, “It’s time to realize, brethren, that a woman is not just a female man” (Ogden Nash). Women are capitalizing on their differences, differences which are major strengths in today’s bridge-building world. Hence the inevitable conclusion drawn: the future is for women.

Believe in the future and your impact on it
Yes, the future is indeed for women, and it is also unpredictable in other ways. Consider the following titbit of data: 80% of the technology that will be used in the next 10 years has yet to be invented. The future is not traced out. Bottom line: we can all have an impact, no matter how big or small. Effective leaders believe so, and live and lead accordingly.

“No person can make a greater mistake than [s]he who did nothing because [s]he could only do a little.”
(adapted from Edmund Burke)

***
As every year, there were a number of accomplished leaders at the WIN conference – leaders from the business world, from academia and think tanks, from NGOs and non-profit institutions. They were of varying nationalities and ages, some men, mostly women, different in many respects. Yet there was a clear common denominator: all of these leaders displayed the traits mentioned above. They “walked the talk”, as it were. Confidence in their abilities, passion, enthusiasm and determination in pursuing their goals and belief that they could indeed make a difference brought them to where they are today. May they be a model for us all.

See you at WIN 2006!

Valerie Ryder
President

Following Mr Gianni Ferrario’s novel presentation at October’s Speaker Dinner event, Anna Robertson reveals the science behind laughter therapy.According to a recent article in The Sunday Times (“What you think”, 2005), while a burgeoning happiness industry has recently published 3,000 papers, set up a Journal of Happiness Studies and created a World Database of Happiness in the last few years, a more official clout to such developments is being given by academic and scientific initiatives. This summer, the Royal Institution in London hosted a series of talks on the theme “Happiness, the science behind your smile”. At almost the same time, at the London School of Economics, Dr Raj Persaud and the economist Lord Layard were debating the politics of happiness.

Recent scientific research is also showing that we can fight increasing levels of stress and depression by submitting ourselves to new kinds of therapies that increase positive emotion. Why is it that happy people are healthier, more successful, harder working, more caring and more socially active? Martin Seligman, an American Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, is the author of recent bestseller Authentic Happiness and its related website <www.authentichappiness.org>. What Dr Seligman is trying to establish is called the “biology of joy”. He has in fact traced our tendency to negativity back to our evolutionary past: our brain evolved in the Pleistocene era, a time of ice, flood and famine, and it has thus learnt to look for what is wrong in the struggle to survive. Hence, the possibility to “train” our brains to produce happy feelings through a series of exercises.

Happiness and laughter are also important for our physical wellbeing: laughter increases blood pressure and heart beat but, unlike stress, reduces the levels of cortisol and adrenaline circulating in our bodies. We all probably acknowledge the fact that we could do with a bit more happiness in our lives. What’s new is that being positive and happy are abilities that can be learnt and can help us in the workplace: just think of those frustrating meetings where one person tries to impose his/her decisions on others, or destructive criticism (“Yes, but…”), or indeed decision making flawed by negativity and risk avoidance.

It is difficult to resist the logic of the happiness doctors if they offer a way to a happy, long life, good health and social/professional success!

Anna Robertson
Speaker Events Director

Like many Americans, after my first trip to Italy about 15 years ago, I fell in love with the country and dreamed of living here. Fortunately, my dream was in synch with Destiny and the Universe, and I arrived in Milan on 22 April 2004.Following several years as a civil litigation (trial) attorney, I was hired as a Small Claims Court and Traffic Court Judge for the City and County of San Francisco. Four years later, the dream of moving to Italy began to compel me to take certain concrete steps toward its realization. During this period, I studied Italian and continued to visit my friends in Milan twice a year. And, in 2003, I started a 12-month programme at the University of California, Berkeley, to obtain a certificate to teach English as a Second Language (ESL). Just as my temporary job as a staff attorney for the State Compensation Insurance Fund came to an end, I graduated with the certificate in January 2004.

On 21 April 2004 I was on a flight from San Francisco to Milan-Malpensa. Although I had no immediate prospects of employment when I arrived in Milan, I did have the good fortune of immediately finding a great place to live. However, I did not arrive in Italy unprepared. I knew exactly what I had to do and how I was to do it.

The first step I took was to join the American Chamber of Commerce in Milan. I had business cards printed, presenting myself as an insegnante inglese giuridico e commercio. By June 2004, I was working as an English teacher, specializing in legal English, with Monroe Languages (now called More Languages) of Rome. A few months later, I attended a networking party at the American Chamber of Commerce and met a woman, who subsequently recommended me as a Visiting Professor to teach business English for 2 months at the University of Milan-Bicocca.

The second important step I took was to join the Professional Women’s Association of Milan (PWA). A dear friend of mine, Marina Gastaldo Erwin, told me about the group, and we both attended a Speaker Meeting in early 2005. We decided to join.

It is often said that if you do not put yourself out there, no one will know that you exist. This is certainly true in every important aspect of life. During one of PWA’s networking events, I met Susannah Lord and Karmen Simic Raimondi. I discussed my legal background with them and told them about my work experience as a language teacher in Milan.

The planets must have been perfectly aligned for me. A law firm in Milan, seeking an attorney who was also an ESL teacher, had contacted PWA. Karmen referred me to the firm. I sent my curriculum vitae with an email that same Wednesday evening to the law firm’s contact person. The next day, I was called to come in for an interview. By the following week I was hired as a member of the firm’s English Improvement Department.

To say that I am thrilled to be in my present position with Bonelli Erede Pappalardo is a huge understatement. When the right person is matched to the right job, life is simply wonderful; but when that “right person” is you, life is like drinking the perfect wine. My job entails the development and implementation of English language programmes for the law firm’s one hundred plus attorneys in Milan, Genoa and Rome. Besides basic English classes, I have also developed several legal writing courses and oral communication classes. My years of experience as an ESL teacher, an appellate attorney, a jurist, an actress and a trial attorney have given me an extremely strong background in legal writing and public speaking.

The law firm is one of a growing number of large businesses that have created an in-house language department. English is the primary language of the global financial market. As Italy develops its commercial ties with countries in the Far East, such as China, Japan and Korea, as well as with the Eastern Bloc countries, such as the Ukraine, English becomes increasingly more important as the medium for business communications. I am honoured and excited to be a facilitator in this regard.

I am keenly aware that not everyone who comes to Italy or joins PWA has my admittedly unique employment background. However, I am only one of many people who have cast a huge net into the universe of dreams. I think the lesson is that, regardless of your employment history, age, gender or race, it is important to hold on tightly to your dreams. If the timing is right, take the bold steps to realize these dreams. When we leave this life, what we have to look back on is how we lived it.

Adele Fenstermacher
PWA Member

…as seen by an insiderWhen I first decided to see what PWA was all about four years ago, I had not the slightest idea of what it would be like. I arrived at my first meeting with an open mind; concepts such as “networking”, “coaching” and “mentoring” were utterly foreign to me. I had never belonged to a group of women, other than my group of girl scouts quite a long time ago! Upon the recommendation of a friend, I attended PWA in the hopes of meeting professional women, including some from abroad like myself, who had issues similar to mine. I was more than pleasantly surprised with my discovery.

Since that decisive Wednesday evening, I have made some solid professional and social contacts, learnt new skills and made great strides in English. I eventually accepted a position on PWA’s Board of Directors – and have not stopped serving on the Board since. This is my third term. Driving my decision to continue this year was my realization of the importance of building upon the work done up until now.

The Board’s main focus last season was to improve PWA’s professional services, benefits and status, and at the same time increase membership. With this in mind, a number of longer-term projects were set in motion. For example, PWA joined the European Professional Women’s Network (EuropeanPWN) in January 2005 (more on this below), but only in September were we able to implement some of its features, such as online registration and payments. Additionally, last year’s Board laid the groundwork for an improved Career Services function, with easy access to further career and business opportunities. We began to reinforce PWA’s professional image and identity by revamping the website and other aspects of visual communication.

It was (and is) important to me, and to other Board members who continued on from last year, that we keep the momentum going, in order to see through to fruition some of the many projects in the works; hence our desire to continue serving on the Board.

Being a member of the Board, and belonging to PWA in general, has contributed greatly to both my personal and professional development. It has reinforced my convictions and put a name on certain concepts that I intuitively knew were important: openness to others; generosity as applied to professional growth; and total sharing of information. I have developed my ability to question continually my work methods, discovering new and better ways in the process. Moreover, I have been able to develop systematically my own network of contacts.

Building one’s network is fundamental today, whether it be professional or social. A well-organized network saves time, allows one to acquire professional visibility and facilitates rapid information exchange. Our era is characterized by the ultra-rapid development of means of communication. If we do not jump on that train, we shall be left by the wayside, reduced to simple spectators of the times.

PWA was one of the pioneers in formalizing and developing women’s networking in Italy. PWA has now made yet another step forward by federating with similar associations across Europe through its membership in EuropeanPWN. It is about creating synergy, the principle of which is by putting one and one together you obtain more than the sum of its parts. By federating, PWA acquires strength, credibility and visibility. And, especially, PWA and its members enrich their European network of contacts, a network constituted of professional profiles that are rich and varied, all available to be contacted via a simple click.

What is more, PWA is developing new ties with other organizations based in Italy: Manageritalia through their Women Manager Group, for example, and the International Women’s Forum of Bologna, always with the goal of continued growth and development. PWA, as a partner network of the Milan-born Women’s International Networking (WIN), participates actively in the annual conference (see WIN Conference 2005, this issue).

All of these changes – which I would prefer to call evolutions, since they seem so natural – have been carried out transparently and in accordance with the democratic principles that govern the association. They are the result of the reflection, choices and hard work of the PWA Board of Directors over the past months and years. Joining PWA was one of the best things I have done in terms of my career advancement; I am confident that these ongoing evolutions will continue to contribute to my professional development, as well as to that of all members.

Axelle Brown-Videau
Orientation Director

“Hello, my name is Roanna Weiss and I am a researcher of early medieval literature and art.” Just a short time ago I would not have been able to describe myself as such, and PWA has played a large part in my ability to do so now.I first heard about PWA from a book while I was in England completing my BA and MA. In October, 2004, ready for a break, I decided to come to Milan and to schedule my trip so that I could attend a meeting of this group of international English-speaking professional women. I went to a PWA event where I met women with active careers and experience, and – while I could not describe myself as other than a student – I was optimistic that with such a cohesive networking group to fall back on, I could become one of them if I was willing to put in the effort. The positive atmosphere of PWA made me believe that Milan was the place I wanted to launch my “life after university”, as I privately referred to it. I returned the following April, without a job, but full of energy and a desire to join the academic field.

My first job was teaching English as a second language to businesspeople – I hated it! My thoughts turned desperately to how I could apply my research skills to the business world: I updated my CV, translated it into Italian and began sending it out. I took another chance on PWA and signed up for the “Successful Job Searching in Italy” seminar offered by PWA in conjunction with Ryder & Associates in June 2005.

I realized that I had one skill that was a very important one: listening. While the other workshop participants had backgrounds completely different from my own, I was nevertheless able to learn something from each of their examples. A key early segment of the workshop involved each attendee introducing herself and her skills and strengths, much like she would expect to in an interview situation. First the workshop leader and then the other enrolees critiqued her presentation and gave suggestions on how to strengthen its impact. I introduced myself as an English teacher, that seeming the only accurate one to give. But as I listened to the feedback I received and studied the transformation of the others, I came to the conclusion that the work I was doing at the moment was not who I was or where I wanted to be.

We were then asked to present ourselves a second time, making any changes or improvements we felt were appropriate. I am proud of my revised introduction, which is in fact the accurate one: I am a researcher of early medieval literature and art.

The seminar made me rethink what I was doing compared with what I wanted to be doing. I decided to quit my despised job, and enrolled in a language school to increase my fluency in Italian. I have continued my research on the themes of exile, pilgrimage and time in the period 500-1100 AD to keep my skills current, and am currently working on one of the most forgotten homilies of Anglo-Saxon England. I have also put more time and energy into PWA this year, volunteering to assist at events which had the unexpected benefit of increasing my circle of contacts, as I speak to more members and guests about their interests and accomplishments.

I feel very fortunate to have found PWA: my way of thinking has changed in many areas, my confidence has increased, and I have learned to rely more on my independent nature. Now I realize that the image you put forward should be the one you want to be, not the one you feel you are currently trapped in. I’ve found that pushing yourself into interaction with those that you admire is the best way to gain the contacts and discover the information that you wouldn’t know where to begin to look for otherwise. And perhaps most importantly, I’m involved in a group where I feel supported and where I can continue to develop both personally and professionally.

Roanna L. Weiss
PWA Member