From The Chair:

Greetings! For those of you who missed our January luncheon and Town Hall Meeting, I would like to send a “recap.”

2017 is a year of “Transformation, Transparency, and Giving Back.” The Chapter is undergoing many changes this year, starting with a new Chapter Administrator, new Photographer, new AV provider, new Registration company, new website, and a new expanded Board of Directors, which I am honored to Chair.

This is Your Chapter, and your Board of Directors. On the chapter website will be listed the members of the Board along with the committees they chair. If you have any suggestions on the things that the Chapter is involved with please feel free to reach out to anyone on the Board.

Our Chapter Charity for 2017 is an organization known as FRIENDS OF GUESTHOUSE. Founded in 1974, Friends of Guest House is a 501(c)(3) charity that helps Northern Virginia women successfully reenter the community from incarceration. Their website is: http://www.friendsofguesthouse.org This group of people, in my humble opinion, is a community of women who are overlooked or forgotten, unless it directly impacts one's family. (as it did my own) We had an opportunity to hear from the Executive Director and other staff from FOGH, but the most compelling presentation came from a woman who, by the time this article is written, was graduating from the program and moving into her own living quarters – with a new job, and having opened her 1st bank account!

On the heels of that presentation, and a couple of financial pledges from one of our Vendors and myself, we are on track to try and raise some significant dollars to present to FOGH at our November luncheon. When you come to our luncheons or special events, please “dig a little deeper” knowing that your dollars will go directly to this worthy charity.

Lastly, the DC Chapter will be forming a Community Service committee to explore other ways that we, as a chapter, can GIVE BACK to the communities in which we live and work.

Yes, 2017 will be a good year – we've gotten off to a great start, and I'm looking forward to serving as your Chapter Chair, working along with some of the finest people in the world!

THANK YOU,

B.