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Board of Directors
HistoryA small group from the Stryker Center at Kalamazoo College began discussing the concept of forming an organization that would "help women grow and develop in their professional/managerial specialties." These women and the head of the Stryker Center, Dr. Chen, later became the nucleus of the charter committee. They began meeting in the fall of 1978 to review information on women and networking, define the need for a formal group, and define the target audience in Kalamazoo and how the group would function. By January, 1980, they had named the group and planned a series of dinner meetings to begin that fall. They hoped for 40 people at the September 18, 1980 meeting at Kalamazoo College, and 200 showed up. Their idea had become a reality. The group was open to all women and dues were $10.00 with additional costs for the dinner meetings, which were held every other month. Social hour came before and during dinner and a program followed. By 1982, a newsletter was being printed regularly and committees were set up to handle the ongoing work of the organization. Membership continued to grow and the directory listed 375 members. Dinner meeting attendance continued to grow, so the group moved the meetings to the Kalamazoo Center ballroom in 1983. Dues were raised to $15.00 and by the end of the year, membership was at 575. In 1984, dinner meetings continued to have an average attendance of 200 and membership peaked at over 700. The idea of a Women's Educational Advocacy Fund was first brought to the board in 1985. No action was taken, but the seed of an idea was planted. Dues were raised to $20.00 in 1985 and in 1987 the Kalamazoo Network celebrated its 5th anniversary. In 1988, the primary focus of the board continued to be aimed at meeting the expectations of the membership. Also, the tradition of holding a fund raiser (auction or raffle) at the Summer Outing was begun that year. Regular dinner meetings were moved to the Fetzer Center at Western Michigan University and dues were raised to $25.00 in 1990. In 1991, Allene Dietrich, head of the Center for Women's Services at WMU, again raised the idea of establishing a scholarship for women. The idea was discussed and investigated. In the fall, Network meetings returned to downtown at the newly renovated Radisson Plaza Hotel. Network celebrated its 10th anniversary at the Summer Outing in 1992. In 1993, the Kalamazoo Women's Education Coalition fund was formed by Network, the YWCA, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and Delta Sigma Theta. In 1994, the board decided to begin giving an annual Glass Ceiling Award for outstanding achievement. Beverly Moore was the first recipient. The first scholarship dollars from the Women's Education Coalition (WEC) were awarded in 1995, and the dinner meetings were moved to the Ladies Library. In 1997, the WEC officially reached its goal to raise $1,000,000 for scholarships for women. Budget issues in 1998 forced the board to raise the cost of dinner meetings to $15.00 for members and dues were raised to $40.00 in 1999. On September 11, 2001, for the first time in many years, the Network cancelled its dinner meeting out of respect for the many lives lost on that date.
Past Presidents
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Updated: August 10, 2008 |
Created by: SLF Design |
