August 2018 Newsletter + Track Meetings

This year of extremes seems to be never ending! Political extremes, weather extremes and many of us have had personal challenges that seemed also extreme!

We’re learning to exercise our coping skills on a whole new level!!! I have to admit that I thought taking time off from our Track meetings in July was a good idea, but I have really missed the weekly shots of challenge and inspiration from the amazing women in our Great Girls Network!

We are starting up again on August 1 (see Track Meetings below) and not a moment too soon! It seems we need connections and friendships now more than ever.

With record temperatures, we need extraordinary measures to keep ourselves cool, calm and collected until things cool off. My remedy has been:
* being more creative
* spending truly meaningful time with friends
* being very selective about watching movies and shows that inspire me
* concentrating on being healthy—a lot of walking stores like Costco
* going to the gym 3 times a week
* committing to a new diet, sticking with it and losing a little weight!

All while staying indoors as much as possible!

I would love to hear about how you are coping this summer. We’ve had a few GGN members contribute to our Blog, and I invite even non-members to send in what you’re thinking about this year. We’ll be glad to publish it on our Blog page. I’ve been adding to my Confessions of a Recovering Helpaholic series, and I’m working up to finishing the whole 12 Steps…. Click here to go to our Blog

Sameen Wajid, her parents, and two sisters immigrated to Texas from Pakistan when she was five years old. The family settled in Arlington and Sameen’s parents made it clear to their daughters that the opportunities in America were endless and that education was the key to obtaining them.

Sameen took their advice to heart and graduated in May from Harvard with a Masters degree in Education.

Sameen’s academic endeavors are significant, but she is also a philanthropist. During her undergraduate years she spent a summer in Pakistan teaching English at an orphanage. She was amazed that when she asked children what they would like to do when they grow up, the typical responses were “a maid” or “clean the streets.” She realized these children had no role models for any other careers and most would never finish school.

When Sameen returned home, these children stayed on her mind and she knew she had to do something. As a college student, she started a not for profit to raise money to send them to school and, as a result of her work, 36 children completed their education!

Sameen is also an entrepreneur. She keeps a journal with her at all times and when she experiences or observes some sort of frustration, she brainstorms ways to address it. She and a professor from the Harvard School of Engineering are working on an equity and inclusion app, that is a direct result of her journal!

“I am very aware of how education has transformed my life’s trajectory. I want to pay it forward by increasing access to quality education for other students, nationally and internationally.”

Sameen created the Great Girls Network website and as she began to understand the vision and the potential of the organization, she became invested in helping it grow.

“I want Great Girls Network to be a powerful source of empowerment, networking, and advancement among women. The women of GGN should be your thought-partners as you contemplate your next career move, seek advice on a personal matter, or look to expand your personal or career network.”

These days Sameen has a variety of freelance projects in marketing, communications and website development, but she is exploring full time opportunities.

We wish Sameen all the success she deserves, but we hope it’s right here!

Thank you to Lynne Sipiora for this member profile!

Once again, Jaime Goff has something to offer:

The Essential Leadership Toolkit for High Potential Women

Has someone in your organization said you have great leadership potential? Perhaps you’ve been officially identified as a “high potential,” and you’re expected to move quickly up the ladder but aren’t receiving much support in doing so. Or maybe no one in your organization has noticed yet, but YOU know you have what it takes to be in a leadership role. If this describes you, then this course was developed with you in mind.

This self-paced course opens on Monday, September 3. It includes 25 videos and 6 workbooks with journal reflections and practical application exercises to help you accelerate your leadership growth. As a special BONUS, I’ll be providing two opportunities to participate in a live Q&A session during the course.

The cost for this course is $200, which is less than $9 per video, not to mention the workbook content and live Q&A. The first 20 people to sign up will receive a $50 discount, making the total cost $150 or just $6 per video! Click here to read more about the course and to claim your $50 discount now!  Registration Link

Donna Valentino and Margery Miller did a podcast! The subject was the Big F—Freedom from Helpaholism. It was great fun and we posted it on our GGN Facebook page and got a lovely response. In case you didn’t see it, click here to see the podcast. And watch our Blog for the rest of Margery’s 12 Steps for Recovering Helpaholics!

Lindsey Humbert is partnering with UNITE and Communities Foundation of Texas to offer 10 Days of COPE (Cost of Poverty Experience) for North Texas Giving Day’s 10th Anniversary

UNITE is identifying organizations to highlight around specific issues that are contributing to the poverty epidemic we have in our city. During 10 evenings beginning on September 10th and ending on September 20th (coinciding with NTGD’s 10 Days of Giving), participants will have the opportunity to engage in a life-changing Cost of Poverty Experience and hear more about the organizations in our city that are making sustainable impact around the identified issues.

This would be a wonderful opportunity for stakeholders and world-changers (like members of the Great Girls Network!!) to engage in this powerful initiative. Please email [email protected] to be added to the communication list for an Evite.

Join Brass Tacks Collectivefor a two-hour workshop on Storytelling, led by MisFit Communications!

Regardless of your situation, whether you own a business, work a 9-to-5, or have a side hustle; at some point, you have to show why you’re special, and why people should bet on you. The best way to do that is by becoming a good storyteller. During this interactive workshop, we will cover the following:
* Why it’s an essential skill to have, both in business and in life.
* When you were younger, how did you learn about things like morality, love, bravery, or friendship?
* Why is this a relevant topic to you?
* How to become a good storyteller with a handful of useful hacks.

Saturday, August 25 from 10:00 to 12:00
Cost: $25 Storytelling Workshop with MisFit Communications

Great Girls Network Members, Are you Looking for a Place to Give Back?

Heart House supports the refugee and underprivileged children of Vickery Meadow to grow, develop, and thrive through a year-round holistic program uniquely developed to support healthy social-emotional learning. Vickery Meadow, one of the most densely populated areas of Dallas, has served as a major entry community for refugees resettling into the metroplex from places like Burma/ Myanmar, Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, and Mexico.

To help address the traumas of fleeing war, persecution and life in refugee camps, Heart House provides a place for refugee children to move “From Chaos to Calm” through its after-school and summer programming, which serves 143 children annually, 58% of whom are girls. Heart House invites Great Girls Network to get involved by helping to support special projects this schoolyear – Lemonade Day, Growing Gardens, and Art & Film Festival! We seek mentors, guest speakers, and experts with backgrounds in marketing and PR. For any member interested in volunteering with us, we’re offering VIP complimentary tickets to our first ever, donor stewardship event, the evening of September 13, at the Erin Cluley Gallery in Trinity Groves.

Please contact Lenita Dunlap, CEO, Heart House [email protected] to learn more. Lenita is pictured here with two of the girls from Heart House.

To register for a Track meeting, log onto our website as a Member.

To take advantage of these amazing Track meetings, you must join GGN! Each one is an event or happening in itself. Some members come frequently, some come only once in a while. Whenever you attend one, you will find out things you didn’t know, connect with women who will challenge and inspire you, and you will leave with some new perspectives.

Growth Track
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• August 1, 2018
• 6:30pm – 8:30pm
• What area do you want to grow in? Health? Wealth? Work? Relationships? Whatever comes up for you, this is a GREAT place to share your concerns, questions and get truly valuable feedback from wise women. The Growth Track never fails to leave us feeling inspired and encouraged!                  Click here to join us at our next Growth Track meeting

Transitions Track
———-

• August 8, 2018
• 6:30pm – 8:30pm
• Do you know anyone who isn’t in some sort of transition? It’s all around us! Even if the changes aren’t dramatic, they still affect how you live your daily life. Maybe you have kids headed to college, maybe you are still trying to decide about changing jobs, maybe you are frustrated with yourself because you aren’t changing things fast enough. Whatever is on your mind, bring it to the Transitions Track!                                                                                  Click here to join us at our next Transitions Track meeting

Be Well Track
———-

• August 15, 2018
• 6:30pm – 8:30pm
• We cover so many ways of being well in this Track! Mental and emotional well-being have dominated the last two Track meetings, but who knows what will come up this time! Maybe we’ll just keep talking about how to stay cool in this heat!!!! Whatever we talk about will be interesting, I promise!

              Click here to join us at our next Be Well Track Meeting

We have an open Great Girls Network page which we would love for you to go to and “like” and “follow us first” to keep up with our events and also perhaps spread the word about our group.
Click here to go to our Facebook page and follow us first!

If you join GGN, you will have access to our closed Great Girls Network Group which serves as a forum to ask questions, think about new ideas, and share updates with our members. We have such a talented group of women this gives you access to whatever they have to offer that might help you grow.

The private group on Facebook can’t be accessed by anyone not in the group, so you will be in a safe environment with women who are committed to our values and our pledge to end the comparing and competing that gets in our way out in the big world.

Joining Great Girls Network is not only an opportunity for you to experience relating to women on a deeper, more meaningful level, it also enables other women to take advantage of these connections. Even if you don’t go to Track meetings, your membership increases our funds so that we can offer scholarship members a chance to engage and learn with us. And the Semi-Annual Gatherings are unlike any other “networking” event! We know women don’t network like men. We want to build relationships, we want deeper, more meaningful connections. That is exactly what GGN provides.

We created a digital card that helps people understand what they can get from joining GGN so click here to see the card.

Your membership helps give us that foundation, the strength to grow and have an impact on the lives of so many more women.