We're Still Here

Hi, folks,

Just in case you thought we had gone inactive again, never fear! We are still here and are still working. We have many irons in the fire, but since we are all fully and gainfully employed aside from CGWLA, it takes a little while for us to finish things. We are still discussing what our next forum will be. Facebook remains an option, as does Wet paint (or something like that). We are still searching for the best venue for CGWLA, and have been doing research on the options.

We are also considering publishing (electronically, and maybe hard copy) a newsletter. We will probably be involved in the women's symposium, although the Diversity Office has the lead on that and we will merely assist as we are asked and are able. We're thinking about what we need to do in terms of whether we should have "official" membership for the organization, and hold elections at some point for new leaders of the organization. These are just a few of the "irons in the fire," if you will.

We have lots of ideas, and lots of things we are thinking about and talking about.

So, never fear. We are still here. If you have something you would like posted here, please send me an e-mail or submit a "comment" and I'll post as appropriate. Please stay engaged, folks - this is a good thing, and we want to keep it going.

Thanks for your support.

Necia Chambliss

Second Annual San Diego Coast Guard Women’sLeadership Forum

All,

Someone posted the information (below) as a comment to our blog, but I thought it was important enough to put up front here as a post. It says it is open to all CG women. I have no independent knowledge of this event, but thanks to "Anonymous" for posting!

If anyone knows anything more about this, or would like to comment on it, please do!
V/R,
Necia




Anonymous said...
see: http://cgrssd.blogspot.com/

Second Annual San Diego Coast Guard Women’sLeadership Forum

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Target Audience: All Female Members of the Coast Guard Family – Active, Reserve, Civilian, Auxiliary, and Spouses

0800 Welcome Aboard

0815 Ms. Gail Evans – Success in a Male Dominated Business Society
Noted lecturer and author of Play Like a Man, Win Like a Women and She Wins, You Win: The Most Important Rule Every Businesswoman Needs to Know. Former CNN Executive Vice President and creator/host of the syndicated weekly radio program broadcast It’s Not Just A Man’s World.

0930 Break

0945 Ms. Jessica Yaffa – Surviving Domestic Violence A survivor of both domestic abuse and sexual assault, Jessica is a well-known regional speaker. She has facilitated hundreds of workshops, is the founder of the Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Ministry throughThe Rock Church where she serves over 300 women per month, including those living in shelters and others who have been referred to her through Child Protective Services, and is the Director of Programming and Marketing for a private substance abuse treatment center here in San Diego.

1030 Break

1040 Dr. Ericka Jordan, Ed. D. – Characteristics of Successful Military Women
Retired USN SCPO and graduate of USN Senior Enlisted Academy in Newport, RI. Received B.A. in Management from St. Leo’s University; Masters’ in Business Administration from National University, and Doctorate in Leadership Studies from University of San Diego. Dr. Jordan is presently working with theDefense Contract Management Agency in San Diego and is a recent graduate of the DoD Executive Leadership Development Program.

1130 Lunch (Provided)

1230 CMC Kathleen Hansen, USN – Social Challenges At-Sea
Command Master Chief of Navy Medicine West & Naval Medical Center San Diego and former CMC of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and USS Pearl Harbor (LSD-52). Awards include Legion of Merit, (2)Meritorious Service Medals, (4) Navy/USMC Commendation Medals, and (4) Navy/USMC Achievement Medals

1310 Break

1320 Questions and Answers – Ms. Evans, Ms. Yaffa, Dr. Jordan, CMC Hansen

1450 Closing Remarks

Location: Coronado Community Center, 1845 Strand Way, Coronado CA 92118;
619-522-7342

Spread the word

By the way, several people have e-mailed me asking if they can still be included even though they are past the response deadline. The answer is, of course, YES!!!!!!!!!!

The deadline was just letting people know when we were going to make our decision. Now that we are committed to continuing, and are in the process of standing up the organization again, please spread the word! We'd love to have as many people as possible (Coast Guard) involved.

Plea for help again - Technology Experts

Please help!

Okay, folks, we have received only a couple of responses to our plea for help. Seriously - we're not tech experts, but we bet some of you are!

What is a better forum for this? Here is what we are looking for: a place where we could have several topics listed, and let people comment on each topic. We would like a place where the topics would stay up, for continued discussion (unlike this blog, where stuff is pushed down chronologically and eventually falls off the radar screen).

So.....help! What is the right forum? Comment to this post, or else e-mail LCDR Tamez.

Thanks!

Website for Women's Leadership Symposium

From the Diversity Office: here is their website for the 2009 Women's Leadership Symposium:

http://www.uscg.mil/diversity/WLS.asp

Women's Leadership Symposium

Just a quick note - forgive me: many deadlines at work so haven't had time to write much. But, apparently there is concern circulating that the annual conference is in jeopardy. I have received confirmation from the CG Diversity Office that they are definitely planning to hold the symposium again this year. Our survey was not for that... just for our organization (which has assisted with the conference in the past). Watch for an ALCOAST in March or April.

Thanks!

Necia

An Invitation to Share Your Story (or Part of It)

Good Morning, Ladies, and other supporters of CGWLA,

Many of you shared your stories in your e-mail replies to LCDR Chambliss' successful CGWLA re-vamp message. (Don't worry, we won't post any of them here.) I was inspired and overwhelmed by the power of how much we can share with each other so we can learn from other people's experiences. As we continue to set up interest-area forums and begin to reload the CGWLA website, we plan to set up contact lists of women who have experience they'd be willing to share in a particular area of interest. Examples include: temporary separation program, how pregnancy affects unit-level work relationships, collocation with military spouses, and acclimation of civilian spouses, just to name a few. In the meantime, if you have a portion of your story you'd like to share in this forum, keeping in mind that it's very public, please do so. I have posted some of mine below.

I went straight from high school to the CG Academy, which had about 15% women at the time. Not a lot, but still significant bench strength. Imagine my surprise to get to my first assignment in 1992, CGC THETIS in Key West, FL, and find my roommate and I would be the first women officers on board (excpet for a single EO years before) along with 10-12 of the first enlisted women. We faced many challenges and overcame lots of stereotypes, and there never seemed to be any senior women to ask for guidance, or anywhere to share our experiences. Of course, that was before the Internet, e-mail outside the ship, or everyone having a personal cell phone. Times have changed for the better, but many women are still isolated with no women senior to themselves to seek for advice. Our vision is that we can use this forum and others like it to connect, learn from each other, and more importantly, gain strength from each other. I succeeded in the CG with the help of many informal mentors, both men and women. As I reflect back, I'm humbled by the women who went before me and broke down barriers, and I'm inspired now by junior women who are still facing obstacles and successfully overcoming them. I look forward to growing our strength in numbers and pooled resources.

Thank you for your interest in CGWLA!