Women's Energy Network of Houston

Happy New Year! As 2010 WEN Board President, I want to take this opportunity to share WEN’s latest success with our members and to give everyone a preview of some exciting networking and career development opportunities that WEN will be offering this year.

WEN ended its 15th year with nearly 900 members!  And, equally significant, WEN’s reach now extends beyond Houston with WEN chapters up, running, and doing an amazing job in North Texas and Southeast Louisiana.

It was just a little more than a year ago when we reached the amazing milestone of 500 members. So, as you can see, our organization is growing in leaps and bounds. I firmly believe that increased membership benefits are one big reason for our growth. Over the past few years, WEN has added value to being a member through a variety of members-only programs and events, including the very successful WEN Mentoring Program, which involves women at all career levels meeting and sharing in small group mentoring circles. Within these circles, WEN members are developing supportive professional relationships and getting real, unfiltered advice and training that they can use to address workplace issues and to reach their career goals. In addition, WEN offers members-only career workshops and small networking events throughout the year. These member benefits will continue in 2010, beginning with an intensive, day-long WEN Career Workshop: Effective Connections: Your Support, Your Network, Your Brand, Your Story available to just 50 women on Wednesday, January 13th and another 50 women on Thursday, January 14th. WEN is bringing in experienced women’s executive coaches from Flynn Heath Holt to conduct these workshops, and it is truly a tremendous value. You can register for this and other WEN events at www.wenhouston.org.

Also, mark your calendar for Thursday, January 28th and sign up today for our kickoff evening event - the WEN 2010 Winter Networking and Membership Drive to be held at The Five Seven Grill at Minute Maid Park from 6-8:30pm. WEN’s luncheon speaker series – with locations Downtown, Energy Corridor, and Northside – continues in the coming year with a full slate of fabulous speakers, focused on high-level women energy professionals at the top of their careers, including our first Downtown luncheon of the year on Wednesday, February 17th with Melody Meyer, President of Chevron Energy Technology. And, in 2010, WEN members are once again undertaking a major effort to give back to the Houston community through our biennial WEN Charity Lunch on Friday, April 30th at the Houston Country Club, which will benefit Gracewood. It will take all of our efforts to make this a successful event, and volunteering is a great way to network with other WEN members. There is much more to come this year, including a soon-to-be-launched job board for WEN members, the annual wine tasting networking event in July, and our wonderful and growing Young Women Energized career program for high-school girls in November.

The WEN Board recently reflected on what makes WEN special, and we realized that it is this very whirlwind of activity, the fact that WEN is an organization that is run by its members, and that our successes are truly the result of all of our substantial commitments of time, energy, and imagination that makes WEN great. Please join me in making this a successful year for WEN and in charting our course for the next 15 years.

Jana Grauberger
WEN Board President 2010