We started with a half hour informal meet and greet at the top of the meeting. Again, we want women to get to know each other and speak informally, so we will plan to begin all our meetings this way.
The organizers introduced ourselves, and discussed what we envision this group to be and not to be. It is not intended to be partisan, overtly political or a fundraising group, as there are plenty of other terrific groups that do these things. We do want to educate ourselves on issues and advocate for solutions that our members back. We encourage smaller, issues-oriented groups to form as women make connections and want to discuss items in more depth.
For the record, the organizers are: Ginger Brown, Alice Hogan, Mary Kane, Kathleen McSweeney, Lisa Nisenson, Carmen Romero and Mary Rouleau.
We are an open group and don't have an official membership or dues. We encourage women to bring friends who are interested in the group. The exception is elected officials: women holding office will not be invited to join our group, unless they are invited to address us on a specific topic. Ditto with candidates running for office.
We decided to poll the group for topics of interest, and Lisa led the group in a brainstorming activity. The results are captured in this document. We will identify trends in the comments and issues listed, and will use the information to come up with the program for our next meeting.
We discussed an official name for the group, and brainstormed possibilities at the end of the meeting. We will gather suggestions, and take a vote at the next meeting.
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