Women Impacting Storebrand Excellence Inc

THE MISSION OF WOMEN IMPACTING STOREBRAND EXCELLENCE (WISE) IS TO PROMOTE GROWTH IN THE STOREBRAND RETAIL INDUSTRY AS A CHAMPION FOR DIVERSITY IN LEADERSHIP.

WISE 2021 ACCOMPLISHMENTS2021 WAS A TRANSFORMATIONAL YEAR FOR WISE. NOT ONLY DID WISE ACCOMPLISH ITS REGULARLY SCHEDULED YEARLY ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS, BUT IT ALSO LAUNCHED ITS DEI LEARNING SERIES AND ANNOUNCED & INTEGRATED ITS JUNIOR BOARD OF DIRECTORS. THIS WILL SET A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR WISE FOR YEARS TO COME. WITH JEN LINKE AS ITS ANCHOR, WISE WAS ABLE TO WITHSTAND ANY STORM, INCLUDING REMAINING COMPLETELY VIRTUAL, SUCCESSION PLANNING AND RECRUITING THREE NEW BOARD MEMBERS, AND COMMUNICATING THE VISION & DEPLOYMENT PLAN FOR THE DEI LEARNING SERIES TO NOT ONLY OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS, BUT ALSO TO OUR PARTNER COMPANIES. IN 2021, MEMBERS OF THE WISE BOARD BROUGHT FORWARD THE IDEA TO IMPLEMENT A JUNIOR BOARD WITH A PURPOSE OF CONNECTING THE NEXT GENERATION TO THE STORE BRAND INDUSTRY. WISE IS PROUD TO WELCOME 7 YOUNG PROFESSIONALS, COMPRISED OF BOTH MEN & WOMEN, TO OUR JUNIOR BOARD. THEY WILL BE DIRECTLY PLUGGED IN TO OUR ALREADY EXISTING COMMITTEES WHILE WORKING TO ENGAGE WITH YOUNGER GENERATIONS, ATTRACTING & RETRAINING DIVERSE EMPLOYEES, LEADING & MOTIVATING DIVERSE TEAMS, AND EDUCATING INDIVIDUALS ON DEI. THIS IS ALSO PLAYING A ROLE IN THE SUCCESSION PLAN FOR THE FUTURE BOARD OF WISE! IN FACT, WE WELCOMED ONE OF OUR INAUGURAL JUNIOR BOARD MEMBERS, LISA EATHERTON, TO OUR BOARD EFFECTIVE JAN 2022! WISE EXECUTED A TRANSITION PLAN AS NANCY COTA, LAURA FEZOUATI AND SUSAN HUNSAKER MOVED OFF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND WISE WORKED TO ONBOARD SHEILA DYJUANCO, LISA EATHERTON AND PHYLLIS JOHNSON. BACK IN FALL OF 2020, OUR BOARD CONDUCTED A STRENGTH / OPPORTUNITY REVIEW, AND IT WAS DETERMINED THAT WISE IS KNOWN BY ITS MEMBERS AS A SAFE SPACE TO SHARE DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS AND TALK ABOUT THEIR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. THE OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED THROUGH WEBINARS REMAINS OF HIGH VALUE AND IMPORTANCE TO OUR MEMBERS. THE LARGEST OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFIED BY THE BOARD WAS TO DEVELOP MORE CONTENT, EDUCATION AND INFORMATION SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON DIVERSITY. WITH THAT DIRECTION, AN INITIATIVE WAS LAUNCHED TO FIND A 3RD PARTY COMPANY TO BRING MORE EDUCATION TO OUR COMMUNITY AROUND DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION. DURING OUR VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING IN NOVEMBER OF 2021, THE ORGANIZATION FORMALLY ANNOUNCED THE WISE DEI LEARNING SERIES & OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH EXECUINSIGHT. COUNTLESS HOURS WERE SPENT DEFINING THE SCOPE OF THE PROGRAM, PROMOTING IT TO OUR PARTNER COMPANIES & INDUSTRY CONTACTS AS WELL AS COORDINATING THE LOGISTICS & ROLLOUT PLAN. THE PROGRAM WAS KICKED OFF WITH AN AMBASSADOR EVENT IN DECEMBER 2021, FOLLOWED QUICKLY BY A DEI 101 INTRODUCTION SESSION IN JANUARY OF 2022 WHICH LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR BI MONTHLY EDUCATION EVENTS ACROSS 3 PROGRAM TRACKS (HUMAN RESOURCES, LEADERSHIP & PERSONAL GROWTH). WISE ALSO LAUNCHED THE CONCEPT OF THE HR CALL CENTER, WHICH OFFERS PARTNER COMPANIES THE OPTION TO DISCUSS DEI ISSUES / QUESTIONS REAL TIME WITH PROFESSIONALS AT EXECUINSIGHT. THIS PROGRAM IS AN EXCLUSIVE PARTNER BENEFIT OFFERED AT NO EXTRA COST TO EXISTING MEMBERS. IT IS ALSO MEANT TO SERVE AS A RECRUITMENT TOOL TO ATTRACT NEW PARTNER COMPANIES. ALSO ANNOUNCED AT WISE NOVEMBER 2021 ANNUAL MEETING WAS THE PRESENTATION OF THE ORGANIZATION'S INAUGURAL DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION AWARD TO PEGGY DAVIES. WISE IS EXCITED TO CONTINUE TO RECOGNIZE THOSE WITHIN ITS INDUSTRY FOR THEIR DEI EFFORTS IN YEARS TO COME!THE ORGANIZATIONS 2021 ANNUAL EVENT FEATURED AN INCREDIBLY DYNAMIC AND MOTIVATING SPEAKER IN COLONEL MERRYL TENGESDAL, A RETIRED NAVAL AVIATOR AND COMBAT PILOT IN THE US AIR FORCE. PARTICIPANTS WERE GIVEN THE GIFT OF AN E-BOOK OF COLONEL TENGESDALS BOOK SHATTER THE SKY AND WISE ALSO HOSTED FIVE VIRTUAL NETWORKING SESSIONS FOLLOWING THE MEETING, IN THE ABSENCE OF AN IN-PERSON EVENT, WHICH THE MEMBERS ARE ALL EAGER TO GET BACK TO!BELOW YOU CAN SEE THE 2021 WISE WINS BY THE NUMBERSCONDUCTED 4 WEBINARS WITH NEARLY 500 ATTENDEESHELD 16 ONLINE NETWORKING EVENTS COVERING 7 TOPICS WITH 127 ATTENDEESPERFORMED 6 MENTOR CIRCLES WITH 34 PARTICIPANTS FROM 17 COMPANIESMONTHLY E-NEWSLETTERS WITH ORIGINAL CONTENT & INTERVIEWS