Women of the World

Spring 1997 - page 6

Russian Businesswomen Hope to Visit Colleagues in September

By Mary Pebley

I was ending my first trip to Russia as a WOW delegate to an International Conference for Women in Business last June when three women presented me with a gift: a silk batik scarf, and a promise: to communicate and cooperate.

The scarf around my neck, we exchanged hugs and e-mail addresses. With that, Ludmila, Emilia, and Natalia, publishers of the New Employment magazine in Moscow, and leaders of the Foundation for Women's Employment, established a link with me and with other American businesswomen.

Another potential delegate to the ABWA Convention in September is Elena Kalinina, director of St. Petersburg's International Institute of Women & Management, founder of the Women's Party Movement of St. Petersburg, and current advisor to Mayor Yakovlev. Elena organizes the annual conference in St. Petersburg which WOW delegates attended last June, and is pictured here with Mary Pebley in front of the Smolny Cathedral.

Natalia and I began a long-distance relationship as close as our personal computers, communicating weekly about personal and business problems. Natalia has her PhD in Economics, and is a strong and committed woman with an incredible drive to resolve gender issues holding women back in Russia.

She was very surprised to learn American women share many of the same problems! I send her business books and magazines...she is particularly interested in home-based businesses and learning "networking" skills. The need of Russian women is so great and we in America seem to have almost unlimited resources compared to theirs.

As the Business Education Director of the American Business Women's Association, I have access to many business and career resources. As I planned the ABWA 1997 Convention and realized how valuable the seminars and speakers would be to my Russian colleagues, I began to make plans to bring them to the USA in September 1997. Their passports are ready, and now we are searching for funding support.

As Natalia said in a recent e-mail message, "I am happy that you help me feel myself as a part of a women's global network." Join WOW as we raise money to raise awareness of this global network ... women helping women.

Please send questions or comments to: lynn@wownow.org

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