A message from WPF President, Erica Parker
Dear Members,
As we enter the month of June, I am filled with both reflection and anticipation. It’s a time when we honor our past, celebrate our progress, and look forward to a future filled with promise and possibility.
This June, we mark a particularly significant occasion: Juneteenth. For those who may be unfamiliar, Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended and that all enslaved individuals were now free. This announcement came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which had officially abolished slavery in Confederate states.
Juneteenth holds profound importance in our nation’s history as a symbol of liberation and the ongoing struggle for equality and justice. It serves as a reminder of both the progress we have made and the work that remains to be done in the fight against systemic racism and oppression.
As members of Women’s Professional Forum, we recognize the significance of Juneteenth and the need to honor this day with reflection, education, and action. It is an opportunity for us to deepen our understanding of our country’s complex past, to amplify the voices of those who have been marginalized, and to recommit ourselves to building a more inclusive and equitable society.
In observance of Juneteenth, our community will be hosting a series of events and initiatives throughout the month of June. (links below) I encourage each of you to find one that resonates with you and use it as an opportunity for growth, learning, and meaningful action.
As we commemorate Juneteenth and reflect on its significance, let us reaffirm our commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of our lives and work. Together, we can honor the legacy of those who fought for freedom and equality and continue the march toward a more just and equitable future for all.
Erica
Juneteenth Green Book Bike Tour Greensboro History Museum
City of Greensboro Juneteenth: A Day of Celebration and Remembrance
Jodee Ruppel North Carolina Folk Festival Executive Director and Chief Development Officer
“Greensboro is the State’s Music City – see how the NC Folk Festival showcases Greensboro”
Jodee Ruppel loves learning new things, traveling new places and helping people, organizations, and communities, especially Greensboro, be the best version of themselves. After 20+ years in nonprofit roles where she implemented new community outreach programs, created global strategy, and produced large scale events across the world, she is now honored to be the Executive Director of the North Carolina Folk Festival.
Leading the FREE three-day festival she is eager to showcase her chosen city of Greensboro, while exposing people of all races, backgrounds and ages to festival of music, food and art. She has lofty goals for this nonprofit organization including becoming the largest FREE music festival on the east coast.
Jodee is an alumna of North Carolina State University where she was a Park Scholar and earned her BS in Food Science and her MA in Health Communications. She has also earned a MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. In 2019, Jodee was named one of the Triad’s Top 40 under 40. She resides in downtown Greensboro with her husband and four-year-old son. If you see a woman frantically chasing a toddler on a scooter on the sidewalks of downtown that is probably her, stop and say hi!
FOUNDATION NEWS
FOUNDATION NEWSFrom Chandra Hackenbruch, WPF Foundation President
I hope you were amazed and moved as I was when hearing from, I Am Queen (who uses the Girls Leadership Edge curriculum) and Sister Circle International with regards to the excellent programs designed to transform the lives of girls and women that you help make possible. Their programs provide opportunities to enhance and build skills and abilities to make an effective difference beyond Guilford County.
Here’s a recap of the 2024 Grantees:
The Women’s Resource: $9625 for Women to Work. The Women to Work program is a core service of the WRC. It offers job readiness, training, and placement support services designed to address women’s unique needs— primarily single mothers. It provides employment skills, retention, and financial literacy education—including career assessment, resume writing, budgeting, communication, and time management.
Sister Circle International: $9625 for their She Works & Wins program which will support 100 underserved women’s employment in the Greensboro and High Point areas. Its goal is to provide underserved women the opportunity to achieve self-sufficiency, insight, knowledge, and resources to empower them to function at their full potential.
I Am A Queen: $4,500 for Queen Arise Leadership Program which inspires young women to reach their fullest potential, resulting in confident, successful girls who are servant leaders in society. It provides self-esteem and leadership training that targets key areas such as money management, healthy relationships, health and fitness, and etiquette to ask-risk girls ages 10-18. It mentors about 150 girls and provides the Girl Boss Academy and Queens Who Code Boot Camp.
Greensboro History Museum: $4,250 for a program that will: (1) host a public program with a noted historian on the topic of women, civil rights, and the vote; (2) organize a youth leadership summit for female student government leaders in Guilford County; and (3) develop curriculum around Bennett College students’ 1960 Operation Doorknock voter registration campaign as part of a set of traveling trunks for use by Guilford County educators and civic groups.
For this year’s grant recipients all I can say is “Wow!” We have 2 organizations empowering underserved women to realize their true potential and create a path to thrive in this world. We have an organization that creates confident, strong and well-rounded girls as leaders. And we have an organization that is creating the next generation of civil rights leaders. These organizations are truly representatives of our grant guidelines of providing:
- opportunities for women and girls to aspire to or further their careers;
- education and leadership development of women and girls;
- education of the public on the status and rights of women; and
- recognition of achievements and contributions of women.
Special recognition to the 2024 board who have worked hard through the grant process to the May Meeting. I am honored to have such an energetic, talented, and creative group!
BAZAAR NEWS
From Jasmine Beard, WPF Bazaar Committee Chair
We are on to a Bazaar start! Planning for the annual holiday event has begun and we need 6-8 more dedicated volunteers. The team meets every 2nd Monday 12-1pm, primarily virtual until closer to the Bazaar date- November 13th.
The next meeting is June 10th at 12pm via zoom.
All interested members or recommended volunteers should contact Jasmine Beard at jasmine.b@ajoy2consult.com or call her at 336.986.5753.
MEMBERSHIP NEWS
From Laura Burton, WPF Membership Committee Chair
Your Membership Committee is hard at work on the new member applications. Thank you to everyone who has turned in a complete application package. We will be reviewing everything in early June for Board of Directors approval. The Membership Committee is excited to introduce you to your new WPF Sisters in late summer.
Have a great summer!
If you have questions, please reach out to Laura Burton (lburton@foxrothschild.com) or 336-337-1942.
Special Interest Group Upcoming Events
BOOK CLUB
Tuesday, June 4
7:00pm
Host : Jen Thomas
3004 Steepleton Colony Court
336.254.4325
Book: The Measure by Nikki Erlick
Book Discussion Leader: Nancy Radtke
A luminous, spirit-lifting blockbuster that asks: would you choose to find out the length of your life? Eight ordinary people. One extraordinary choice.
It seems like any other day. You wake up, pour a cup of coffee, and head out. But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. This box holds your fate inside: the answer to the exact number of years you will live.
SERVICE TO OTHERS
and
BOOKS AND ARTS
Dunleath Porchfest
Saturday, June 8, 11am-5pm
Service to Others and Books & Arts will be working this event!
Join us as we help kids in attendance make banjos and guitars! Come to work, or just enjoy the music. Either way it will be a good time to catch up with WPF Friends!
We’ll be under a tent with tables and chairs. It is a really fun event and the kids love it!
You can sign up for a shift and then take time to hear some of the music.
To sign up, please email Amy Baradell @ amyb@windowworksstudio.com.
Click here for more information on the Dunleath Porchfest!
WORKING MOMS
Tuesday, June 18, 12-1:30pm
State Street Wine Company
404 State Street
Join us for Happy Hour!
Moms of all ages welcome.
RSVP to Marlee Foster at marlee.foster@conehealth.com.
Working Mom’s group is part support group and part resource group. We learn so much from each other and have the chance to share the trials and tribulations of being a working Mom in this day and age. There is always laughter, an empathetic ear, and sometimes a great suggestion to help you when you thought you have exhausted all possible options.
WINE DIVAS
Wednesday, June 19, 6:00pm
Kris Landrum’s home
704 Plummer Drive, Greensboro
Vieni a bere vino con noi!
“Come drink wine with us!”
Join Wine Divas to discover the elegance of Italian wines!
RSVP to srussell@innvision.net and venmo $30 to @susan-russell-111
FINANCIAL DIVAS
Wednesday, June 26, 9-10 am
Weaver Park Center Bldg,
324 W. Wendover Ave, Suite 140
Join us in the “O” to share and learn “Decoding Estate Planning- Unraveling the Mysteries of Your Vital Documents”. Anyone sharing is encouraged to please consider bringing a handout/summary takeaway for group attendees. For questions, contact Paula McMillan 336.337.9507.
LADIES OF LEISURE
Friday, June 21
TWIN CITY TROLLEY TOUR
The cost is $32 per person.
Please send a check or Venmo/Zelle to Margaret Bertrand to reserve your spot!
All aboard, Ladies of Leisure!
We will carpool from Whole Foods parking lot pulling out at 10:15. Expected return to Whole Foods is 2:30-3:00. Cost of the Trolley Tour is $32 which can be paid to Margaret Bertrand by check, Venmo or Zelle to save your spot. Lunch is a separate expense. This event is limited to 14 people based on the size of the Trolly reserved. If we have more respond we will start a wait list.
DINING OUT
Wednesday, June 26, 6:30pm
Green Valley Grill
622 Green Valley Rd, Greensboro
Host: Susan Watson
If you would like to join us for a fun evening, please RSVP HERE.
Questions:
Amy Meinecke, Diningout@wpforum.org
Books and Arts
BELA FLECK, EMF, and WPF
Saturday, June 29
We have reserved a block of 8 tickets for the opening concert (described below) of the 2024 EMF season on Saturday, June 29.
Prior to the concert we will plan to meet for an early dinner (time and place TBD) then go to the Musically Speaking talk at 7 pm in the Moon Room of Dana Auditorium at Guilford College. The concert begins at 8 pm.
Tickets are $55 and can be purchased by calling EMF (336) 333-7450 and stating that you would like to purchase a seat with the Women’s Professional Forum group.
Pat Vedder is our contact for this event. If the block of reserved seats sells out, it’s possible that they can help arrange additional seats, but they’ll need substantial notice.
Eastern Festival Orchestra: Celebrations & Rhapsodies
Experience a night of groundbreaking musical fusion as the Eastern Festival Orchestra, under the baton of Gerard Schwarz, collaborates with 16-time Grammy-winning banjo master Béla Fleck. Béla will showcase his unique interpretation of Gershwin’s iconic “Rhapsody in Blue” (which turns 100 this year!), seamlessly weaving his virtuosity with the orchestra accompanying him, followed by familiar works of Tchaikovsky and more.
BOOKS AND ARTS
Summer Blowing Rock Trip
The year is speeding by and we are finalizing plans for our Books and Arts July trip to Blowing Rock from July 18th to 21st. Activities available for the weekend include the Chetola Symphony by the Lake (Friday night, the 19th), tubing, shopping, hiking, spa visits and biking, We have two houses reserved within a few miles of downtown Blowing Rock. Anticipated housing cost is $200 to $250/person, symphony tickets around $65, biking or tubing, around $30. We’ll be taking breakfast and snack foods to share, and will plan to dine out in the evenings, with the possible exception of the Chetola concert where we can either take our own picnic or buy box dinners. We currently have space for two or three additional women. A $100 deposit is necessary to hold your spot.
Please contact Kris Landrum at klandrum@tuggleduggins.com if you’d like to be part of this outing.
LADIES OF LEISURE
Thursday, July 18
Civil Rights Museum
Save the Date!
We will explore a significant part of America’s, and specifically Greensboro’s, transformative history by visiting the Civil Rights Museum, site of the historic Greensboro sit-ins. We can be proud of our local museum, which is “one of the ten sites on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail and an International Site of Conscience.”
So, mark your calendar and plan to join us for a guided tour, to be followed by lunch at a local restaurant. More details to follow in next month’s newsletter.
WOMEN OF WALL STREET
Investment Club
Thursday, August 22, 6:00 PM
Mt. Pisgah Church
WOW will not meet during the months of June or July as many members are on holiday.
Have a terrific summer!
BOOKS AND ARTS
Portugal (Spain?) Travel Update
Oct 6-13 or 20th, 2024
Several of our group have responded that they want to be included in the Portugal trip scheduled for the fall (and possibly to go on to a Spain adventure). If you have not yet responded, but are interested in the trip, please let Christie Soper know (christiesoper@gmail.com) asap and reach out to her with any questions you have regarding the info below.
G Adventures offers a guided tour of Portugal (Lisbon to Porto) in partnership with National Geographic Sunday – Sunday, Oct 6-13, 2024. Then they have another tour for southern Spain with Nat Geo Sunday – Sunday, Oct 13-20. Each tour is $2449 per person, so if someone chooses to do both tours back-to-back, the total cost for tours would be $4,898 per person, and dates of travel would be Oct 5 (depart the day before for the overnight travel) – Oct 20. Note: the tours don’t include all the meals; so add another $350-500 per person per week for meals, and then add international flights and tour guide gratuity.
Below are the links to both tours. These are a good value and can work with different levels of activity within a group. A note on the guides – they are more generalists, like a cruise director, than experts on specific topics, so if folks wanted an expert art guide in the Prado museum as an example, that would be extra cost, but easily arranged and reasonably priced depending on the number of travelers.
GUESTS
WPF members signing up for the tour are welcome to invite a female guest to join the the trip. The maximum capacity for the public tour is 16, and it’s first come, first served.
FLIGHTS
We estimate the flights for coach on Delta departing from GSO to be approximately $1400. Note: price is likely to fluctuate until actually purchased.
Portugal: https://www.gadventures.com/trips/ngj-portugal/EPENG/
Southern Spain: https://www.gadventures.com/trips/discover-moorish-spain/ESMNG/