Welcome to my page for the Fairfield BPW.  I originally listed it as a page for BPW Illinois, the Illinois Federation of Business and Professional Women, founded in 1921. Since BPW/Illinois has had a couple of "official" pages I have resigned it to focus it on our small local organization located in Wayne County Illinois, which serves Wayne, White, and Edwards counties.

BPW/Illinois and the Fairfield BPW have adopted the following mission statement:

"BPW/Illinois' mission shall be to achieve equity for all women in the workplace through advocacy, education and information."

This wordy goal is accomplished through close to 80 local chapters located throughout Illinois. This page illustrates our colors of Green and Gold, and the many versions of our emblem and symbols. I have been a member of BPW for over 15 years, and feel it has helped with business contacts, leadership training, public speaking and writing. With my mom, we have attended a number of IFBPWC (State) and National BPW/usa conferences, including those in Nashville, Hartford, Milwaukee, Honolulu, Albuquerque, Charlotte, Minneapolis, and St. Louis. Travel and fun are other benefits. I am currently a member of the Fairfield BPW club, and have been District 17 Director and State Young Careerist Chair,  and am currently a  member of the State Headquarters Reserve Fund Committee, which manages a large portfolio whose income is used to offset the cost of BPW/IL's Springfield office.

Most local chapters or clubs meet monthly for dinner and speakers, and sponsor many events. The Fairfield local organization meets on the SECOND Thursday of the month, usually at Bat's Place on the north edge of town. It costs between $60 and $80 in most areas to join BPW in annual dues, but it is worth it in what you can gain from meeting people, making business contacts, learning more about issues that affect working women, and gaining confidence by working with others.

A very special project of BPW is CHOICES, in which members work with young women to encourage staying in school, studying math and science, and delaying pregnancy.  Making smart CHOICES increases earnings potential and job flexibility. I see too many women who have limited themselves with the belief that they will be able to raise their children without having to work outside the home.

Another excellent program is YCW, Young Career Women, which recognizes working women between the ages of 21 and 36. Participants give a short speech, are interviewed on their goals and accomplishments, and complete a written application.  The best of the competition is getting to meet and network with other young women, to learn about the paths they have taken.

Women of all ages benefit from ID, the Individual Development Course, which teaches public speaking, parliamentary procedure, and BPW history, for about 1% of the cost of the Dale Carnegie Course. ID also includes competitions at the district, state and national levels.

There are also lobbying activities on the local, state and national levels, and a BPW-sponsored PAC. We like to consider ourselves the moderate voice of the women's movement. As long as you are for the ERA you have a place in BPW, and if you are against ERA it's probably because you haven't heard both sides of the argument. Shouldn't women be included in the Constitution?

BPW believes in Women Helping Women. Many local organizations offer scholarships to college age or re-entry students. Fairfield has scholarships named for Marvie Sunderland and Mary Ann Creighton, one of which is for a "mature" student. The Illinois Federation has funded the Celia M. Howard Fellowship, which offers funding for graduate level courses in diplomacy (at schools in the Boston and Phoenix area), law (at the University of Illinois School of Law), and the administration of criminal justice (at Southern Illinois University), plus a few other schools. The National Federation has a number of loan and scholarship programs, primarily the Career Advancement Scholarship, which is detailed in one of my links.

For other subscribers of Midwest Internet, Mt. Vernon and Centralia, Illinois, along with Fairfield, Salem and Flora (Clay County) are the home to excellent BPW local organizations. Another strong area is in the Metro-East, including LO's in Highland, Collinsville, and Alton Area. The Michigan Avenue BPW Network, which meets for breakfast at Niemann Marcus in Chicago, leads a large number of organizations in the Chicago area.

For more information e-mail me or contact the Illinois BPW State Headquarters at 528 S. Fifth St., Suite 209, Springfield, IL 62701, voice 217-528-8985, fax 217-528-1625, or contact these BPW/Illinois leaders directly:

Fayrene Wright--1999-2000 State President, Sandy Ferguson--2000-2001 President Elect, Emily Battin--2000-2001 First Vice President,  Jan Cetwinski--BPW/Illinois Past President, Janie Smith--Past State President, Chris LaFrance--Past State President, Kitty Mabus, Kathy Missel--District  Directors,  BPW/Illinois email link to Debbie Davis, executive secretary.

I used to have a lot of  links to other BPW groups, but due to the evloving nature of the 'net as well as volunteer BPW officers I ended up with more bad links than good ones.  How embarrassing! Here are a few good links and graphics.

BPW/usa National Homepage  Official national site. Has good programming and scholarship information..

BPW Illinois  This page focuses on the Celia M. Howard Fellowship, and has application information.

Centralia Illinois BPW The highlight of this site are its newletters online.

Highland Illinois BPW. A very active club near the metro-east area.

BPW Concord New Hampshire Women Mean Business.

MICHIGAN BPW Michigan BPW. Michigan Federation of Business and Professional Women. This page has lots of excellent material.

Boulder Colorado BPW Home Page The best club page around.

Towsontowne Maryland BPW A Maryland LO which is part of a large women's site.

BPW/International The site for the international organization, which was founded by the American federation in 1930 but is no longer affiliated (its a long story about money).

BPW/California A site for one of the largest state federations.
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BPW Canada They are still part of the international organization.

BPW EuropeContains information about several countries.

FIDAPA HOME PAGE BPW Italiano

Other Women's Links--There are almost too many of these to list on this tiny page:

WWWomen This is mainly a women oriented search engine. 
 

Women's Wire The first interactive publisher to recognize and address women online. Providing the latest news, articles and information on finance, careers, technology, health, fitness, fashion, shopping and more. Editorial content changes daily and weekly.

American Association of University Women (AAUW) A national organization that promotes education and equity for all women and girls. Their goals and interests are very similar to BPW's.

League of Women Voters Voting information, deadlines, how to register, information on motor voter law and campaign reform. Links to local offices.

Vote Smart Web Run by national non-profit Project Vote Smart, with lots of information on all the candidates, including the unknowns.

Women's Web World Feminism is the emphasis.

National Organization For Women

Women's International Center

The Global Fund For Women

More BPW Graphics and Net Tips IDC for the Internet.

Last updated 8/21/2001. Please send corrections and comments to cbconly@midwest.net This is an unofficial page. Your help will be appreciated.