Dear PWNCR Members and Friends,

For over two and a half years I have been your Professional Women’s Network of Costa Rica President and before that, your PWNCR Vice-President. It has been an incredible honor to lead our network as we navigated online events in the pandemic, and then as we transitioned back to in-person events, maintaining (when possible) the chance for our members to join in virtually. Under my presidency in May 2022, we became a formal Costa Rican Association, with all the responsibilities and benefits that come along with that.

During that time we have had power-house women speakers who are movers and shakers in Costa Rica including Flora Montealegre of CRUSA and Vicki Ross of UNAFUT. We have held an annual Goods & Services Fair each November and interspersed speaker events with occasional excursions which have been especially well-attended! Those have included the Museo Nacional, La Lucha & the Pepe Figueres Museum, as well as The Ark Botanical Garden. As an association throughout the past two years we have held steady with around 80 active paying members and had an average of between 20 and 25 attendees (members and visitors combined) at each event, sometimes over 40 attendees!

The phenomenal PWNCR Leadership Team that I have had the privilege to lead has been a strong body with an abundance of talent, energy, and know-how. I am confident that it will continue to be so! I am so proud of each leader I have served with and am confident that I am stepping down as President at the right moment, with a strong core group of PWNCR leaders continuing to serve. I am staying on as part of the Leadership Team to help with a smooth transition.

We met on June 18, 2024 for our annual Leadership Team meeting and the following roles were accepted/maintained:

• Muni Figueres Facio – President
• Jacqui Monacell – Vice-President
• Rommy Hererra – Director of Membership
• Ana Guerrero Brenes – Director of Communications
• Gabriela Gutierrez – Director of Events
• Alysha Tribbett – Director of Social Responsibility
• Annia Chaves Alfaro – Secretary
• Gloriana Brenes – Social Media Manager
• Loredana Redep – Door Prize Manager
• Phylliss Crist – Advisor
• Helen Griffin – Advisor
• Sarah Joy Staude – Fiscal/Leadership Team Member-At-Large

We also agreed to some changes with membership and event registration that will spread the volunteer time and energy more fairly. This will mean that Rommy can really enjoy and participate in the events like the rest of us! We will have 2 people from the Leadership Team responsible for coordination of each event. We would love to have other members join us as greeters at the door; please contact Gabriela Gutierrez if you could arrive early to help with this.

The new registration process at each event will require that each attendee take personal responsibility for registering herself or himself. The Leadership Team member who registers members and visitors at each event will manage annual membership payments (20,000 colones) only. Entrance fees will be put into a lock-box by attendees or SINPE image will be sent in a text. Members and visitors make a name tag and update their information on a sign-in sheet including cell phone number, email, etc and how they paid. We also agreed to implement a new Premium Membership which is 30,000 colones per year. Premium Membership members will not be charged entrance fees to individual events. Don’t worry, we will have a member of the Leadership Team at the registration area of each event to help facilitate the adoption of this new process.

Thank you all – Members and Leadership Team alike, for your excellent energy, dedication, and valuable contributions! Welcome and congratulations to Madame President Muni and Madame Vice-President Jacqui!

Best Regards,
Sarah Joy
Outgoing PWNCR President

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