The Professional Women’s Network of Costa Rica (PWNCR) was founded on July 17, 2010, at the prestigious Union Club in San José, as an Interest Group of the Women’s Club of Costa Rica (WCCR). We received a lot of support from the officials and members of WCCR, who believed it was a good option to involve employed women who could not attend the WCCR meetings on Wednesday mornings. 50 women attended the Founding and Naming Meeting, including many who have continued to be involved with PWNCR.
The first PWNCR leader of was Stacey Auch and Natalie Vargas led us from 2012 to 2015. During their terms, it became increasingly clear that the non-profit, charitable status of the WCCR and the profit-encouraging role of our group were not compatible. We wanted our members and speakers to be able to show their wares, have business fairs, and improve their lives through their work activities. PWNCR separated from WCCR and became independent in 2015. Laurel Anderson became President when we left WCCR and served through February of 2019.
During the first 8 years, we have had monthly speakers on a wide variety of topics in the categories of business (legal requirements, tax reporting, cross-cultural issues), personal development (yoga to use at work, stress management) and community concerns (protecting the environment, public educational systems). We have had an active Mentoring Program and a Community Outreach Program through which we have collectively invested money and volunteer hours in various small projects which have benefitted rural women, Indigenous people, victims of sexual violence and animals.
In March of 2019, Andrea Minicola assumed the Presidency and Mimi Mudd became Vice-President and Overseer of Marketing. President Andrea Minicola built a strong Leadership Team to take this group into the future, capitalizing on our repertoire of strengths and providing additional meaningful services to our members. VP Mimi Mudd immediately recognized the value of using PWNCR as our identifier on the Internet and she articulated it in such a forceful way that we immediately made the slight switch. We adopted an updated logo and are happily moving forward!
During the year 2020, Mimi Mudd resigned as Vice-president and Sarah Joy Staude stepped into the role. She and Andrea exchanged roles during 2021, with Sarah Joy assuming the Presidency and Andrea moving to the supporting role of Vice-President. Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, they worked diligently toward the goal of making PWNCR a recognized, legal Association in Costa Rica. This goal was accomplished in 2022 and was celebrated at an in-person meeting celebrating our 12th anniversary in July. The importance of this step is to legitimize our group and to help us grow our membership! In 2022, Andrea´s business and personal commitments required that she step away from holding office. Muni Figueres has taken on the Vice-Presidency, bringing additional perspectives and resources to our group. The Leadership Team continues to evolve and to perform creatively.
Written by Phylliss Crist, PWNCR Founding Member
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Topic: What Is Happening with the Venezuelan Migrants
Speakers: Natalia Hidalgo and Gail Nystrom
Date: Tuesday, October 4th
Event Time: 6-7:30pm
Location: Virtual, Via Zoom
Have you heard about the Venezuelan migrants coming through Costa Rica?
What is the situation?
How can you help?
Did you know that more than 200 migrants cross Costa Rica from the border with Panama to the border with Nicaragua every day?
Learn more about this situation and simple ways to help in our Zoom meeting on Tuesday, October 4th our PWNCR members Natalia Hidalgo and Gail Nystrom will host our Zoom meeting. They will talk about the current situation on this migration flow going through Costa Rica as well as the current situation for low-income resident migrants living in Costa Rica.
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On Saturday, 24 September we had a wonderful turnout with a large group of 22 of us visited Finca La Lucha and the Pepe Figueres Museum and we had a wonderful time. A bilingual museum guide gave us a very detailed account of the ex-president’s life and legacy and PWNCR Vice-President and grand-daughter of the ex-President, Muni Figueres, gave us a personal account of growing up under such an influential figure.
After the tour, we rode a tractor down the hill to the restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious typical meal and continued the conversation with our fellow members. More photos can be found on our PWNCR Facebook in this album. Please follow us if you aren’t already doing so!
If you couldn´t join us this time, we hope to see you in one of our upcoming monthly events!
What’s happening this month with PWNCR? – May 2023
What’s happening this month with PWNCR? – May 2023
What’s happening this month with PWNCR? – May 2023
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