Engage with NFBPWC on Social Media

Organization Page:   https://www.facebook.com/NatlFedBPWC/

Group Page: https://www.facebook.com/NatlFedBPWC/

Organization Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nfbpwc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2l_ciIxLyvbu1dbBOsV9Tg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nfbpwc_usa/

The High Stakes of Succession Planning: Why Leadership Continuity Matters

Succession planning isn’t just a formal process—it’s a necessity for the stability and longevity of any organization. When we neglect this vital strategy, we risk leadership gaps, loss of institutional knowledge, and disruptions that can hinder growth. The consequences of failing at succession planning can be severe, but understanding the steps to get it right ensures a seamless transition.

The Risks of Neglecting Succession Planning

• Without a clear plan for leadership continuity, organizations may experience:

• Operational disruptions – When key leaders suddenly depart, teams may struggle with direction and decision-making.
• Loss of expertise – Years of experience and knowledge can walk out the door, leaving a void that takes time to fill.
• Damaged reputation – Frequent leadership turnover may create instability, lowering confidence among employees and stakeholders.

Key Strategies for Effective Succession Planning

• To ensure leadership continuity and avoid pitfalls, organizations should adopt the following strategies:
• Start Early & Develop a Pipeline – Succession planning should be a continuous process, not a last-minute scramble. Identifying and nurturing future leaders early allows for a smoother transition.
• Define Leadership Competencies – Understanding the qualities and skills necessary for leadership roles helps guide the selection and training of successors.
• Invest in Professional Development– Provide mentorship, leadership training, and hands- on experience to prepare future leaders before they assume critical roles.

• Create a Transparent Process – Clear communication ensures employees understand career growth opportunities, fostering engagement and retention.
• Prepare for Unexpected Departures – Life is unpredictable. Having contingency plans in place ensures organizations remain stable despite sudden leadership changes.
• Leadership transitions don’t have to be chaotic. With proactive succession planning, organizations can preserve continuity, maintain their competitive edge, and build a future-ready workforce. Prioritizing these critical steps will ensure leadership isn’t just a role—it’s a legacy.

Again, I ask you to look inside your local organization and identify individuals that can assume the mantle of leadership and nominate them.

Angie Jackson-Wilson
NFBPWC Nominations Chair
2024-2026

Our health committee meetings are held on the 3rd Mondays of the month unless there is a conflict or a holiday. Our next meeting with be May 19, 2025 at 8pm ET. We are going to start thinking about a special Health Fair/Panel for this year. Please stay tuned for more information.

If you are a former member of the health committee or would like to find an area where you could be involved, please contact me at health@nfbpwc.org and I will put you on my list. The more you can contribute, the easier it makes it for me. I’d love to have you.

Notes from the Chair:

The Health Committee is doing a lot of brainstorming on our article section, a future project for the year, and more. Even with the small number of attendees at meetings (and the make-up is always different) good ideas flow. I always appreciate how productive our meetings are, and I cannot wait for what we have planned for the rest of the year.

Healthy Thinking for the Month:

"Negativity is contagious but so is positivity; desperation is contagious but so is joy: do not follow negative people but continue to radiate light and hope around you! And know that hope doesn’t disappoint, it never deludes!" (June 2014) – Pope Francis December 17, 1936 – April 21, 2025)

Health Awareness Dates:

May is –

Asthma Awareness Month; Awareness of Medical Orphans Month; Clap 4 Health Month; Clean Air Month;  Family  Wellness  Month;  Fibromyalgia Education and Awareness Month; Food Allergy Action Month; Global Employee Health and Fitness Month; Global Health and Fitness Month; Global Youth Traffic Safety Month; Heal the Children Month; Healthy Vision Month; Huntington's Disease Awareness Month; Inherited Retinal Disease (IRD) Genetic Testing Month; International Mediterranean Diet Month; Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection & Prevention Month; Mental Health Month; National Arthritis Awareness Month; National Hepatitis Awareness Month; National High Potassium Awareness Month; National Meditation Month; National Mental Health Month; National Osteoporosis Awareness & Prevention Month; National Physical Fitness & Sports Month; National Stop The Bleed Month; National Stroke Awareness Month; Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Month; Older Americans Month; Oncology Nurses Month Link; Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Month; Save Your Tooth Month; Strike Out Strokes Month; Tay-Sachs and Canavan Diseases Month; Trauma Awareness Month; Ultra-violet Awareness Month; Women's Health Care Month

ALS Awareness Month - (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's Disease) - https://www.als.org/awareness

Apraxia Awareness Month -https://www.apraxia-kids.org/awareness/

Better Hearing & Speech Month -

https://www.asha.org/national-speech-language-hearing-month/

Better Sleep Month -https://www.sleepfoundation.org/

Bladder Cancer Awareness Month -https://www.urologyhealth.org/media-center/press-releases/may-is-bladder-cancer-awareness-month

Borderline Personality Disorder Month -https://www.borderlinepersonalitydisorder.org/may-bpd-awareness-month/

Brain Tumor Awareness Month -https://braintumor.org/

Building Safety Month -

https://www.iccsafe.org/advocacy/building-safety-month/building-safety-month/

Celiac Awareness Month -https://celiac.org/schar/

Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month -https://www.cff.org/intro-cf/cf-awareness-month

EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) Awareness Month -https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/may-awareness/

Lupus Awareness Month -

https://www.lupus.org/lupus-awareness-month

Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month -https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/motorcycles

National Allergy/Asthma Awareness Month -https://aafa.org/get-involved/asthma-and-allergy-awareness-month/

National Better Hearing Month -

https://www.asha.org/national-speech-language-hearing-month/

National Brain Tumor Awareness Month -https://braintumor.org/events/brain-tumor-awareness-month/

National Electrical Safety Month -https://www.esfi.org/national-electrical-safety-month-2022/

National High Blood Pressure Education Month -https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6520a5.htm

(World) Lyme Disease Awareness Month -https://www.lymedisease.org/get-involved/take-action/lyme-awareness-month/

National Mediterranean Diet Month -https://tinyurl.com/mpy92c32

National Physiotherapy Month -https://opa.on.ca/recent-news/national-physiotherapy-month/

National Syringomyelia Awareness Month -https://justfacts.votesmart.org/public-statement/973471/national-syringomyelia-awareness-month#.V9iF0uRTHyQ

National Tuberous Sclerosis Month -https://www.tscalliance.org/

National Water Safety Month -http://www.nationalwatersafetymonth.org/

National Youth Traffic Safety Month -

https://teenslearntodrive.com/youth-traffic-safety-month/

Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month (aka NF Month)

-https://www.ctf.org/makenfvisible/

Pediatric Feeding Disorder Awareness Month -https://www.feedingmatters.org/pfd-awareness-month/

Pediatric Stroke Awareness Month -

https://chasa.org/you-can-help/pediatric-stroke-awareness/

Preeclampsia Awareness Month -https://www.preeclampsia.org/

Skin Cancer Awareness Month -https://www.skincancer.org/get-involved/skin-cancer-awareness-month/

Sturge-Weber Awareness Month -https://sturge-weber.org/

Tourette’s Syndrome Awareness Month (5/15 - 6/15) -https://tourette.org/awareness-month-2024/

Toxic Encephalopathy and Chemical Injury Awareness Month -

https://www.brownielocks.com/may.html

If you are a former member of the health committee or would like to find an area where you could be involved, please contact me at health@nfbpwc.org and I will put

Healthy Foods Information –

you on my list. The more you can contribute, the easier it makes it for me. I’d love to have you.

12 Foods That Can Help Lower Blood Pressure -https://tinyurl.com/ycxbwxn421 Impressive Health Benefits and Uses of Parsley -

https://www.medicinenet.com/21_impressive_health_benefits_and_uses_of_parsley/article.htm

If you would like to submit a healthy recipe to publish in future newsletters or have your own health food tip, please send them to health@nfbpwc.org

Article courtesy of Health Committee Member Carolina Vasquez, BPW, Texas Affiliate

Advice to Take Care of an Aging Parent While Guarding Your Health as Well

To my fellow BPW members:

Blessings from El Paso, Texas from a member of BPW Paso del Norte border town with Mexico.

Last year I had to say goodbye to my mother after taking care of her for the last 10 years of her life due to her Dementia.

I want to share my journey with you because I want to help anyone in my position to navigate this family

journey so that you do not fall into the depression I experienced when my mom went to heaven.

After living a wonderful life which culminated with a 20-year job with the US Department of State as a Cultural Liaison for International Visitors and

crisscrossing our Country Several times a month (I got to visit 48 states excluding Hawaii and Maine) I made the decision to resign and concentrate on being my mom’s caretaker until she passed away.

I had no idea what I was going to encounter but did it out of love and respect for my mom, a woman I adored and respected. I knew she was very difficult to please and realizing the horrible effects of Dementia, I did not want her to encounter hostility or uncomfortable circumstances that would make her last years of life unbearable I never realized the shortcomings that my decision was going to have in my life. I recommend that as a loving daughter, you explore all venues to make your parents have a peaceful end to life. However, please do not immerse yourself 100% in your role as a caretaker but make provisions so that you also have a social life along with your duties as a caretaker.

I was caught inside the covid epidemic and moved to a little town outside El Paso that permitted me to protect mom in a safe environment, a gated home where she could walk and take care of her birds and plants. This was a wonderful benefit because she could be outside or inside if I was watching her. Of course, things happened and at one point she could no longer roam unattended, so my duties became very stressful.

Dementia has a way of little by little destroying the person that your parent was and living you with a human being that slowly stops recognizing you and even ends up turning hostile to your company, One has to understand that this is normal and not take anything they say or do at heart, because they are no longer the parent you knew and loved. At this time of your journey, I suggest you find a place where you can monitor them but no longer be 100% at their side.

This will destroy you and you need to be strong to help them transition to a peaceful last journey. You cannot be at their side 24 hours a day. You need to have a life as well aways from your duty as a caretaker. I did not do this, so I ended up facing a total mental degradation feeling helpless and alone.

Don’t fall into that trap. They are at the end of their journey, but you are not, so keep on living while you take care of your sick parents. Do not feel guilty, they would want you to be happy if they still could take care of you, I can guarantee you.

During this time, try to find out all you can about your parents, learn what they liked in their lives, what their dreams were, their likes and dislikes, their triumphs and their shortcomings. All this will comfort you

Health Article FYI

Mind-wandering could actually be helpful when it comes to learning something new -https://tinyurl.com/mryr279z

7 Foods and Beverages That Have the Most Microplastics (and What to Eat Instead) -

https://www.superage.com/articles/7-foods-and-

When they leave this earth, and you will be able to remember them with love and respect.

This is a short recommendation given to you as a person that almost committed suicide feeling so helpless and alone, I isolated myself without realizing that I was hurting myself in the process.

beverages-that-have-the-most-microplastics-and-  what-to-eat-instead

Ilona Maher Is Bringing Body Positivity Back -https://verilymag.com/2025/03/ilona-maher-is-bringing-body-positivity-back-2025?mc_cid=b4e813c64e&mc_eid=f7047d46e4

If you are a former member of the health committee or would like to find an area where you could be involved, please contact me at health@nfbpwc.org and I will put you on my list. The more you can contribute, the easier it makes it for me. I’d love to have you. We will meet on the 3rd or 4th Monday of the month unless there are any conflicts or holiday forthcoming. Next meeting is May 19, 2025.

One of my duties as Finance Chair is to serve as a member of the Legacy Fund Committee. We have invested our money with Edward Jones Investments. They have been in business since 1922. Just like BPW they began in St. Louis, Missouri.

I would like to introduce to you our Financial Advisor – Debi Vasquez.

Debi was recently named to the Forbes 2025 ranking of Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State in California.

To compile the 2025 list of women named to these rankings, SHOOK®

Research analysts conducted individual interviews with nominees. Criteria that determined the final list included industry experience, best practices, compliance records and assets under care.

Debi began her Edward Jones career in 1995 as a financial advisor in Sherman Oaks and became a limited partner with the firm in 2006.

With over three decades of experience as a financial advisor, she has built a successful practice through a time-tested, client-first strategy. The three cornerstones of discipline that she leverages in her practice are transparency, tenacity and tenure.

Fostering a strong conviction for customized financial strategies, investment counseling and relationship management, she is a financial advocate for her clients and aspires to empower women on the importance of financial literacy. She also has enjoyed being able to help create, build and deploy her clients' financial dreams.

Her practice focuses on helping small business owners optimize their retirement plans working in partnership with their CPAs, TPAs and estate planning attorneys.

Her team is dedicated to providing highly personalized service. All aspects of her business are aligned to help her understand better what is important to her clients’ unique goals and needs so that she can make a positive impact on their lives.

She became an Edward Jones financial advisor to make a positive difference in people's lives. These days, she is inspired by the celebrations she shares with all her clients when they have met their goals.

Sandy Thompson
NFBPWC Finance Chair

Bylaws, policies, and procedures all play a role in governing organizations, but they serve different purposes: Each of these elements plays a crucial role in maintaining structure, consistency, and accountability within an organization.

• Bylaws: These are the foundational rules that define how an organization operates. They typically cover governance structure, board responsibilities, membership rules, voting procedures, and amendment processes. Bylaws are often legally required and must be formally adopted and amended.
• Policies: These are guidelines that help an organization make consistent decisions. Policies address areas like financial management, employee conduct, conflict resolution, and operational standards. Unlike bylaws, policies can be updated more easily by leadership without requiring formal approval from members.
• Procedures: These are step-by-step instructions on how to carry out specific tasks within an organization. Procedures ensure consistency in operations, such as how financial transactions are processed and how meetings are conducted.

Angie Jackson-Wilson
NFBPWC Bylaws and Resolution Chair
2024-2026

Engage with NFBPWC on Social Media

Organization Page:   https://www.facebook.com/NatlFedBPWC/

Group Page: https://www.facebook.com/NatlFedBPWC/

Organization Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nfbpwc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2l_ciIxLyvbu1dbBOsV9Tg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nfbpwc_usa/

We are inviting passionate members of the BPW Federation to consider taking on leadership roles. Our mission is to empower women and make a significant impact through our collective efforts. By joining forces with the chairs of other committees, we aim to showcase the impact of our Federation and its mission.

Leadership comes with its challenges, but building a strong team rooted in our mission will ensure the smooth functioning of the Federation. We are looking forward with great enthusiasm to having a selection of candidates from around the country.

Which of these offices will have your name placed in nomination?

• For the Office of President?

• For the Office of Vice President-Membership?

• For the Office of Vice President-Advocacy?

• For the Office of Secretary?

• For the Office of Treasurer?

• For the Office of Young BPW?

The nominating committee will confirm that all candidates meet the qualifications as outlined in Article X, Section 7 of the bylaws.

It is not too early to begin the process!

Angie Jackson-Wilson
NFBPWC Nominations Chair
2024-2026

Dear Members, I do not tend to write articles for the magazine, as I usually stay behind the scenes. Since we do not have a club in the State of Maine, I thought some of you might be interested to know that Maine has declared March 25th National Equal Pay Day. Yay, Maine!

Here is the Press Release I received from the Maine Department of Labor.

For Immediate Release: March 25, 2025

Governor Mills Proclaims March 25 National Equal Pay Day in Maine

According to the United States Census Bureau, the difference between median earnings for men and women in Maine who worked full-time, year-round in 2023 was nearly $9,000.

MAINE - Governor Janet Mills has proclaimed March 25, 2025 National Equal Pay Day in Maine, symbolizing how far into the year women in the United States must have worked to earn what men had earned by December 31, 2024. Nationally, women aged 16 and

over who are working full-time, year-round are on average paid just 82 cents for every dollar paid to men. The wage gap is even more pronounced for women of color. Nationally in 2023, African American women made 65 cents on the dollar, and Hispanic or Latina women just 58 cents on the dollar compared to white, non-Hispanic men.

“Maine people know an honest day’s work deserves an honest day’s pay,” said Governor Janet Mills. “I’ve proclaimed today as National Equal Pay Day in Maine to remind us all there’s more to do to ensure Maine women receive equal pay for equal work.”

Requirements regarding equal pay have been a part of Maine law since 1949, but wage inequality persists. To promote pay equality, Governor Mills signed legislation in 2019 to discourage employers from basing wages on an employee's salary history.

“The wage gap remains a reality we must contend with. Data shows that men who worked full-time, year- round earned nearly $9,000 more than women—and the gap is even wider for women of color,” said Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman. “Ensuring equal pay and access to good-paying jobs is not just about fairness - it strengthens families, reduces poverty, and drives economic growth. Maine is committed to raising aspirations and opening doors to high-wage careers. Programs like our pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship initiatives in construction are creating clear pathways for women to enter and thrive in these industries, ensuring that anyone with the skills and drive to succeed has the opportunity to do so.”

According to the United States Census Bureau, the difference between median earnings for men and women in Maine who worked full-time, year-round in 2023 was $8,900. Men earned a median of $61,300, while women earned $52,400.

Nationally in 2023, the average differences in median earnings between white, non-Hispanic or Latino men and women of color are $30,100 for American Indian and Alaska Native women, $25,200 for Black or African American women, and $1,600 for Asian women.

According to the 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates, the five occupational groups in Maine with the largest wage gaps are legal occupations; health diagnosing and treating practitioners; sales and related occupations; production occupations; and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations.

"The gender wage gap is not about individuals, it's about systems: 'women's work' (traditional roles such as care and caregiving) pays less, and women earn less over a lifetime because of their unpaid caregiving roles,” said Destie Hohman Sprague, Executive Director of the Maine Women's Lobby. “Systems are solved with policies, and Maine policymakers have an opportunity to address this gap once by supporting bills that address pay transparency and workforce segregation. They also must continue to build the caregiving structures, such as paid family and medical leave, childcare, and direct care, which supports pay equity over the long term."

"Equal Pay Day is an important marker of how far into each new year the average woman must work in order for her earnings to catch up to what the average man

had earned by the end of the previous year. At the same time, it's important to remember that the pay gap for women varies by demographic, so for moms Equal Pay Day is May 6, for African women it’s on July 10, for Latina women it’s October 8 and for Native American women it's all the way to November 18," said Cynthia Phinney, President of the AFL-CIO. " Paying attention to these numbers and these gaps matters in the work to build an economy that allows everyone to flourish by removing barriers to economic security. The best way to close the pay gap and fight wage discrimination is with a union contract, so on Equal Pay Day we also affirm our resolve to ensure all women regardless of race or national origin have the right to join a union, free from coercion and intimidation.”

"Women of every race and background work hard to keep Maine families, businesses, and services running. Their work has equal value, but women, especially Latina, Black, and Indigenous women, aren't compensated at rates equal to men," said Ariel Ricci, Executive Director of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations. "Everyone does better when women of all races and ethnicities get paid what their work is truly worth."

"Equal Pay Day highlights the ongoing struggle to appropriately value and support the work of Maine women - and the full Equal Pay Day calendar shows how the burden of the wage gap falls disproportionately on mothers, women of color, disabled women, and the LGBTQ+ community," said Elinor Higgins, Executive Director of Maine’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (MePCSW). "But Equal Pay Day also shows the path forward toward a stronger economic future for Maine: by closing the wage gap, we can improve economic security for Maine women and their families."

In 2024, MePCSW released a report on Maine women's labor, employment, and economic security which illustrates how the wage gap drives financial disparities across the lifespan, with part-time, low- wage work and lacking care infrastructure leading to higher rates of financial hardship among women in Maine.

Maine's Equal Pay Law requires that employees be paid the same wages as employees of the opposite sex for work that is of a comparable nature in skill, effort, and responsibility.

MDOL's Bureau of Labor Standards, who enforces the Equal Pay Law in Maine, has a poster available for employers free of charge that outlines the basics of the law:

• An employer may not discriminate between employees in the same establishment on the basis of sex by paying wages to any employee at a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays any employee of the opposite sex for comparable work on jobs that have comparable requirements relating to skill, effort and responsibility.
• An employer may not prohibit employees from discussing their wages with coworkers.

Anyone who believes they are not being paid the same wages as an employee of the opposite sex for comparable work, should file an equal pay complaint. The Maine Department of Labor has a printable equal pay complaint form here: https://www.maine.gov/labor/labor_laws/publication s/epcomplaintform.pdf

A mailed or emailed complaint form can be requested by contacting the Wage and Hour Division at 207-623- 7900 or mdol@maine.gov.

Michele Guarino
Magazine Editor
(2017-2026)

Is your committee or affiliate in need of funding for a special event?

Email me at legacyfundchair@nfbpwc.org and tell me what your needs are. The committee looks forward to supporting BPW activities.

The Legacy Fund Committee is a standing committee available to handle all incoming funds from heritage clubs. Members are Deb Fischer (chair), Barbara Bozeman, Ashley Maria, Jo Naylor, and Sandy Thompson.

Current Value of Investment Portfolio is $289,803.28 as of February 28, 2025.

Interested members who would like to serve on the committee, please send an email to Deb Fischer, legacyfundchair@nfbpwc.org indicating contributions you can make to this committee.

May love and friendship keep your days bright!

Deb Fischer
NFBPWC Legacy Fund Chair
2024-2026
(720) 280-3513