By: Nermin K. Ahmad
NFBPWC Women on the Move Committee Chair

The workshop for Women on the Move overlapped with delayed voting in the Congress so not many people could join us. But we did spend a fruitful 90 minutes sharing their experience and ideas on how we could make this program relevant on a global level. I was very buoyed by the conversation and the knowledge sharing.

Please contact me to be part of this vibrant and forward-looking concept to grow NFBPWC and BPW generally!

By: Nermin K. Ahmad
NFBPWC Women on the Move Committee Chair

Women on the Move will be a discussion during the Triennial in St. Kitts. I am still looking for Committee Members to work with – and realize that there is a misunderstanding about our focus. This is NOT ABOUT MIGRANTS, REFUGEES, ASYLUM SEEKING WOMEN COMING TO AMERICA. This Committee is for women like you, your neighbor, me – women who may move for a myriad of reasons – desire, love, financial opportunity, education, health, weather, work. It is intended to create a sisterly network of like-minded business and professional women around the US, in North America and the Caribbean, and globally who can support one another’s success.

Let me know if you are interested in joining this committee – our intention is to make the world a welcoming place for business and professional women – by truly networking our resources across the globe while connecting locally, uniting nationally and igniting globally.

I came across a woman “On The Move.” She moved to the United States with her husband from German, where they met and fell in love. When she came to the US, she discovered he was married, but he did ask for a divorce, and they were wed. She enjoyed her life here – except for not being able to get his children to accept her at all and for the language. She maintained a thick German accent.

I met her in the bathroom of a National Park Service Park. She was crying – weeping while washing her face. When asking her what was wrong, I realized she was German and spoke to her in German. Her husband had died and had never put her name as his wife on his social security or pension. The children kicked her out of her home. She had very little money in the joint account, and did not know who to ask for help. The children sold all her things that they did not throw out. She wanted to commit suicide and had come to the Potomac river to jump in, but was Catholic and could not.

She had not been in touch with her family for a while, but by speaking in German with her, and offering her my husband and my picnic lunch I was able to bring her out into the park. We sat and spoke with her, and without confirming it with one another we knew we had to help her. We helped her make a call to her sister’s home, as she knew the number. The warmth with which she received astonished her. In the meantime, my husband and

I figured out we had enough miles to pay for her to go home, in business class. She had nowhere to go, but she had shown us her still valid passport. We just drove her to Dulles, put her on a place, and told her sister when to accept her.

She did not know how to protect herself in the US. This action paid back a thousand-fold years later – my husband had remembered to put me as his wife for social security, but a prior wife asked to be paid immediately after his death. She received the lump sum payment and his payments for two years, before I pointed out that she was not the wife listed in his social security file, and that she in fact was not, and never had been his wife. At least we knew what to do, and it was finally sorted.

But this is the kind of thing women on the move can be caught by. And are. And we need to provide a sisterhood to protect them.

I call on you to join me, to help me build out this action opportunity. Reach out to me on nerminkahmad@gmail.com for information. Thank you!

By: Nermin K. Ahmad,
NFBPWC Women on the Move Committee Chair 

Women on the Move will be a discussion during the Triennial in St. Kitts. I am still  looking for Committee Members to work with – and realize that there is a  misunderstanding about our focus. This is NOT ABOUT MIGRANTS, REFUGEES,  ASYLUM SEEKING WOMEN COMING TO AMERICA. This Committee is for  women like you, your neighbor, me – women who may move for a myriad of reasons  – desire, love, financial opportunity, education, health, weather, work. It is intended  to create a sisterly network of like-minded business and professional women around  the US, in North America and the Caribbean, and globally who can support one  another’s success.  

Let me know if you are interested in joining this committee – our intention is to make the world a welcoming  place for business and professional women – by truly networking our resources across the globe while  connecting locally, uniting nationally and igniting globally. 

As reinforced by the meetings on women and girls that I just attended during the Summit for the Future at the  UN – the time for talk is over. It is time to seek action for change, network to make change happen, and occupy  the space around our demands for change till it happens. I am inspired by the international article on the BPW  Club in Thailand and their solidarity and achievements and would like to measure change as they do. For now,  Women on the Move will connect us locally, nationally, and globally; while uniting us locally, nationally and  globally, and of course the value we provide to members will ignite interest in our organization at all three levels. 

I call on you to join me, to help me build out this action opportunity. Reach out to me on  nerminkahmad@gmail.com for information.  

Thank you!

By: Nermin K. Ahmad
NFBPWC Women on the Move Committee Chair 

Let me know if you are interested in joining this committee – our intention is to make  the world a welcoming place for business and professional women – by truly  networking our resources across the globe while connecting locally, uniting nationally  and igniting globally. 

This is not a committee for endless discussion, but it is intended to invite action.  Women move, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. The reasons can be good, bad and  ugly. One thing is clear – to thrive, women need information and help settling into their  new lives. Our clubs and affiliates know their locales and can make recommendations  

as to how to settle in rapidly, how to crack the local social code as it were. But we can do more – we can promote  local women-owned businesses and services, maybe obtain discounts for our members – in the locale and new to it. 

With Women on the Move our national organization can negotiate national partnerships as well as  discounts for services and goods. Globally, with clubs in over 115 countries, women can come, go, stay or leave  – but they will always have a welcome as members of a global community of sisters. In time Women on the  Move will connect us locally, nationally, and globally; while uniting us locally, nationally and globally, and of  course the value we provide to members will ignite interest in our organization at all three levels. 

President Bozeman has been clear – no Committees of one. I call on you to join me, to help me build out this  exciting opportunity. Reach out to me on nerminkahmad@gmail.com for information.  

Thank you!

By: Nermin K. Ahmad
NFBPWC Women on the Move Committee Chair 

Dear Members of NFBPWC, 

Thank you to those who attended my breakout session in King of Prussia.  I appreciated your input and was very glad to hear your thoughts on this initiative.  A major takeaway from the mind-mapping effort we initiated was that there is a fundamental misunderstanding regarding the Women on the Move Committee Program.  So let me be very clear: 

This is for all women who move, voluntarily or involuntarily, for a short time or permanently.   

It could be your move to study out of state, or to be somewhere new with your partner, or for work.  Fire, natural disasters, political unrest – events out of control could push you to move.  Inter-human violence, abuse, trafficking could cause you to move.  It is about your moves, as well as those that propel others to new places.  Our focus, hope and aim are to ensure that women thrive, wherever they arrive.  This is about connecting with arriving women, uniting in support of their integration and success locally, and igniting the sisterhood to be available to answer simple questions, show a path to success, and develop a program that encourages our global sisterhood to create a living network for one another. 

My dream: is that through a networked sisterhood we create powerful partnerships with services organizations (banks, insurance agencies, rental companies, travel resources, service companies) locally, nationally and globally, so that women, as long as we are paid less than men, also pay less than men when they belong to NFBPWC.  Let us negotiate preferential deals together, locally, nationally and yes, globally.  Let us entice new Business and Professional Women members through our negotiation power.  One day, I would like to see us regain the power we had on the Hill and elsewhere, but in the US I would like to see us as a force to be reckoned with – as AARP is today.  Yep, as a woman, I think big.   

None of this can happen without you.  I cannot do this alone, and our rules are clear.  I may not do this alone.  So, I seek out inventive, fearless, knowledgeable women to join me.  To network with other organizations, find out what we need to do to create special relationships, but also to ensure that our own members who provide services for pay are celebrated, advertised, brought to the fore.  It will become part of our marketing – to be able to advertise your skills or business on our site, you must be a member.  To be able to promote your product as a corporation, you must be a member.  To network with our clubs in different locations, and be welcomed as you move, you must be a member.  Or – maybe we agree on another, more staggered approach.  I am ready to hear, to learn, take action to meet our collective needs.  There are many right ways to serve one another. 

The PowerPoint used in King of Prussia will be available to you on our national website.  Our basis for the initial draft Mindmap is here (and I hope you will help me perfect it):  

 

Nermin K Ahmad
NFBPWC Women on the Move Committee Chair By: Nermin K. Ahmad 

Women on the Move, while an NFBPWC initiative, has been gaining traction through work with the Civil Society Committee on Migration at the UN, and elsewhere.  Its goals remain robust: to develop a means where women, who move for work, as migrants, through their own agency, involuntarily or under duress have access to a network of resources that allow them to become established in their new location. 

Women who move need very different support networks than do traditional males on the move – it is often the woman who responsible for establishing herself, her family, her children in schools, and the routine in a new home, while the husband goes to work. Having to do all of this, as well as work, can be mitigated for business and professional women through a network of BPWs who understand the local area, and can help them rapidly become a functioning, working entity. 

The Afghan guidebook helped a number of women asylees find their professional feet more rapidly and solidly than their peers, without access to NFBPWC. The Women on the Move concept takes this a step further – relying on our network in 115 countries, we can assist women who are traveling for work or moving nationally or overseas with a preexisting network.  

In January 2024, I was asked as one of 5 civil society delegates invited to do so, to give a key speech at the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Geneva, where I launched a discussion on the meaning of migrants, on changing the narrative about working women migrants especially, and about understanding unconscious bias vis a vis migration. 

In March 2024 during CSW67 I was asked to speak on Human Trafficking, the need to change the discourse, and the need to realize that trafficked humans were neither a commodity nor willing migrants.  

I have interviewed numerous Women on the Move, both business and professional, at different levels of success, to understand what held them back the most when arriving in a new city. Responses ranged from access to lived information on schools, self-care services, decent mechanics and workers, good restaurants and food stores, as well as local hierarchies politically and economically.  They felt it took longer than it should to decode the information that could help them succeed. 

The language is changing for migrants who are increasingly considered as people on the move. It has also become clear that there is a false narrative on migrants – for example the largest number of illegal migrants in Mexico are Americans who retire there, do not register, and are unwilling to pay taxes (so they leave for a day every 3 months). This also holds true for Europeans, Americans and Asians in Africa, where many jobs thus are lost to qualified locals. It is important for a business and/or professional woman to establish herself rapidly as a functioning, trusted and successful entity, without being held back by the narrative of other people..

By: Nermin K Ahmad
NFBPWC Women on the Move Committee Chair 

Members:  Sher Singh, Emily VanVleck, Veronica Sexton, Cathleen Jeanty 

Afghan Women Project:  

If you are interested in welcoming these new Americans, and answering their questions of offering the hand of friendship please contact us at Afghanwomen@nfbpwc.org, visit our home page at https://www.nfbpwc.org/Afghan-Women-Project.

By: Nermin K Ahmad
NFBPWC Women on the Move Committee Chair 

Members:  Sher Singh, Emily VanVleck, Veronica Sexton, Cathleen Jeanty 

Afghan Women Project:  

If you are interested in welcoming these new Americans, and answering their questions of offering the hand of friendship please contact us at Afghanwomen@nfbpwc.org, visit our home page at https://www.nfbpwc.org/Afghan-Women-Project.

By: Nermin K Ahmad
NFBPWC Women on the Move Committee Chair 

Members:  Sher Singh, Emily VanVleck, Veronica Sexton, Cathleen Jeanty 

Afghan Women Project:  

If you are interested in welcoming these new Americans, and answering their questions of offering the hand of friendship please contact us at Afghanwomen@nfbpwc.org, visit our home page at https://www.nfbpwc.org/Afghan-Women-Project.

By: Nermin K Ahmad
NFBPWC Women on the Move Committee Chair 

Members:  Sher Singh, Emily VanVleck, Veronica Sexton, Cathleen Jeanty 

Afghan Women Project:  

If you are interested in welcoming these new Americans, and answering their questions of offering the hand of friendship please contact us at Afghanwomen@nfbpwc.org, visit our home page at https://www.nfbpwc.org/Afghan-Women-Project.