Spring is finally here and those of us in the north are very happy about that.

BPW International hosted a wonderful Leader’s Summit in New York City on March 6 & 7th, led by PIP Liz Benham and Past NAC RC Dawne Williams. It was an excellent event with lots of opportunity for participants to interact and share and Liz and Dawne did a fantastic job. We had participation from members from Canada, St Kitts, USA and St Martin and they are prepared to share what they learned with their affiliates.

A gala dinner was held on March 7th to celebrate BPW International’s 95th anniversary year with a moving Candle lighting Ceremony. A special thank you goes out to IFBPW VP Membership Francesca Burack who arranged a new location for the 2026 Leader’s Summit and the Gala Dinner this year – they were both wonderful spaces we appreciate her hard work to put it all together.

CSW 70 (Commission on the Status of Women) at the UN took place from March 9 – 20, 2026. There was significant participation from BPW members around the world and work done to improve lives for women. Many NGO CSW Parallel Events were held during this time with participation of many members from NAC and they are to be commended for sharing their expertise.

BPW Listens – Your Voice Matters has now come to a close. I thank all of you that participated from the start – attending the meetings last fall so we could put together questions/input from the NAC region, being involved in the Pilot survey and those of you that completed the survey. A special thank you to our Ambassador Sandy Thompson who provided her knowledge and encouragement to affiliates to complete the survey.

Now the work begins to analyze the results and put together actions/projects/ programs to meet the needs of our members. Results will be shared once the team has had a chance to review them.

Our NAC conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada is getting closer and I hope many of you have August 23 – 25, 2026 in your calendars. Everything you will need to know is on the website so please check it out – the link for our special hotel rates are posted there – each room has a view of either the Canadian or US Falls at a wonderful rate, considering it’s summertime in one of the busiest areas of the country.

Our NAC Young BPW Rep Deanza is putting together a great Young BPW Symposium for August 23rd (everyone is welcome), so I hope we will have a great turnout to support her and the Young BPW members. NAC 2026 Regional Conference- HOME - BPW Canada

I wish you a joyful and peaceful holiday time filled with meaning and happiness.

Karin Gorgerat Regional Coordinator BPW International
North America and the Caribbean
karin.gorgerat@bpw-international.or