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Thursday, July 15, 2010

Warsaw June 18-19: “Women for Poland, Poland for Women” - was the main motto of 2nd Congress of Polish Women (II Kongres Polskich Kobiet) that took place in Warsaw. The event gathered over 3000 of professional polish women.
Joanna Bouissou representing EVE-olution Foundation Inc. at the Congress met with Mrs Henryka BOCHNIARZ, President, Boeing Central & Eastern Europe, co-founder of this initiative, Mrs Lidia ADAMSKA, Member of Management Board, Warsaw Stock Exchange, and Mrs Dorota WARAKOMSKA, Journalist and co-founder of Polish Professional Women Network (PWNet). Many topics were discussed during the panel sessions: combining professional carrier with motherhood; women in business: equality, diversity and efficiency; emancipation of women and evolution of men; Poland and Union after the crisis; health care system, etc. The important place in the debates took the issue of introducing gender parities on voting lists what shows the strong will of Polish women to take an active role in political life regardless of their political views.
The congress finished just the day before the first round of presidential elections and its closing manifesto was “time for elections, time for women, time for solidarity”.

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Gerard Stein was among those recognized in the first Greater IBM awards.

Gerard Stein lives by a simple credo: “Women are the global power of change.”

He’s devoted his after-IBM life to turning that belief into actions that promote the abilities of women to achieve leadership positions. After 31 years with IBM in France, Africa and Saudi Arabia, he launched EVE-olution.org, a not-for-profit organization and travels widely as a business coach for women senior executives and business owners. He also works with leading think-tanks dealing with global trade.

Officially registered as EVE-olution Foundation Inc., his organization focuses on helping female entrepreneurs in emerging and developing countries run businesses better.

Gerard’s work and encouragement for other Greater IBMers earned him one of our first annual awards as a “Greater Evangelist”.

The organization’s motto is “the global power of change,” and he believes that women, especially those with businesses, will drive that change.

“We rely on women to give our kids better chances to live in a safer and healthier planet than predicted by world experts, because they are the powerful influencers of their own region,” he said. “As mothers, all of them are acting toward the same objective. This is a multiple ‘butterfly effect,’" he added, referring to the theory that the beating of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the world can lead to a hurricane elsewhere.

Stein is also fond of a quote from Oprah Winfrey: “When you empower women you can change the world.”

“I’m the father of four daughters and already four grandchildren, and I care about their future. That’s why I co-created this project.”

Pollution, terrorist organizations and the current financial situation don’t respect frontiers, said Stein. And a huge portion of the world’s population not only lives in developing countries, but seems destined to live “in alarming conditions” in and around cities. Reinforcing women entrepreneurs helps buffer some of those threats. EVE-olution’s help to those women comes by opening doors for their business, finding new export markets, rather than lending or giving them money.

With a thriving business, a woman can create new jobs in her village, stemming the rural-to-urban exodus. “They’re also role models for youth, inspiring their communities,” said Stein. “And in their regions they’re powerful influencers of sustainable development and security.”

EVE-olution.org, said Stein, runs “without the expensive logistics of members, employees or permanent offices,” although it covers the expenses of volunteers. The foundation calls on private companies to support them but will not accept money from governments or public institutions.

He’s hoping the Greater IBM community will provide him with more manpower. You don’t have to travel to Africa to help. Stein is looking for retired executives and corporate volunteers as well as business administration students willing to work on the project. He also needs development volunteers to approach companies to become supporters, Web specialists and designers to expand EVE-olution’s site, and communicators to help raise the organization’s visibility.

"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal,” said Stein, quoting 19th Century American author Albert Pine.