May 2024 Newsletter
May 23, 2024
Quorum’s Women’s Health Pillar
For 2024, Quorum has identified five key pillars to focus on for education and action: Leadership Impact, Diversity of Women, Raising Our Voices and Profiles, Women’s Health and Wellness, and Financial Health and Literacy.
Women’s health has continued to be wildly underfunded, under-researched, and under-distributed.
There is not enough research or data, and access is limited to treatments for health issues that are crucial for physical and mental well-being, such as menstruation, maternity, menopause, and caregiving.
Caregiving is an area of great need and concern because we are significantly behind in a space critical to our positive functioning and the way we show up in life and at work. Improving women’s healthcare, including support for caregivers, represents a $1 trillion opportunity to add to our economy, according to McKinsey.
This is why Quorum is delighted to partner with OM Health Hub, a new streaming platform featuring leading women’s health experts, for a series of Quorum Live programs this summer. A special Quorum Speaker Series’ session on the topic will take place in September.
- June 6th, 12pm EDT: Medical Gaslighting: Breaking the Barriers of Male-Centric Medicine
- July 9th, 12pm EDT: Unmasking the Predatory Wellness Industry: Empowering Women to Make Informed Health Choices
- August 6th, 12pm EDT: Overcoming Internalized Beliefs to Win at Health
We’d like to address your health concerns during the upcoming OM Women’s Health Hub series. What questions do you have about women’s health? Email them by June 3rd to diane@thequoruminitiative.com.
HOW Retreat: A Weekend of Self-Care
Last weekend, Quorum members and friends gathered in New York’s picturesque Catskill Mountains at the Blue Fox Motel for our annual HOW Retreat.
We started with a fun opening dinner complemented by beautiful wines and a winemaker’s story of nature and how things grow and evolve. We learned how to create space for ourselves – a contributing factor to overall wellness and mental health – through meditation and intention setting.
A relaxing nature walk, led by a seasoned naturalist helped us to reconnect with nature and a ceramicist taught us how to play with clay and get our creative juices flowing. Discussions on nutrition and wellness and intergenerational trauma connected us with the past, present and each other; a session on financial wellness dissected a topic that can often feel scary and overwhelming and provided valuable resources.
I couldn’t help but notice the many hugs, smiles and consistent laughter, which affirmed that when the Quorum community gathers, our collective energy results in something extraordinary.
Congratulations to Quorum members!
Patricia Roberts was featured on the cover of Global Woman’s April edition as a “true powerhouse in the world of higher education finance”!
Somi Kim‘s article, “In Her Own Words: Somi Kim’s Life After Layoff”, was published in The Business Journals: Bizwomen” on May 22, 2024.
Read the article here.
In Case You Missed It…
Through the Looking Glass: Exploring Microsteps After Job Loss
If you missed our recent Quorum Speaker Series session with Design Strategist Somi Kim and moderator Amy Mertz Brown, Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer, BECU, you missed an outstanding session.
Somi and Amy opened themselves to share candidly and in a meaningful way about challenging situations they’ve experienced. With superpowers of Resilience and Curiosity of Spirit, their lessons are invaluable to each of us, regardless of the stage of our lives and careers.
Actions to consider:
1) Focus on small wins
2) Reach out to all connections
3) Spend time understanding & defining your unique value
4) Be open minded and push yourself to think differently
5) Demonstrate flexibility
6) Make time for your mental and physical health – baby steps lead to much more
7) Prioritize the people that matter
8) Remember that spontaneity can be powerful
9) Unstructure the structured – be willing to look at the 5 day work week differently
10) Stay curious and explore
11) Reflect on what success really means to you
12) Visualize what you want and say it out loud
13) Increase your mentorship
14) Leverage your personal board of directors
15) If you don’t have a personal board, it’s time to create one…
These are excellent nuggets of advice that are important when you are in transition but also important all the time. As a call to action from Amy and Somi’s session, let’s challenge ourselves to incorporate these suggested actions in everything we do!
Welcome to our new Quorum member!
Latha Varghese, St. Joseph Chapter
Quorum Live: A Conversation Series with Quorum Members and Friends
We’ve been busy broadcasting Quorum Live, featuring casual conversations with Quorum members and friends with moderator Julie Livingston, WantLeverage Communications, about timely topics affecting women in the workplace. In case you missed the live version, you can catch up in Quorum’s video library on our YouTube channel.
- May 7th, Ellen Federico discussed “Turning Passion Into a Book Project” which resulted in her new children’s book, “Butterfly Island and The Invincible Crew”
- April 25th, Gitanjali Sakhuja, Fractional CCEO spoke about the “Power of Community” and the value of belonging and connecting with other women.
- April 30th, Regina Jiron shared her personal journey in “Becoming a Fractional Consultant”
Check out these upcoming, live chats on Meg Sullivan’s LinkedIn page.
- June 6th, 12pm EDT, “Medical Gaslighting: Breaking the Barriers of Male-Centric Medicine” with Anca Griffiths, CEO at OM and Co-author of “Why Women Aren’t Winning at Health (but can)”, Part 1 of our Women’s Health Series
- July 9, 12pm EDT, “Unmasking the Predatory Wellness Industry: Empowering Women to Make Informed Health Choices” with Anca Griffiths, Part 2 of our Women’s Health Series
- August 6, 12pm EDT, “Overcoming Internalized Beliefs to Win at Health” with Anca Griffiths, Part 3 of our Women’s Health Series
Of interest to local chapters…
Fresh off her appearance at Quorum’s HOW Retreat, Stand Up Comedienne Liz Austin has two upcoming performances:
LIT & WIT
Thursday, June 6, 6pm
Saugatuck Rowing Club
Westport, Connecticut
A comedy show to raise money to support the Westport Writer’s Workshop Outreach Program.
NYC’s A-List Comics Show
June 8, 8pm
Yotel Rooftop in NYC (42nd and 10th Ave.)
Connect with the Quorum Community through our new Community Platform
We’re delighted to see Mighty Networks, our new Quorum Community platform, take shape with members signing on.
A benefit of membership, this is your private space to get to know other Quorum members, deepen connections and keep up-to-date with our upcoming events.
If you’re already a Quorum Member, it’s easy to get started!
Quorum members have received two (2) links from Mighty Networks (our Community platform provider):
- one, takes you to the global Quorum Member space.
- two, takes you to your Chapter space.
The Community platform is designed to be easy to navigate, user-friendly, and accessible on both your desktop and mobile devices because when it comes to connection, there is no time to waste!
Remember to create a log in to see the Platform for yourself and learn more about our global Members and your local Chapter, read through a few of our latest posts, and keep up-to-date with our upcoming events.
Let’s get the conversations flowing!
Please encourage your friends to join Quorum!
Please help us get the word out about joining our network of inspiring and supportive women. At only $300 for twelve months, a Standard Membership is a phenomenal investment in your professional and personal growth with robust educational programming and extraordinary opportunities to connect with amazing women from many industries.
