WISTA is the Women's International Shipping & Trading Association dedicated to supporting women in management levels in the maritime industry. The new Pacific Northwest Chapter held its first meeting on May 24 in Seattle, Wash.
The Pacific Northwest chapter of WISTA USA had its plankowners meeting last Wednesday in Seattle. We discussed what we wanted out of the organization and elected officers. Yours truly is the PNW chapter secretary responsible for minutes and membership. Our president is Capt. Katharine Sweeney of Compliance Maritime and a columnist with MarineNews. We also elected an Activities Coordinator (Cynthia Powell of Global Diving & Salvage) and a Communications Manager (Sarah Flagg of the Port of Seattle).
We had 16 attend the meeting, held at the Waterfront Marriott, and a handful of us stayed after to celebrate Bobbi Wolff's birthday (Alaris Companies), the president of the West Coast chapter. At the meeting the group discussed an ongoing project in education that was started in the West Coast chapter and we voted to form a work group that will span both the West Coast and PNW chapters to continue that project. Many members have close ties with California Maritime Academy and are working to create a mentorship forum for cadets and a program to introduce the maritime career path to K-12 students.
Two women contacted me after seeing my last blog post and I was happy to get to meet them at last Wednesday's meeting. I hope they found that the group can benefit them in their careers and social network.
Our next event, probably a tour and presentation from a local business/organization, will probably happen in late July in Seattle. PNW WISTA's next business meeting will be in late September. Prospective members are welcome to attend both. If you'd like to come check us out, email me at rainaclark@marinelink.com.