Monday, 03-08-2010

International Women’s Day Celebration: Network with Seattle Women in Development

Join YPIN as we celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th!

Join prominent local women in international development and other young women leaders in our community to network, learn, and connect. Get career advice, meet new people, and have a cocktail to celebrate this important day!

Our special guests for the evening include:

Sonia Doughty, Donor and Community Relations Manager, Washington CASH: Sonia is responsible for individual and corporate fundraising at Washington CASH, as well as leading the community relations and marketing efforts for the organization. Sonia’s professional career started on Wall Street in the early 1980’s, and after several years working in business development and marketing, she switched gears and began her career in the non-profit sector in 2003. Sonia has worked with Northwest Center, the Seattle Girls’ School and the Stroum Jewish Community Center, honing her development and marketing skills which she now enthusiastically uses in her work with Washington CASH. Sonia graduated with a degree in English from the University of Hawaii, and after spending a year in graduate school studying secondary education, she moved to Seattle with her family in 1996. She is truly inspired by the entrepreneurs she meets, consults and works with every day.

Erin Shutes, Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Erin received a Bachelor of Arts at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a Masters of Public Health in International Health and Epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Erin managed a laboratory for an observational cohort study of HIV discordant couples for UAB in Lusaka, Zambia and subsequently coordinated a perinatal HIV prevention trial looking at the role of exclusive breastfeeding and abrupt weaning for Boston University. Erin returned to UAB briefly to initiate a cross-sectional epidemiology study in Belize to identify high risk groups, transmission patterns and facilitate rapid HIV testing throughout the country. She returned to Africa to coordinate the scale-up of couples’ voluntary counseling and testing (CVCT) for HIV and site development for clinical trials in Kigali, Rwanda. The site conducted Rwanda’s first HIV vaccine trial in partnership with Emory University and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Erin joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in October 2007 as a Program Officer in Infectious Diseases Development working on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Laurie Werner, Director of Program, Agros International: Laurie has worked at Agros International since June 2003, and currently serves as Director of Program. Her previous experience includes working with orphaned and abandoned children in Honduras and consulting for a microcredit program in El Salvador through Global Partnerships. Laurie has a Bachelors Degree from Whitworth College (1994) in Sociology and Religion, and attended graduate school at UW at the Evans School of Public Affairs. She graduated in 2002 with her Masters in Public Administration, emphasizing in nonprofit management and international development. In her spare time Laurie sits on the board of the Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship, and loves to spend time playing in the mountains surrounding the Seattle area, as well as knit and cook at home.

Theresa Schulz Norris, President and Founder, Women’s Enterprises International (WEI): WEI is a Seattle-based organization dedicated to creating opportunities that equip women in developing countries to overcome poverty and transform their lives, families and communities. WEI, working in partnership with women’s groups in rural villages, addresses three systemic causes of poverty; the need for clean water, access to education for girls and income generation opportunities for women. Theresa spent over 14 years managing technical teams, marketing programs, and strategic partnerships for companies such as Aldus and Microsoft. Since 1998 Theresa has donated her time to a variety of non-profit international development organizations, including serving on the World Vision Micro-enterprise Investors Council and the Board of Directors of the Agros Foundation. She has worked in over a dozen countries, including Kenya, Benin, and Guatemala, where WEI currently sponsors programs. Her passion is to engage people at home in the lives of the rural poor with the opportunity to help transform lives in a meaningful and lasting way. Theresa graduated from Washington State University with a BA in Business Administration and in March 2009 received their 2009 Alumni Woman of Distinction Award.

Stay tuned for information on our special guests for the evening!