Home > BPW Column > Column5 Chonchanok Viravan
Dr. Chonchanok Viravan International President (2005~2008)
 

What does it means to be powerful? Power is typically associated with money and high positions. People fight for it and to attain it are willing to hurt someone else. But is that the kind of power that BPW seeks?

 

If BPW is to claim that we are powerful, it is important that we steer away from such a negative meaning of power. BPW power should only be defined as “ the power to make a difference ” . Such power comes from within. It comes from our determination to advocate for women rights, not from a victory in fighting one another. It comes from our action to help other

women to help themselves and from our work promoting the interests of other women in business and their professions, not from doing things for our own personal benefit. It comes from the wise decisions of women leaders / executives which result in prosperity to our company, community and country. The impact of such decisions can serve as evidence for “ return on investment when women become top executives ” , and can be used for lobbying for equal

participation of women and men in decision making roles.

To distinguish BPW power from other typical meanings of power, I have decided that a theme for XXVI BPW International Congress in Merida to be “ ThePower to Make a Difference, through advocacy, actions and leadership ”. You can find out more about the theme in the Merida Congress 2008 section in this newsletter.

I hope you find Q2/2006 newsletter informative. There are many more clubs joining BPW in various countries. Latin America is getting ready for their Presidents' Meeting in Brazil . Young BPW is gearing up for Young BPW International Meeting in May 2007 in Korea . For organization review and reform, find out how we are reforming communication through “BPW Online”, our web site www.bpw-international.org , among other things. We also began our initial work to review possible ways to formulate BPW internal policy. The Project Committee and the Executive Board have set a new guideline for fundraising for BPW International Projects. Mentoring taskforce is coming on strong, with the new mentoring web section.

On a sad note, we bid farewell to one of our dear Past International Presidents, Maxine Hayes.

South Water Resource Centre has submitted notification to cease management of BPW International's Member Services as of 30 November 2006 . The P.O. Box address in Horsham will be maintained, but all mails to that address will be forwarded to President's office in Thailand .