Over the years she has participated in numerous other philanthropic fund raising and event planning activities, including the Treasury Historical Association's Special Restoration Fundraising Committee to fund a historical Cash Room restoration project, and the Children's Hope Foundation Benefit Committee, a New York City Pediatric AIDs organization.

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EWG Outgoing President Offers Thanks & A Wish

A big thanks to each of you for the privilege of serving as your President for the past 12 months. During the year, I felt a growing sense of family - no, sisterhood. Having only one brother, I've always wanted sisters. Unlike family, where you can't choose the members, EWG provides opportunities to choose our sisters and form friendships among members! So believe me it's been wonderful.

This phenomenal year started with my swearing-in by the first female Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. It's with great pride that I remember my intern singing the national anthem during the ceremony. We redoubled our efforts to recognize outstanding women by starting a new EWG tradition to honor the women who won the President's Distinguished Rank Awards, the government's highest recognition for its senior executives.

Our winter holiday tea at the Four Seasons featured Julie Beckman, the young architect who won the competition to design the Pentagon Memorial. An autumn lunch at Finemondo featured Linda Schuessler, the government official who landed all air traffic on 9/11 from the Dulles Command Center. Her minute-by-minute account held us spellbound.

We sold out our "Women's Summit" in March at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with co-sponsors Accenture, Booz, Allen & Hamilton and eWorthy Solutions. What a way to spend a day! We had women of spectacular achievements, notably one of EWG's Founders, Sen. Elizabeth Dole and her mentor, Virginia Knauer. Other stars included Karen Schaeffer, a top financial advisor; Hon. Barbara Blum, former EPA deputy, and Ann McDaniel, vice president of the Washington Post Co. The new year started out on a high note that was sustained by those of you who came out in the snow and rain to see Barbara Hackman Franklin in February at the Arts Club and to meet the Austrian Ambassador at a piano concert at her Embassy in April. We shared our life and career experiences at brown bags and have continued to refer one another to job vacancies.

Today I am proud to find myself among your past EWG Presidents, and I pledge my continuing support. Once again I welcome Lori Santamorena as our new EWG President and Maria Vickers Parisi, as President-elect. The new leadership has us off to a great start and much more is planned. We will continue to network with women at the highest levels of government and we will continue the important work of mentoring future civil servants.

At our last program in October, I really enjoyed hearing a member explain to her guests why they should become EWG members. I really share her great enthusiasm about our program quality, the high caliber of the members and the warm ambiance we all enjoy. I see each event as a way to renew myself. As we enter the holiday season, remember that EWG membership is a gift that you can give yourself. So please stay tuned and be active.

Warm regards,

Marylouise M. Uhlig
President 2003-04 EWG

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Tea & Toys for Tots

Join us at our 2nd Annual Holiday Tea and Fundraiser on December 16 where you can celebrate the season and make a child happy by donating to the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program. Amid the hustle and bustle of the holidays, afternoon tea provides a time to relax, rejuvenate, and reflect. The art of afternoon tea is mostly about the experience that is steeped in Asian and Old World traditions and refined throughout centuries. We've chosen a location that brings this experience to a new level: the Mandarin Oriental which has the city's first tea sommelier, Robert Guiler.

And as you enjoy the tradition of afternoon tea, you will learn more about another tradition that brings toys to needy children. Founded 57 years ago, the Toys for Tots program has grown to 456 communities covering all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico. Last year the program distributed 15 million toys to 6.5 million needy children. This year our local campaign has a monumental goal of collecting 250,000 toys! You can help reach this goal. Several Marines will join us to answer your questions, tell you more about the program and accept your donation of a new, unwrapped toy or contribution.

For more information and to register, click here. For information on donations visit Toys for Tots.

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SES Candidate Development Program Announced

OPM announced a unique and highly competitive program designed to train future leaders for the Federal Government: the SES Federal Candidate Development Program (Fed CDP). This partnership between the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and participating agencies, offers a 14-month immersion program that involves participants in educational forums and gives them unrivaled field experiences, including residential executive training and working sessions with White House and Cabinet officials. All applicants must be U.S. citizens and have at least 1 year of leadership experience at or above the GS-14 level in the Federal service or comparable experience.

The FEDCDP started accepting applications November 15 and will close on December 8. The announcement is on USAJOBS. For more information visit the OPM website.

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2005 Government Women's Leadership Awards

The Women's Leadership Awards program is accepting nominations through November 30. This unique program, sponsored by Accenture, recognizes the outstanding contributions of women who have helped to define and create high-performance government. They are given in three categories: Government Visionary, Government Rising Leader and Small Business Icon. If you know a woman who is either a federal government employee or small business leader working with the federal government who is helping to change government, submit a nomination today. Nominations may be submitted by anyone employed in the Federal Government or a commercial enterprise doing business with the Federal Government. Self nominations are also welcomed and encouraged. For more details visit www.womensleadershipawards.com. Accenture was a Platinum Sponsor of the 2004 EWG Annual Conference.

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Spring Brings the Annual Conference

The 2005 calendar offers a variety of programming to meet the needs and interests of our members. The highpoint will certainly be the 2005 EWG Summit & Training Conference on March 17 where we'll celebrate National Women's Month with a day of training and education. This event falls within the Government Employees Training Act (GETA) so be sure to get it on your calendar. The planning committee still welcomes speaker suggestions and referrals for event sponsors (Contact EWG for sponsorship details).

Also on the calendar is: the annual High Tea Honoring the President's Distinguished Rank Award Winners in April and three networking luncheons. Watch our website for more details at they unfold on all of our events.

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Status of Women Report Issued

The Institute for Women's Policy Research, a scientific research organization focused on women and their families, has released its Status of Women in the States report, which is part of a set of reports on women's status across the country. The report generally found that while women have made significant economic, social and political advances, they are still far from enjoying gender equality. The report contains indicators describing women’s status in five areas: social and economic autonomy; reproductive rights; and health and well being. To assist citizens and leaders in understanding and using the data, they have given each state a grade. To view the report online, go here.

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Fall Events Offered A Look Outside the Workplace

Chinese Embassy Offered a Look at How Music Bridges Cultures ... On Sunday, October 3, EWG Members and their guests gathered at the Chinese Embassy for a private reception, extraordinary concert and buffet of traditional Chinese foods. The evening began with members meeting with Ambassador Yang Jiechi and his wife. Ambassador Jiechi talked about how music can serve as a bridge between cultures.

EWG members had some of the best seats for the concert - the first three rows on one side - which made viewing the exotic and intricate instruments a real treat. Those lucky enough to snag seats in the first row sat inches from the musicians. This small, fairly young band well known in China for their traditional music sounded like a full orchestra. The program offered a mix of Chinese music solos and ensemble works adding a few American favorites, such as Moon River. They played two encores after which attendees ventured into a banquet room for a buffet featuring a wide selection of traditional Chinese dishes from steamed buns and dumplings to platters of raw salmon, cooked beef and steamed fish.

Editorial Cartoonist Gives a Look from Outside In ... Ann Telnaes, one of the few women in the field of editorial cartooning, is known for clean, bold and deceptively simple drawing style that tackles head-on controversial and sometimes hidden issues affecting women, children, society and the environment. She described to EWG members at our September 28 luncheon how she came to be a political cartoonist. The journey began with Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in animation from the California Institute of the Arts and included a stint at Walt Disney Imagineering designing "all-things-Disney" including Disney World rides. She then worked as an animator for a number of studios world-wide before the urge to speak out on women's issues. When she made the switch to political cartooning she found she had only a handful of female colleagues but that didn't deter her.

Today she is an independent cartoonist who is syndicated around the world by Tribune Media Services. She said her big thrill was hearing that she had won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 2001, only the second women to achieve this distinction. The Pulitzer is just one of many she has earned. How does she do it? She gets her inspiration from her guts, drawing and writing about issues she cares deeply about.

Norm Ornstein Shared a Pre-Election Look ... While the outcome of the election is known now, on October 12, EWG members had the opportunity for an in-side look at the election which was in full-swing. EWG and the Senior Executives Association (SEA) hosted Dr. Norman Ornstein for this special look. Ornstein is a resident scholar at American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research where he researches politics, Congress, and elections giving him a unique view of the election. In addition, he is currently directing an effort, called the Transition to Governing Project, to create a better climate for governing.

He noted that the campaign was essentially by-passing MD, DC and VA, while focusing solely on the 10-15 swing states. He predicted correctly that the House would likely remain Republican. He also predicted correctly that no matter the outcome, the climate in the country is "difficult at best and poisonous at worst" with a sharply divided electorate and intractable problems of terrorism, Iraq, and the deficit. Whether Ornstein's prediction for the Civil Service under a second term of President Bush is correct remains to be seen. He said to expect President Bush to exert increased control over the Civil Service, attempting to finish the job he started, i.e., new pay rules at the DHS.

Looking to the next election, Ornstein said to keep our eyes on Bill Frist, largely seen as a "compassionate conservative." On the Democratic side, he said to watch John Edwards, Hilary Clinton and Bill Richardson.

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Members in the News

Barbara Hackman Franklin earned yet another honor as one of the 2004 Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award Recipients. HBS annually recognizes select men and women from among their more than 65,000 graduates who have distinguished themselves by contributing significantly to their companies and communities while upholding the highest standards and values in everything they do. Franklin was honored based on a unique career during which she served five presidents as well as served as corporate director and senior fellow at the Wharton School. She was also honored for her ability to break down barriers beginning with being one of the first women graduates HBS in 1964.

Cecilia B. Elizondo Herrera accepted an exciting and challenging job from which she sent this post …
Dear Friends, I am writing to you from my new temporary duty post Baghdad, Iraq. It is an honor for me to be here to help establish the Embassy's Protocol Office. I am very busy and have met many fascinating people. Times are challenging, but there is a great optimism about the direction the country is taking. An incredible number of brave souls on both the Iraqi and international community side are working diligently on reconstruction. I am among a cadre of Foreign Service personnel working to establish our Embassy. I am especially grateful for the support offered by all individuals here to newcomers, like myself, trying to acclimate quickly to start my work here. I will send you updates from time to time and appreciate your kind thoughts and prayers for all of us working throughout this country. Best regards, Cecilia (Chief of Protocol, U. S. Embassy Baghdad)

Wilna Ray was accepted to study at the War College more formerly known as the National Defense University ICAF Program. She will be there through June 2005 and refers to this as a privilege. NDU, under the direction of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, educates military and civilian in national security, military and resource strategy.

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Welcome New Members

Name	Agency
Anne Marie Acton	General Services Administration
Betty Bradshaw	Office of Management and Budget
Joanne Broderick	Department of Justice
Pamela Caudill	Department of State
Elizabeth Cotsworth	Environmental Protection Agency
Yvette Garner	Environmental Protection Agency
Lucia Homick	Department of Commerce
Carolyn Hoskinson	Environmental Protection Agency
Susan Janowiak	Environmental Protection Agency
Elissa Karpf	Environmental Protection Agency
Valorie King	Department of Defense
Ellen Korchek	HRSP, CRIS, ISP
Lluana McCann	National Science Foundation
Jennifer McCloskey	Department of the Treasury
Penelope McCormack	Department of Homeland Security
Linda McPheeters	Department of the Interior
Romaine Nelson	Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Carolyn Olson	Department of Agriculture
Nancy Redding	Federal Bureau of Prisons
Gayle Rice	Environmental Protection Agency
Beth Sauerhaft	Environmental Protection Agency
NJ Sheers	Consumer Product Safety Commission
Sandra Shoun	Department of Justice
Jo Stembler	Homeland Security
Ramona Trovato	Retired
Terri Williams	Department of Veterans Affairs

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