About ABWA Sunset Chapter
The mission of the American Business Women’s Association is to bring together business women of diverse occupations and to provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support and national recognition.
Enrich lives and empower ABWA Sunset Chapter members through business skills, development and leadership opportunities at the local and national level, as well as assist individuals in pursuing dreams of higher education through scholarships generated by an annual fundraising events.
Whether you are starting a new business or looking to advancing your career, the American Business Women’s Association has been advancing women in their personal and professional lives since 1949.
In ABWA, we encourage all members to rehearse and master business skills and concepts that are valued in the workplace by being engaged in both local and nationally ABWA sponsored events.
ABWA members may register for online courses and webinars focused on workplace productivity from Gemba Academy Six Sigma and School of Lean to Laura Stack’s Email Best Practices in the Apex Campus, ABWA’s exclusive learning portal is accessible 24/7.
Ethical dilemmas occur as a result of values in conflict. It is important that the values of the American Business Women’s Association are communicated to all members, and so Express Network and Chapter leaders are asked not only to communicate but also to embrace, support, reinforce and uphold ABWA’s Proud Code of Ethics.
ABWA’s proud Code of Ethics was developed as a means of guiding all members in making ethical decisions. The broad statements of the code of conduct that are listed below are not expected to cover all conduct for all situations. This is why the proud Code of Ethics was created as a living and fluid code.
- All members will serve as goodwill ambassadors for the American Business Women’s Association.
- Members will not allow their personal beliefs and convictions to interfere with the representation of ABWA’s
- Members will always treat their member colleagues, guests, vendors and sponsors with honesty, respect, fairness, integrity, responsibility, kindness, and in good faith.
- Members will maintain compliance with ABWA National, Chapter and Express Network Bylaws.
- Members will not use their personal power to advance their personal interests.
- Members will strive for excellence in their professions by maintaining and enhancing their own business knowledge and skills, and by encouraging the professional development of other members.
1. Any member who makes a dinner reservation for herself or a guest and does not cancel by Wednesday noon prior to the monthly meeting, will be responsible for the cost of the dinner and will be billed by the Treasurer. If a member or a member’s guest check does not clear for payment, the member is responsible for reimbursing the chapter for both payment for dinner and any bank charges that may be incurred.
2. In order for members to be considered present and eligible to vote at a monthly meeting, they must be registered and have paid for dinner.
3. The Chapter President will receive 100% compensation toward registration and transportation costs to attend an ABWA District Conference or ABWA’s National Women’s Leadership Conference. She will be expected to represent the Chapter at all Conference activities and receive any awards the Chapter may earn.
4. The ABWA Sunset Chapter will elect a Woman of the Year each year. The person elected will receive 100% compensation toward registration and transportation to attend the Nat’l Women’s Leadership Conference. The same will apply for a chapter Top l0 Nominee.
5. The Chapter will budget $5,000.00 toward registration and hotel expenses and will be distributed among all primary members attending an ABWA District Conference or Nat’l Leadership Conference.
6. In order for a member to be nominated for President, she must have served a minimum of one year on an ABWA executive board.
7. Other than normal operating expenses, the Executive Board will approve bills up to $l00 without the approval of the membership.
8. Each Committee Chairperson will prepare a notebook of activities of the current year which will be passed along to the succeeding chair.
9. Any activity that would involve the Chapter’s support must be presented to the Executive Board through the appropriate committee chair, before being submitted to the full membership.
10. In case of illness or accident of a member, birth, or death of the immediate family, Sunset Chapter will send a suitable acknowledgment to that chapter member.
11. The regular monthly meeting of the Sunset Chapter in the month of December will be the Holiday party sponsored by the Gulf Coast Council.
12. The Sunset Chapter will disperse with the business portion of the regular monthly meeting in the month the Business Associate Event is held.
13. The Sunset Chapter will abide by ABWA’s Code of Conduct.
14. Tax return should be filed by the Outgoing President, incoming President and incoming Treasurer once books have been audited.
15. The Chapter welcomes all visitors. After attending four (4) meetings a visitor must join ABWA National Organization, and, subsequently, the Sunset Chapter.
ABWA – Chapter Committee Responsibilities
1) Membership Committee
2) Professional Development Committee
3) Fundraising/Advertising/Sponsorship Committee
4) Newsletter Committee
5) Publicity/Promotions Committee
6) Education (optional) Committee
The MEMBERSHIP Committee whose primary function is to collaborate with the Vice President and Secretary in maintaining the strength and vitality of the Chapter by organizing and hosting a minimum of two membership recruitment campaigns (Fall and Spring) that will attract prospective members and/or reclaim former members, and be responsible for organizing/hosting new member orientation events.
The PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Committee whose primary function is to create an annual curriculum to be delivered at the Regular Monthly Meetings. The committee shall utilize the aggregate results from the Member Interest Survey (MIS) as a compass when determining the annual curriculum (i.e, program topics). The committee shall secure programming within the budgetary guidelines, and speaker availability. Program information for each monthly meeting shall be submitted to the newsletter chair (e.g., the speaker’s name, photo, presentation title and overview, date and time) to be promoted in the league’s newsletter and its standard communication channels (website, social media, etc.). Committee chair will also inform Vice President about any technical requirements needed for each event which will be dependent on whether the meeting is hosted in-person, virtually or as a hybrid event.
The NEWSLETTER Committee whose primary function is to design, write, publish and distribute the Chapter newsletter to members, District Vice President and to ABWA National. The newsletter should be published quarterly and either mailed, e-mailed, or posted in Community Connections. The newsletter committee is also responsible for printing and submitting a copy of all quarterly publications to the Executive Board to be included in the Chapter’s Best Practices Binder. The length of the newsletter is defined by the Chapter.
The FUND-RAISING/ADVERTISING/SPONSORSHIP Committee whose members are responsible for identifying and recommending opportunities that generate capital to fund the league’s operations within the guidelines of the Association, Federal and State government. Once annual projects are approved, the committee shall act to create and implement their revenue generating plan. The committee shall be responsible for monitoring their plan’s progress and for providing monthly status reports to the Executive Board.
The PUBLICITY/PROMOTIONS Committee is defined as a Standing Committee. Members of this committee shall coordinate the development of a plan that increases the visibility of the Chapter using Broadcast (television and radio) Print (newspapers, magazines, signs, flyers, promotional items and billboards) and Digital (social networks, podcasts, website and email) and all awhile, maintaining compliance with ABWA’s brand standards.
The EDUCATION Committee is for the purpose of sponsoring a Stephen Bufton Memorial Educational Fund (SBMEF) scholarship. The primary function of this committee is to serve as a liaison between the Chapter and the Administrator (Jill Miller) of the Stephen Bufton Memorial Educational Fund (SBMEF).
The Education Committee shall:
• Monitor the league’s contributions to SBMEF.
• Manage the duties related to Impact Scholarships including the criteria for each Impact Scholarship sponsored.
• Submit applicant(s) for the Business Skills Tuition Reimbursement (BSTR) program to jmiller@abwa.org.
• Monitor scholarship applicant(s) completion of the online application process.
• Report status on initiatives to the Chapter’s Executive Board.
More than 5,000 business/networking meetings are hosted each year in more than 300 cities across the nation. If an ABWA experience is not available in your local community, give us a call to start a new Chapter at 1-800-228-0007.
Join the American Business Women’s Association to start your leadership journey!
ABWA partners with other organizations to promote important dates and events that will have a positive impact on women’s lives including:
- The American Cities Business Journal for their Biz Mentoring Monday Event. An annual event that attracts 10,000 women from across the nation.
- The Small Business Saturday Coalition for promoting shop small on Small Business Saturday, the first Saturday following the Thanksgiving holiday.
- Global Ties KC which hosts international groups and facilitates local connections.
- The American Business Women’s Foundation (ABWF) which educates women about issues impacting equal pay.
Each year the ABWA Sunset Chapter recognizes our outstanding members. One very special recognition is our Chapter Woman of the Year. This prestigious award is selected and voted on by the members of the Sunset Chapter. The nominations are not known to the recipients which makes this extra special. The upcoming ABWA year (2022-2023) Carole Rodgers will represent the Sunset Chapter as our Woman of the Year.
Meet our Woman of the Year
Carole is very excited to be representing the ABWA Sunset Chapter as their choice as 2022 Chapter Woman of the Year.
