BPW Foundation Celebrates Fifty Years of Improving the Lives of Workingwomen

BPW Foundation Celebrates Fifty Years of Improving the Lives of Workingwomen
Business and Professional Women’ Foundation Hosts Celebration Breakfast

Washington, DC, February 2, 2006 — On Friday, February 3rd, the Business and Professional Women’s Foundation will host its 50th Anniversary Celebration Breakfast as part of the 2006 BPW/USA Policy & Action Conference scheduled from Feb. 2-4, 2006 in Washington, DC. The breakfast is the kick-off of the BPW Foundation’s year- long celebration of its anniversary, Lighting the Way: Exploring Our Past, Discovering Our Future.

The celebration breakfast begins a special research and education day of the Policy & Action conference, which is sponsored in part by the BPW Foundation. Ted Halstead, CEO of the New America Foundation, is the keynote speaker for the breakfast.

“This breakfast will launch a year of activities in recognition of a pioneering organization,” said Dr. Sheila Barry-Oliver, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the BPW Foundation. “An institution dedicated to research and information for and about workingwomen was ground-breaking in 1956 and is still impressive and unusual today.”

Conference attendees will select from workshops such as Working Fathers & Work-Life Effectiveness: Positive News for Workingwomen and How Employers and Workingwomen Find Common Ground on Policy: Creating Win- Win Advocacy. Workshop speakers are employers and organizations that are re-shaping and re-thinking workplace policies.

For 50 years, the BPW Foundation’s efforts have made a tangible difference in the lives of American workingwomen and their families. The BPW Foundation achieves its mission, to empower workingwomen to achieve their full potential and partner with employers to build successful workplaces, by creating resources and programming for workingwomen and employers, conducting targeted research, and providing scholarships for education and career advancement.

“From the beginning, the BPW Foundation has been cutting-edge in its vision,” said BPW Foundation’s CEO Deborah Frett. “Its work continues to improve the lives of workingwomen and their families, throughout the nation.”

The official 50th anniversary date for the Foundation is February 27, 2006. Anniversary activities include a History Project, BPW Foundation month celebration, the launch of an online clearinghouse of information on workingwomen, publication of white papers on issues critical to workingwomen, and a BPW Foundation 50th Anniversary Gala.

Established in 1956, the BPW Foundation is a nonprofit research, and educational institution governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees. As a national convener, the foundation has influenced, informed, and educated Presidents, members of Congress, state officials, policymakers, women of influence -- making research and educational resources available that accurately portray the challenges and important role of workingwomen .

For more information, go to www.bpwfoundation.org