Our Mission:  To empower African American women to Learn, Lead, and Succeed

What POW Offers

Our organization has grown exponentially from 6 to over 75 members and has become a preeminent force in St. Louis. We benefit our members by providing a venue where African American female professionals can provide support and best practices on succeeding in Corporate America; by providing leadership opportunities which result in transferable management skills that can be appreciated by corporations; by providing specific professional development tools and seminars; and finally by developing a variety of opportunities for our members to give back to a much needed community through volunteerism. The benefits that P.O.W. bring to corporate sponsors are endless and include access to an active group of talented and educated African American women, access to our supporters and constituents that include over 2,000 professionals in the St. Louis region and also includes valuable insight on the needs and wants of a talented group of minorities that could potentially leave the area due to lack of diversity initiatives and cultural understanding on the part of St. Louis based corporations.

History

The Professional Organization of Women, Inc was born out of concern shared by several young professional African American women. Their concern centered around the lack of focus on diversity by St. Louis based corporations which they felt would directly impact their ability to grow professionally in this region. The founders met at a tea party hosted by an African American female corporate executive who provided insight into her success in Corporate America and St. Louis.

It was during this tea party that the founding members met and realized they shared this concern and that it was up to them to make a change. The Professional Organization of Women was established within 2 months of the women meeting each other and established a mission of "Bridging the Gap between minority professionals and the corporate environment in the St. Louis region". Since 1997 P.O.W. has thrived in making a difference in the corporate and community environments of St. Louis and has a more focused mission of "Empowering African American Women to Learn, Lead & Succeed".

POW Founding Members

Name	Current Residence	Current Position
Rhonda Bean, M.H.A	Los Angeles, CA	Hospital Administration
Kimberly Charles, B.A.	St. Louis, MO	Entrepreneur
Sheree Cunningham	Chicago, IL	Trainer, Speakers Bureau of Cook County, IL
Ralonda Jasper, M.B. A.	St. Louis, MO	Mortgage Banker, Citigroup
Nicole Labeach, P.h.D.	Los Angeles, CA	Author & Entrepreneur, Volition Enterprises
Faustenia Morrow, B. A.	Buffalo, NY	Entrepreneur & Consultant

Board, Officers & Chairpersons

   2008 Board Members

• Rebeccah Bennett, Vector Communications - Board President
• Ralonda Jasper, Citi Mortgage- Board Vice President
• Jada Reese, Express Scripts - Board Secretary
• Cathleen Arshadi, The Commerce Trust Co., (A Division of Commerce Bank)- Treasurer
• Melanie Adams, Missouri History Museum/History Society
• Janice Baskin, Pfizer
• Debra I. Glover, Wachovia Securities LLC
• Michele Holton, Monsanto
• Lee Lewis, Enterprise Rent-A-Car
• Dr. Shanti Parikh, Washington University
• Cheryl Polk, United Way
• Gail Holmes-Taylor, Energizer
• Lynn Beckwith, Jr., Ed. D.

  2008 POW Executive Team

• Tiffany Cooley, President
• Lisa Muex-Sisson, Vice President
• Robinette Lance, Secretary
• Catina Chestnut, Financial Secretary
• Carletha Rogers, Parliamentarian

 2008 Committee Chairs

• Shallyn Williams and Jacinta Witherspoon, Community
• Brandy Jackson and Nicole Miller, Communications
• Courtney Simms, Fundraising
• Utica Morris and Mitzi Lowery, Membership
• Stacey Dabney, Professional Development