Introduction:
NAOO Women’s Empowerment Committee (NWEC) is a subcommittee of NAOO. It was established in March 2019 following celebration of International Women’s day 2019. Ours is the very first all-women’s committee founded in the northeast Ohio area, comprising of 11 female members of Nepalese origin from diverse backgrounds.
Mission statement:
Provide a PLATFORM for women from all walks of life to come together and help EMPOWER them to be more proactive in their multiple roles as mothers, caregivers, professionals or aspiring professionals, leaders of their families and the community. Encourage more women to assume leadership roles.
Uplifting women is pivotal for a true and meaningful growth of the community. We believe that EMPOWERING women will empower the community.
Vision:
In the long term, we want to develop a strong team of female leaders ready to reach out to the more disempowered members of our community at large (nepali speaking here in the US and Nepal), understand their needs and build micro-projects focused to EMPOWER and UPLIFT them from a place of disempowerment.
2 Phase plan-
Phase 1- Next two years will be focused on laying the foundation of this organization in addition to assigning team/individual leads from within the executive committee to execute different agenda. This will be executed in coordination with an identified champion from the community. Our aim is to establish different clubs for individual agendas, build ground rules and maintain consistent running. This will create a base for the new upcoming team to assume their roles and transition smoothly.
Phase 2-The pre-existing team members will go on to build a team to lead empowerment micro projects based on the needs of an identified disempowered population. In the next 5 yrs time we hope to have two teams operating.
Philosophy-
“Leadership at core”–Every executive committee member will have an opportunity to exercise and develop leadership skills hands-on. Each member will be assigned a team leader of a club on volunteer basis.
Our team:
Comprises of an eleven female members committee-
- Chairperson- Dr Priya Vaidya Shrestha
- Secretary/ Grandparents club leader- Ms Pooja Shrestha
- Treasurer/Wellness club leader- Ms Sukirti Sharma
- Humanitarian club lead: Dr. Anu Shrestha
- Public Relations Officer-Ms Santoshi Rimal Pandey
- Ms Lalita Bhetwal- Book club leader/ IT personnel
- Dr Millu Rayamajhi PhD- Movie club leader
- Ms Nasara Banu- Event management
- Dr Nisha Thapaliya- Health related event leader
- Dr Pramila Parajuli- Health related event leader
Target population-
- All members of existing Nepalese community living in the greater Cleveland area and around
- Bhutanese population
- Also will extend our work and services to needy population in Nepal
Agendas-
- Agendas focused on personal and intellectual growth as well as creating awareness in pertinent women’s issues – Book clubs, Movie clubs, Discussion panels on womens issues
- Agendas focused on growth of the community and welfare- Health awareness seminars, free health camps, fund raise for a cause
- Agendas focused on caring for family members visiting and events focused on promoting intergenerational activities- Grandparents club
- Agendas focused on Leadership growth- Leadership training, public speaking training, platforms for women to come forward
- Agendas focused on developing mentorship/professional networking/internship/ connect to existing experts and professional in the area, for students and aspiring professionals- Mentorship fairs.
- Agendas focused on promoting social/ humanitarian volunteer work for kids and adults
- Agendas focused on forming support group for women in the community- Social media group, organize gatherings
- Agendas for health/wellness- Wellness club- organize hiking meets, yoga and meditation etc
- In the future- Empowerment projects
Long term goals–
- Create more female leadership
- Execute impactful empowerment projects
- Promote awareness in women’s issues and create awareness
- Positive growth of the Nepali community