A Note from Erin,
There is not enough space or time in this month’s newsletter to highlight all of the tremendous women that have joined our group. This month, however, we are going to highlight two women who were brave out of the gate to join Women Who Succeed, as well as one of our first Mentees. Please take a few minutes to learn more about these amazing women below. In addition, we have included an example of the video vignettes being produced and share on our YouTube channel. Thank you to Besty Mennell, Mary Garff Menlove, and Gabriela Benitez – BRAVO!
Please come to our first in-person event, The Women Who Succeed Kahlert Mixer, on July 29^th, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Kahlert Village at the University of Utah. All members should attend regardless if they are mentoring or not. Please register on Eventbrite here https://www.eventbrite.com/e/158035527517
Lastly, we have been very busy with our social media! Share with friends:
Members Spotlight
Alison Flynn Gaffney
was the first woman to officially join Women Who Succeed and as the Founding Member, I was thrilled to have her on-board! She joined to continue to be an advocate for all women by sharing her personal and professional experiences by using, as she says, “my outloud voice” to support, education, action, opportunity creation, and networking. She is passionate about helping humans and believes that we can and should use a plethora of platforms to do so.
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Jessica Jones
is from Pocatello, Idaho. However, she spent many childhood years in New Hampshire. Her years there instilled a deep love of hiking, the forest, and maple syrup! She has enjoyed exploring the many trails that the Salt Lake Valley has to offer. Other hobbies include knitting, baking, and reading, both fiction and nonfiction. She loves music and has played the piano ever since she could sit at the keyboard. Jessica has spent many years singing in various choirs and is completing a Music Minor in Voice at the University of Utah, along with her STEM degree.
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Nicole Mouskondis
was the second woman to officially join as a Founding Member of Women Who Succeed. I have known Nicole for about 15 years and here are a few little-known facts about her. 1.) She lived away from home from the time she was 9 years old to train for gymnastics at an Elite Level and competed as an athlete from the University of Utah. She also knows every word of Rapper’s Delight from The Sugarhill Gang which she says, “dates me now!”
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Fundrasing
Your Dollars Have Impact
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to each of you who are actively investing in our good work through membership giving! These dollars will immediately go to work for us as we provide College Mentor stipends and boost our individual scholarship fund. We would also like you to know that we received an important nod from the Salt Lake Chamber, which donated $10,000 to Women Who Succeed, announcing this as they honored Kathi & the late Bob Garff as Giants in our City on June 24!
In addition, we have had several gracious donations made possible from inside our WWS network: The Andrus Family Foundation $25,000 (Girls Give Back Sponsor), Maverik $25,000 (Diamonds on Ice Sponsor), Two Ferry $25,000 (Diamonds on Ice Sponsor), and The Gardner Company $5,000 (General Programming). We would also like to thank partners who help us make the most of our donor dollars by offering in-kind support: O.C. Tanner (venue space), The Kahlert Foundation (venue space), and Vega Media Studios (media space).
If you or your company are interested in supporting WWS with a financial donation, I would love to hear from you at jenniferb@sieutah.org (mailto:jenniferb@sieutah.org) . Our work aligns so nicely with corporations and businesses who care about: STEM, education, community enhancement, workforce readiness, women leadership, and much more!
Mentoring
Mentoring Program Overview
One of the unique and beautiful features of the Women Who Succeed program is the waterfall structure that enables women of all ages and backgrounds to lift one another and share their talents. Women members will mentor younger high school and college-aged women, who in turn, have the opportunity to gain leadership skills by mentoring younger girls.
Our mentorship curriculum was developed based off industry research focused on women’s leadership, success criteria for students to successfully pursue and graduate with higher education, and what types of mentorships are most beneficial to pre-professional women. With this research in mind, we are currently developing our Mentoring Workbook that will be released during our Mentor Orientation on Thursday, July 22^nd. This Mentorship Workbook mirrors our monthly themes, containing self-assessments, reflection and journaling prompt, group activities to be completed with mentors and mentees, and discussion prompts to be facilitated by the mentor.
Recruitment of Young Women Participants
While all young women are encouraged to apply, our Women Who Succeed team wished to make this opportunity available to young women of diverse backgrounds. Our intentional recruitment efforts were aimed towards young women who come from (1) racially or ethnically diverse backgrounds, (2) are first generation to pursue higher education (3) reside in rural communities, and (4) attend Title 1 schools. To ensure program accessibility and equity of opportunity to those groups of young women, a targeted recruitment strategy was designed, dividing our outreach into the four waves listed below.
Wave 1: Rural and Title 1 Schools
Wave 2: Schools with Moderate/High Diversity and Title 1 Schools
Wave 3: University and College Clubs, NGOs, and Associations
Wave 4: General Population
Beyond working with school districts, school counselors and student advocates, our Women Who Succeed team has worked with school groups and associations across the state, such as: Latinos in Action, Black Scholars United, Voices of Diversity, Multiracial Student Associations, First Generation Student Association, Hispanos Unidos, and Black Student Unions to name a few. We have worked with Women’s Success and Resource Centers across each of the universities and colleges in the state and collaborated with several Native American Tribes. Finally, we continue coordinating with Boys and Girls Clubs and local NGOs to make this opportunity available to young women from low-income families. As a result, we currently have:
Your Role as a Mentor: Next Steps
We look forward to your engagement as a Mentor and encourage you to attend the virtual Mentor Orientation on Thursday, July 22nd from 5:30-7:30 pm. Please keep an eye out for an email from Mallory Santa Cruz with a request for a photo and bio. When paired, your mentees will receive a digital packet including your introduction, and you will also receive a photo and bio for each of your assigned mentees. Mentors and mentees will be paired based off industry interest, soft-skill development, and personal interests.
Mentors may also have the opportunity to have their first meet and greet with their assigned mentees at The Kahlert Mixer held the following Thursday, July 29th.
Thank you again for your engagement and willingness to make a difference in the lives of these young women. You truly are supporting the growth of the next generation of female leaders in Utah. Your contributions are valuable and greatly appreciated.
Get Involved
Scholarship Committee
It is our pleasure to announce that we are now opening signups for our two scholarship committees! We will have ten spots available for participating women on both the Scholarship Criteria Committee and the Scholarship Selection Committee. The first ten women to register for each will be selected.
Scholarship Criteria Committee: Members will determine the criteria by which scholarship applicants will be selected (need, merit, etc.). This committee may draft sample questions to be incorporated into the Scholarship Application to guide selection.
Scholarship Selection Committee: Members will review the submitted applications by participating college-age women and award scholarship(s) based upon criteria previously established.
If you are interested in joining one of these committees, please signup HERE
Members Spotlight cont.
Alison Flynn Gaffney cont.
Fun fact about Alison is that she went cage diving off the coast of Farallon Islands with Great White Sharks! That pretty much sums up Alison – BOLD, BRAVE, FEARLESS!
Alison Flynn Gaffney has been with University of Utah Health since 2017. Currently, Alison is Executive Director of University of Utah Hospital, Service Lines, and System Planning at The University of Utah Hospitals & Clinics (University of Utah Health).
Prior to joining University of Utah Health, Alison has worked close to three decades in several senior level strategic, operations, and consulting roles at academic medical centers, community hospitals, and consulting companies. Alison was most recently, a Senior Vice President at GNYHA Services, Inc., and Nexera, Inc., two companies within the for-profit division of the Greater New York Hospital Association. Alison provided executive oversight for key client relationships and assisted in the development and implementation of strategic initiatives achieving positive and sustainable outcomes. She also oversaw internal operations for both Nexera and GNYHA Services. Previously, Alison worked at former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, where she led the healthcare and pharmaceutical practice internationally in addition to engagements within the energy, finance, and fraud detection arenas. She has held administrative, operations, and supply chain
positions at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Continuum Health Partners, and Danbury Hospital.
In these roles and others, Alison has been a proven leader in health systems operations, financial management, supply chain, faculty and staff growth & development, and strategic planning.
Alison is a Board Certified 2-star Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and Certified Materials and Resource Professional through the Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM). Alison also serves on a countless number of Boards volunteering her time and expertise to impact organizations and people in a positive way. Including but not limited to; Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Intermountain West, Women Who Succeed, and Saint John the Baptist Elementary & Middle Schools. Alison recently was awarded and recognized as one of the 2020 Women of the Year by Utah Business Magazine and as one of two 2020 Utah Senior-Level Healthcare Executive of the Year by ACHE-Utah Chapter. She is a Past President of Healthcare Leaders of New York, a chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She is a past Chairperson of the American College of Healthcare Executives Management Series Editorial Board, a Board member of the American Red
Cross of Greater New York-Harriman Advisory Board as well as a former volunteer for New York Needs You, and former Board Member on the MHA Community Advisory Board at the David Eccles School of Business. In 2015, she received the Zachary Foundation’s Healthcare Classic Award and was presented with the Highest Leaf Award from the Women’s Venture Fund in 2013. In 2012, Alison, along with many colleagues, received the Empire State Healthcare Leadership Award for service regarding the Hurricane Irene Response in 2011.
Alison holds a BS in Health Care Administration and a MS in Health Services Administration from Iona College, where she previously served as an adjunct professor, guest lecturer, and a member of the Alumni Board. Alison has been a guest lecturer at Cornell University, Sloan Program in Healthcare Administration and University of Birmingham, Executive MBA in Healthcare Management. Currently, Alison is an adjunct professor in the MHA Program at The David Eccles School of Business. She is also the founder of Sounding Board 4 Life, LLC, a professional development and strategic advisory firm. Alison is a native New Yorker and resides with her husband and stepson in Draper, UT.
Jessica Jones cont.
She is pursuing a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering at the U. Throughout her studies, she has developed a passion for research, and would like to continue to spend her time in this area. She plans on going to graduate school to get her PhD in BME, doing computational biology. She is excited by the idea of contributing to healthcare through engineering and is interested in going into academia post-graduate school.
Nicole Mouskondis cont.
When asked why Nicole joined Women Who Succeed she said “Well, technically, I joined WWS because Erin asked me to 😊 …and that’s what successful women do – we lift one another, we support one another, we advocate for one another, and we step up for one another. The mission of WWS is in alignment with my core belief that we have a responsibility to help others realize their individual potential by inspiring, creating opportunities, making meaningful long-lasting connections, and building capabilities.
Nicole Mouskondis currently serves as the Co-CEO of Nicholas & Company, Inc., a third-generation family-owned and operated broadline foodservice distribution company, servicing customers in the Intermountain West. Nicole graduated from the University of Utah with a B.S. in Behavioral Science and Health and received a master’s degree in Strategic Communication and Leadership (MASCL) from Seton Hall University.
Prior to her tenure at Nicholas & Company, Inc., she was the Marketing & Program Director for Rocky Mountain Gymnastics and worked with Coca-Cola USA to market Elite gymnastics competitions throughout the country. She began her career at Nicholas & Company as the Human Resources Assistant and worked up through the department to become the VP of HR for seven years, followed by leading in a Senior Vice President role for twelve years.
Current Community Service and Board Memberships include: Member of Nicholas and Company, Board of Directors; Member of Wells Fargo Women’s Advisory Board; UMFA Board Member; WPO UT Chapter Member; C200 Member; and University of Utah, David Eccles School of Business Advisory Board Member.
Former service contributions include: Human Resource Planning Committee for IFDA Productivity Conferences; Chair for SL March of Dimes “Star Chefs Gala”; SL Head Start Fundraising Committee Member; American Cancer Society Gala Committee; MDA Fundraising Committee Member; United Way Young Leaders Member; Member of Ballet West, Board of Directors and Chair of HR Committee; and Greek Orthodox Church Parish Council Member.
Noteworthy Achievements: Recipient of Utah Business Magazine’s “30 Women to Watch”; Salt Lake City Chamber’s “Pathfinders” Award; and Exceptional Women Awardees Member.
Former member of both the USA National and University of Utah Gymnastics Teams.
