These days everyone is thinking about drawing on the power of the internet to promote themselves, their business, and their professional career as well as reach the younger generations. But most of us do not have endless amounts of cash to pay for the training, and also don't have schedules that allow for formal classes. And still many others don't live in an area where training is available.

I've been an ongoing student of all things "internet" for a while now and have compiled a great list of 6 sites that provide free training, templates, services, and ways to stay connected with the ever changing world that is digital marketing. If you're considering the world of digital marketing, I strongly advise you to take your time. Read about the different channels, start small, and allow yourself the time to learn while you grow. Just jumping in can result in much money spent, without much in the way of return. Free sites are plentiful, but unless you have the time to check them out, they may do more harm than good. For a start, I'd recommend sites like distilled, surveymonkey, hubspot and subscribing to bloggers like Avinash Kaushik and Occam's Razor for some honest and trustworthy support. To read more about these sites, you can check out my article, 6 Free Online Marketing Resources, recently published by Yahoo! I think that when we learn, we should share what we can, so hopefully this information will help you in your career.

I recently received the link to this video.  It's thought provoking and perhaps could start conversations about usage of technology helping women by providing the flexibility that so many of us need and if done properly by organizations will allow us to take advantage of that flexibility guilt free.

"How can we get people more engaged, more productive, and happier at work? Is technology part of the problem – and could it also be part of the solution? Dave Coplin, Chief Envisioning Officer at Microsoft, imagines what might be possible if more organisations embraced the full, empowering potential of technology and encouraged a truly open, collaborative and flexible working culture."

The Network is happy to announce that we now have a group profile on LinkedIn. You can search for us under "Global Women's Leadership Network (World Council of Credit Unions)" or click here to see our page. Please join the group and feel free to start discussions on our wall. We also invite you to share the group with other women leaders in the credit union industry. Non-members are welcome!

In the article, Designing for Women: The Mobile Challenge (http://blog.usaid.gov/2012/09/building-a-better-user-experience-the-mobile-chapter/#.UGYAg65SAvg.email), Christopher Burns, economic growth and agricultural development advisor of USAID, said  “Mobile phones are a real game changer when it comes to tackling global challenges around the world but if the design does not change, hundreds of millions of women risk being left out in this next mobile revolution. That is a risk we cannot afford to take.”

Burns conducted research in Egypt, India, Papua New Guinea and Uganda, that shows on average resource-poor women are 22% less likely to want a mobile phone because they don’t know how to use it.

Do your credit union members know how to access their financial information through their mobile phones? How can we, as credit unions, make sure no one is left behind in the mobile revolution?

Maybe we can use this research and work with members and offer a basic tutorial on how to access their accounts and other key phone functions. Perhaps tellers could help members on a case-by-case basis or classes could be offered on occasion?

As financial cooperatives we have the ability to shine while helping our members understand new technologies. Has anyone done outreach on how to make members more comfortable with technology? We’d love to hear your ideas!

The term glass ceiling was coined in the 1980s to illustrate women’s struggle to be seen as equals in senior executive positions. While that metaphor holds true today, fissures are appearing where they hadn’t been before. I’m confident that will continue as women climb the corporate ladder and expand their numbers in the marketplace. A 2007 study in the Journal of Organizational Structure, Communications and Conflict found that it certainly exists. The survey was conducted in 2003 and found three women sitting in the corner offices at Fortune 100 companies. This was up proportionally from just two in the Fortune 500 in 1996. Women comprise more than half of the population yet we occupy a meager 3% of the top spots and the most successful companies. Similarly, non-CEO female executives at the Fortune 100 accounted for 5.8% of executives in 2003, up from 2.6% of female officers at the Fortune 500 companies in 1997.However, an area where women (and the men, generally, who hire them) have made remarkable strides is compensation. Several studies have found, particularly at the upper echelons of the pay scale, the differences are nonexistent when it comes to compensation packages. For 2001-2003, according to the Journal article, female non-CEO execs earned a bit more in the median than their male counterparts with the mean reversing slightly. With a sample size of only three female CEOs, a statistical conclusion could not be reached for that set.The study concluded that the glass ceiling is certainly not shattered but a dramatic shift will occur over the next several years as women earn college degrees at twice the rate of men, and because the economy is no longer manufacturing based, which favored men.The glass ceiling is certainly still there but the more of us who chisel away at it the more quickly it will shatter completely. Or should I use a more appropriately feminine term than shatter? No, we need to annihilate it. Obliterate it!To be fair, until recent history, women have made other choices in life that conflicted with or interrupted their careers, such as education level, stereotypical gender roles and family. Even as you look up the corporate ladder, you’ll see most women are in stereotypical female roles, such as HR or marketing. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with those jobs; they’re great! But they tend not to lead to CEO positions, and that’s fine too. Do what you love and you’ll get what you define as your top spot every time.

If a big office is what you crave, it’s nice to know that with confident negotiation your contributions could be valued every bit as much as a man’s.

 

By Sarah Snell Cooke

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

Credit Union Times

Ladies,

thanks to Network Members Catherine Ford and Sue Mitchell's blog posts you had the chance to have some feedback about our engagement program in Ventura, CA.

If you'd like to participate in the next one in Querétaro, Mexico please note that it will now take place on October 7-13, 2012. For further details, visit the "Upcoming Events" section of the website.

We hope to see many of you there!

PS: Don't forget that we're still accepting registrations for this year Global Women's Leadership Forum in Gdańsk!

We are making a difference!  Global Women's Leadership Network had its first U.S. project engagement in Ventura, Calif. (USA).  The five-day session gave participants an opportunity to see World Council's outreach iPhone program in action.  This progressive mobile application allows the credit union to reach out to current and potential members at remote access points.  The participants visited farms, volunteered at community organizations, toured credit union facilities, had bike rides on the beach with the CEO to engage in discussions and formed lifelong friendships that reinforce that doing the right thing is also good business.  Here are just a few comments:

You can appreciate why I feel “I left my heart in Ventura,” although  I brought all of these shining  stars in my heart – as well as brought back with me some ideas on how to perhaps contribute to the success of SMCU serving the underserved, Barry’s culture, vision, passion and commitment.  I can’t wait to see the pictures and share the experience with our San Francisco “Sisterhood“ at our meeting in August.
- Connie Paniagua, San Mateo Credit Union, San Mateo, Calif. (USA)

We had a wonderful time on our trip.  I met Joe Schroeder, CEO, from VCCU, Brandi  Stankovic of Mitchell, Stankovic, and Associates, and Nicole Bice from World Council. All nice people.  Joe's credit union is really neat.  They know their membership and are working to make sure that they service them in every way possible.  WOCCU put on a very informative and well organized conference.  During our trip to the fields, we observed workers picking celery, which reminded me of going out on my grandfather's farm back home.  Edith from the credit union sets up for business in their break room.  She has programming on an iPhone so she can sign members up and make transactions. This was my first experience with a bilingual group, so it was very interesting to me to observe the interaction. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to go!
- Donita Wendt, Ser Technology, Dallas, Texas (USA).

It was a great time, and I really enjoyed spending time with all these ladies.  It was good and made me feel more connected with GWLN and WOCCU.   I still have a heart for reaching the people in the fields, and I think we can find a way to do that, especially here in Santa Cruz. 
- Beth Carr, Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, Santa Cruz, Calif. (USA)

I am looking forward to day 2 of our engagement program, where we will go to the field (literally) and get a first hand look at how Ventura County Credit Union (VCCU) is using the mobile member outreach technology from Mexico to provide financial services to farm workers in the field. Inspired by the Semilla Cooperativa model in Mexico, and presented by Caja Zongolica CEO Dolores Rivera at the 2010 Global Women's Leadership Forum in Las Vegas, VCCU in partnership with WOCCU and local partners, has adapted the methodology, developed an iphone app and is seeing a difference in business. Doing good deeds is making good business sense for VCCU. And changing their business model is tied into that, for example VCCU recently added Saturday business hours in one of their branches and thanks to the new member business, loans are nearly double what they had been previously. We learned today how the credit union sees reaching out to farm workers with mobile devices (smartphone) as a gateway / entry point to providing the financial literacy and services to potential members who are eager to find safe and secure means to manage their finances. Look for more inspiration as the trip continues.

Dear ladies,

 

Today, we all know that efficient telecommunications, even more mobile phones, are an absolute must to carry out our businesses. But did you know that women throughout the world have an unequal access to mobile phones?

In a very informative article, Cammie Erickson, from the non-profit organization “Business of a Better World” (BSR), talks about a “significant gender gap”. Using data from the “GSMA mWomen Programme” (attached as a PDF document in the article), she points out four policy recommendations to address this gap. More than providing better access, what Cammie Erickson considers as crucial is improving women’s literacy in technology. A few innovations and partnerships already exist to empower women through mobile technology.

 

To read the article, please click on:

https://www.bsr.org/en/our-insights/blog-view/empowering-women-through-mobile-technology#.T1KRwuP-4Kc.email

 

What about you? Do you and/or your members have good access to this kind of technology? 

 

And if you’d like to have further details about the role and value of Mobile Technology in our Credit Union world, please read WOCCU’s President & CEO, Brian Branch’s post in CUInsight:

http://www.cuinsight.com/media/community/what_is_mobile_technologyandrsquos_worth_to_credit_unions.html

 

-Global Women’s Leadership Network

Prof Hans Rosling has a 4-minute video using 3-D graphics showing how health, the economy and poverty relate over time in different countries.  It has some lessons that may interest our network members as we all try to improve our communities through credit unions.  And I'd love to learn how to use those graphics in my presentations!  Check it out if you have a minute: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo