Learn How You Can Get the Most Out of ISRI’s Women in Recycling Council
This week’s Industry Voices was written by Paula Summers Murphy, director of Strategic Partnerships for Vision Financial Group, Inc., and co-chair of ISRI’s Women in Recycling council.
2021 was an amazing year for ISRI’s Women in Recycling (WIR) council. While face-to-face meetings were often replaced with Zoom calls and online connections, we persevered as 2021 marked the launch of WIR’s Mentorship Program. Four men and 20 women were paired and matched based on the experience, strengths, and business ideals of the mentor, and the specific personal and professional growth needs of the mentee.
WIR also issued quarterly newsletters with important industry information, and the group hosted several well-attended webinars. In the second half of the year, as businesses started to re-open around the U.S., we hosted in-person events at both the Gulf Coast Chapter and Southeast Chapter Conferences. WIR also built up a very robust team of volunteer advocates for almost all the ISRI Chapters.
WIR will reflect on these accomplishments during the “Getting the Most Out of ISRI Women in Recycling Council” webinar on Wednesday, Feb. 23. Several of our mentors and mentees will share their experiences. Mentors will share the new skills they learned from their mentees, while mentees will discuss how the mentoring program has helped them in their career advancement. Attendees will also learn strategies on how to present the advantages of ISRI involvement to their company leadership.
Some people think that if a woman is successful in her industry, that means one less man will be successful, that there is just one pie with limited slices. Having additional dynamic voices not only makes the pie bigger, but also fills it with more good ideas. Recyclers, regardless of their gender, have a common interest, and they need to have the skills to make it in a tough, ever-changing industry. As a council, WIR brings together men and women from different backgrounds and experiences, who may have had to work just a little harder for their success. In that way, WIR is a valuable resource for everyone in the industry.
The webinar will include the core WIR pillars—ISRI Impact and Exposure, Industry Knowledge, and Building Relationships. Attendees will learn how to get more involved with ISRI’s committees, and how WIR can support them in furthering their knowledge and connecting them with likeminded individuals who want to grow in the industry. WIR is about building future industry leaders. We hope attendees will come away from the webinar with new strategies to advance into leadership and management roles.
If you’re an ISRI member looking to get more involved, this is a great opportunity to learn more about an active networking group. We hope to see you there!
