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Mission Statement:

The mission of the American Business Women’s Association is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and to provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, educations, networking support and national recognition.

The American Business Women's Association strives to provide a quality experience for members both on a national and local level, focusing on these tenets of the mission...

Together: We believe our collective wisdom is the professional woman’s greatest untapped resource. Everyone has a skill, ability or advice that will benefit the woman next to you. It’s the ultimate networking circle.

Diversity: ABWA is all-inclusive.  Here diversity is more than race, age, creed or color.  It’s blue-collar, white-collar, CEOs, MBAs and telecommuters who never leave their home office.  Our members own their businesses, or aspire to become the next entrepreneurs.  

Leadership: In addition to assuming leadership positions within local chapters and networks, members have the opportunity to run for national office, a seat on our National Board of Directors

Education: Lots of groups claim they offer professional development, but that’s a promise we honor.  At District and National Conferences, ABWA is proud to partner with such renowned groups as the University of Kansas School of Business, FranklinCovey, and Rockhurst University.  

National Recognition: By its very nature, recognition is loaded with positive reinforcement. It is an essential component of career development - whether the recognition is on the job or through your professional association. With such programs as Best Practices and the Top Ten Business Women of ABWA, members receive recognition on both the local and national level for personal and professional achievements.

Text Box: 	ABWA HISTORY
So how did it all start? It goes back to World War II when women entered the workforce in droves, standing in for the men who had gone into service for the country. At the close of the war, many of those women were reluctant to give up their newfound careers after the servicemen returned home. 
Hilary A. Bufton Jr., A Kansas City businessman, recognized the workforce. He also recognized the need for a national organization to provide business training and networking support for working women to achieve their career goals. 
As a result, Mr. Bufton founded the American Business Women's Association on Sept. 22, 1949. In the half-century since, ABWA has dedicated significant resources to women's education, providing workplace skills and career development training for more than half a million women. 
Many things have changed over the past 50 years, yet despite making great strides, women continue to struggle for equal representation both in the boardrooms of our country and on the pay scales of our companies. Now more than ever, there is a need for the professional advantages and edge that ABWA provides its members. 
The Association has a proud heritage. It also has demonstrated an impressive ability to anticipate trend and changes in the workplace and to reinvent itself to consistently give women what they need today in a professional organization. Thus ABWA creates opportunities that extend well beyond the local level, on a scale unmatched by any other organization for businesswomen.

“ Changing Women’s Lives, One Woman At A Time.”

Dothan Circle City Chapter

American Business Women’s Association National Contact Information

 

9100 Ward Parkway P.O. Box 8728 Kansas City MO 64114-0728

Phone: 816-361-6621

Fax: 816-361-4991

Website: www.abwa.org                      E-mail: abwa@abwa.org

Position yourself to bring leadership and change  to your  workplace  and you Chapter while enhancing both your personal and professional skills

Text Box: To Join ABWA National Click here

January 2009