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WOMEN'S FOCUS WORKSHOPOptions to encourage women exploredBy PCC Sheryl JensenOn 28 March a dynamic group of woman leaders in Lions gathered in Christchurch to share ideas andexpertise on membership growth.The workshop happened as a result ofInternational President Tam assemblinga Women's and Family MembershipDevelopment Task Force to collect ideasaround the world for growing women andfamily membership.The Task Force is comprised of the currentfemale International Directors and twofemale board appointees. Throughoutthe 2011-2012 fiscal year, these womenwere to be attending and participating inwomen's workshop events worldwide.The vision for the task force members isto gain insights for promoting, advancingand developing opportunities for womenand family membership in Lions. The taskforce will then pull together and distill theirfindings to develop recommendations onthe next stage.Since 1987, when Lions officially invitedwomen into membership, the number offemale Lions across the world has grownto over 322,000. While this is a goodachievement, women are only about 23%of our membership. If women make up 51%of our population worldwide, it is believedthat the percentage of women as Lionsshould be higher. In New Zealand womenmake up 27 % of the membership.Women's workshops around the world, inEurope, Japan, Kenya, Australia and lastmonth in New Zealand were to help understandwhat women and family members seek frommembership in Lions. The collective wisdomof those who attended these workshops willall be collected into recruiting action plansfor growing women and family membershipthroughout the world.International Director Gudrun Yngvadottirfrom MD107 Iceland was in New Zealandfor two District Conventions, so PresidentTam asked her to hold a women's workshopwhile she was here. This was an honour forNew Zealand as there had already beenone in our Constitutional area - Australialast September.The women on Council, Chairman Jo,Governors Lynette, Mary and Gay, and Iwere tasked with putting the programmetogether. All the District Governors wereasked to identify three future women leadersand they were then invited to attend.There were 23 women at the workshopand they worked very hard coming up withmany recommendations that not only wentto Council, but also to International DirectorGudrun to take back to the Task Force meetingfor reporting back to the International Board.Director Gudrun was very impressed withthe information that came from the NewZealand workshop.A number of recommendations from theworkshop were presented at the AprilCouncil meeting. These included futureDistrict workshops and promotional ideasand material for New Zealand Lions.MEMBER - EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE (EMC)The Executive Management Committee(EMC) was established to oversee andprovide expertise and advice to the MultipleDistrict Council on the effectiveness andefficiency of the management of the MultipleDistrict. Membership of the Committeecomprises the Executive Officer, the MultipleDistrict Treasurer, the Council Chairman of theday, and three members appointed by Council,one of whom will be appointed Chairman.A vacancy will occur upon EMC memberPCC Sheryl Jensen's resignation to beeffective from the August 2012 EMCmeeting (to follow her imminent election tothe office of International Director) and theCouncil of Governors invites applicationsfrom Lions to fill that vacancy for a term ofthree years to 30 June 2015.The EMC meets monthly by teleconference,three times a year in person and attendsthe three Council meetings each year. Thesuccessful applicant will possess experiencein both the world of Lions and in businessmanagement and have a desire to provide thebest possible advice to the Executive Officerand Council.Applicants are invited to provide their reasonsfor seeking the position along with a conciseCV (no more than 3 - 4 pages) outlining theattributes that they would bring to the Committee.Applications may include the following:• Personal Details• Employment/occupation history• Achievements & Skills• Lions involvement• Key strengths• 1 or 2 Referees/referencesApplications (either electronic or post),marked confidential, close with the ExecutiveOfficer 9 am Monday 9 July 2012 and theappointment will be made by the Council ofGovernors at their meeting on 25 August2012 immediately prior to the ANZI-PacificForum in Queenstown.(Further detail relevant to the position maybe obtained from either the EMC Chairmanor the Executive Officer).Executive Officer, Lions Clubs InternationalMultiple District 202PO Box 691, Orewa 0946executiveofficer@lionsclubs.org.nzLION, South Pacific Edition | May/June 2012 28