Editor’s Note – September 2020

Welcome back September! And welcome back to our PWA newsletter.

With the opening of the new season, PWA has turned back to work at the fullest.

Usually, September is a fresh restart for so many because coming back from the summer vacations bring a sensation of beginning.

This September is a brand new beginning for me too. This is my first experience as PWA Board member in the role of Newsletter Editor, who has also the responsibility of the content published in our website, therefore this is a two roles in one: Newsletter Editor and Content Manager. And as if that weren’t enough, everyone who played this role before me, did it amazingly. They, certainly, have left huge boots to step in!

What a challenge for me!
But, writing doesn’t seem new, as I am used to it. However, I write professional kind of papers for my consultancy work. This is the first time I write for PWA’s newsletter and it doesn’t feel easy, but I won’t step back, though. There’s so much to learn and improve in my creating/writing/editing skills, so I am sure this new beginning will positive transform me for good.

Beginnings are important!

Even an email message should always BEGIN with at least “buongiorno”, don’t you agree? But sometimes we are in such a rush that we forget that we are dealing with people, we work with people, we live with people, and even professional networking is all about people. All we do is for people, so why we forget to treat others the way we want to be treated?

COVID-19 quarantine forced us to slowdown and to think about a new start, a new beginning… a new normal. Moreover, I think we should restart the “new normal” life with a big grateful feeling for life – as a symbol of respect – considering that so many people lost their lives due to the pandemic enemy we are facing.
I think this beginning is the right time to transform our lives with gratefulness. This is why, during our first Board meeting, I voted for “Thriving through Transformation” as the Theme of the Year 2020-2021.
For me, “Transformation” is not something new, but it is a constant in life, although we’re not used to see it this way.

Slowing down life a little bit, could make us consider this September as the beginning of a “new normal” life in which we chose to stand for people and to treat each other better.

Being curious about how the other members of the PWA working Team are living this new start, I asked them to share their thinking about “Thriving through Transformation” within PWA, in order to stir up our spirits.

Despite the huge amount of work to be done behind the scene to bring you all the great events, conferences, initiatives and projects that all PWA members enjoy every month, the Team stepped forward and answered.
Here you could read some of their thoughts:

“Every beginning is hard. But more than start, as someone once told me, the hardest is to choose to continue. PWA is experience, relationships, joy and disappointments. PWA is simply the reflection of life. I’m willing to challenge myself to continue to choose every day the commitment for the association and I’m willing to learn from my PWA friends. Let the adventure start or (even better) continue!” – Gaia Nina Marano, Program Director.

“Some months ago, a very dear friend of mine taught me that there are people with fixed mind-set and people with a growth one. So, for me, a sentence that gives a real meaning to our “Thriving through Transformation” is mainly linked to the ability to cross adversity, like difficult moments as this one of Covid-19, and through these learn to grow, change and, yes, at the real end, transform our own self. So, let’s say: “Cross adversity by learning to grow, change and, at the real end, transform oneself!” – Marzia Paciantoni, PR Director

“I love that fact that I am not feeling alone in this transformative journey, as we hold each other’s hands I see a future of many possibilities in front of us. Together we will overcome difficulties, adapt and educate ourselves to the new reality” – Raffaella Di Primio, Partnership Director

“My experience during the past few months and in the last days while I was organizing the ConneXion was about learning from the people I met, even only virtually. So, my phrase to begin this journey is: Overcome adversity by teaching people to learn from each other, this is the time to change and improve yourself” – Milena Guarino Padula, Social Director

“For me thriving through transformation means to stay up to date and competitive, this translates into being a life-long learner. This is one of the reasons why I, personally, believe PWA’s conferences provide always a new angle to look at things, a new perspective to deepen in our own time. Achieving the objective of being competitive is possible also by staying connected to the right people, so nurturing our networking circle is also of paramount importance for women and this is why PWA pays a lot of attention to this area in our monthly Connexions” – Florencia Barbieri, VicePresident

Consequently, my last word to say is: I am honored to begin this new PWA season in this role, together with an outstanding Team.

Let’s enjoy this new beginning with gratefulness and spreading positive energy!

Luisa Lopez
Rome, September 2020