On Feb. 6, I spoke at the Stern Women in Business conference in NYC. The conference was held at Bridgewaters, home of the first 85 Broads conference in September of 2000.

My friend Sheila Wellington, former president of Catalyst and now a prof at NYU – connected us to the officers of SWIB whose fabulous conference featured several members of 85 Broads (Jacki Zehner, Dorothy Hill, Stephanie Hanbury-Brown, Patty Lizarraga, and Dawn Verbrigghe were amazing panelists).

During the lunch break, I chatted with Leslie Bennetts, celebrated book and magazine author, who was writing a story for Portfolio magazine on how women were faring in the current economic crisis. Leslie asked me how things were going at 85 Broads – I told her we were “tacking into the wind" which she was delighted to hear.

In March, we will significantly enhance membership value by upgrading and expanding our global network in a number of key ways:

1) VIRTUAL CLASSROOM: We’re inviting the leading graduate schools worldwide (including business, law, public policy, international affairs, medicine, engineering, education, architecture, religion et al) to upload their
best lectures, conferences and other filmed content onto our website.

2) FIELD EXPERTS: We’re inviting leading experts on the global economy, career development, wealth & investing, legal issues, love & relationships, parenting, wellness, philanthropy, travel, and global volunteerism to join our online faculty. (If you are a “field expert” or admire someone who would make a great addition to our faculty, please email me at jthanson@85broads.com.)

3) ONLINE LEARNING: We’re partnering with several members of our network to launch an exciting new interactive online educational series. The first 3 courses will focus on career and talent development; creating a financial personality; and college/career prep for parents. The courses will be offered in multiple time zones.

4) CONTENT: We're uploading our entire library of films/videos onto 85Broads.com. Our NYC Power Breakfast Series and all archived conference footage, including Broad Advantage, will be included.

One last quick story – I was recently introduced to Amanda Mackey who is a casting director by day and an entrepreneur by night – she founded a women’s accessory line in Addis Ababa with three remarkable Ethiopian women (one of their handbags is sold exclusively through Barney’s). I ran a search on our site to see if we had any members living in Addis and was delighted to find Zeleka Yeraswork, an absolute rockstar who got her Master’s last year from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs and now runs the Rural Initiative Program for the Clinton Foundation. I am connecting Amanda to Zeleka to see if they can think through some of the issues facing Amanda’s business. And then last week, Mary Mattson Kenworthy introduced me to Dr. Robert Bollinger, a professor of International Health at Johns Hopkins, who is running health training programs in Addis Ababa. Bob and Zeleka are going to connect when Bob is in Addis in early March.

Thanks Amanda, Mary, and Zeleka, I’m inspired and empowered by our members TO THINK BIG.