WHY WE SERVE ON BUSINESS BOARDS

by Kristine Euclide and Kim Sponem,  Project Reach co-chairs

We  serve on business boards for several reasons.  We choose board service based on our interests and where we think we can make a difference. When serving on business boards, we  help shape the way the organization conducts its business and how it impacts the community. We enjoy being part of the business community and engaging with interesting, smart people who bring different backgrounds, work experiences and perspectives to the boardroom.  Board service keeps us constantly learning and growing, often in areas different from our own backgrounds. It helps us stay up on industry trends and reminds us to be open to new ideas and approaches. Our overarching goal is to add value back.

Business boards members have a unique role and responsibility different from being an employee of a company.  The board is primarily focused on governance and high level strategy, not day to day operations. We both enjoy board governance and strategic thinking. Board service is often fluid--you may be on one board for a long time and another for a short time, depending on the purpose and impact you want to make. Understanding what you want to gain and contribute will help you pick a board service that is right for you.

Finally, we believe business and society benefit from more diversity in the executive team and in the boardroom. The more visible examples we have of women successfully contributing in the business boardroom and in the C-Suite, the more commonplace it will become. That's why we are working on this important initiative!

We hope you will consider positioning yourself to serve on a business board, if you aren't already!  If this is something that interests you, we encourage you to get involved with TEMPO'S PROJECT REACH--attend  the  upcoming educational sessions and let us know of your interest!  Thanks.

Project Reach will kick-off with three educational sessions scheduled for January, February and March of 2020.

March is dedicated to celebrating Women’s History, with March 8th devoted to International Women’s Day (IWD2020). This announcement is to provide TEMPO Madison members resources to plan to celebrate International Women's Day within your respective organizations. The IWD2020 theme is to encourage colleagues to adopt gender-equal thoughts and actions to be #EachforEqual.

Learn more by visiting the below links to access the IWD resources:

• IWD2020 Theme 
• Get involved
• Access the How to Plan IWD instructions Event pack
• Search or Publish Events
• Post your activity on social media using #EachforEqual #IWD2020 #TEMPOMadison #Wisconsin

In addition, join your fellow TEMPO members during the January and February TEMPO Madison luncheon to strike the pose in support of the #EachforEqual campaign in support of International Women’s Day.

Please submit any questions to TEMPO Madison Communications Chair or Tempomadison@tempomadison.org.

"Here's a Toast to Turning Thirty, Here We Come!

TEMPO Non-Fiction Lovers Book Club (NFL) just celebrated 20 great years together with a gala dinner party on November 21, 2019 at Nakoma Country Club.  The TEMPO Board joined the members for a champagne toast and special song "NFL Is Turning Twenty - Here We Come." The festivities included sharing memories, history and photos, a fun trivia contest, special chocolate “book” cake, souvenir mugs, and a beautiful memento program with color photos of all 236 books we read at 240 meetings and countless bottles of wine!  Books read from each of the twenty years decorated the tables and prizes included more bottles of wine!  A special thanks to Shana and the Board for their support of the event and to Laurie and Sue for the mugs. As TEMPO’s oldest special interest group, NFL welcomes all members who like to read, and you don’t have to come each month nor always read the book!

Joy Rice, Dana Erlandsen, Christine Lidbury & Conseulo Lopez

TEMPOShares and Madison Club Thank you

Liz Henry, Owner, CMO, Henry Farms Prairie Spirits, LLC
I would like to thank the Madison Club servers and staff for making every effort to provide us with delicious meals and excellent service. I would especially like to note the effort and care that David Giniocchio and the bar staff take to create and serve beautiful cocktails for our Tempo Shares event. This year they created two drinks to appeal to most tastes and provided recipes – we could not ask for a better partnership and this makes sponsoring the cocktail easy and fun. Thank you Tempo and Madison Club Team. Cheers! 

Women United Financial Literacy Workshop
Date: Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019, 8:15-9:45 a.m.

Spark Building – 8th floor
American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact
821 East Washington Avenue, Madison

Register here Women United Financial Literacy Workshop 

Register here Annual Key Talk: Homelessness

Jennifer Uphoff Gray
For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday by Sarah Ruhl|
November 7-24, 2019
The Playhouse at Overture Center, 201 State St., Madison

Ann and her four siblings gather at their childhood home to crack jokes, argue politics, and share stories. For Ann, each reminiscence brings her back to a favorite childhood memory: her star turn as Peter Pan on their hometown stage.

Soon, these brothers and sisters hear the call of Neverland, a magical place where the refusal to grow up does battle with the inevitability of growing old. A loving mixture of deathbed vigils, marching bands, the aches and pains of aging and the miracle of flight, For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday celebrates all the magic that theater – and life – have to offer.

Tickets at forwardtheater.com.

Darcy Luoma
2020 Women's Leadership Series                  
January through April 2020
Darcy Luoma Coaching & Consulting
1501 Gilbert Road, Madison 

Do you want to lead your life with greater intention? Do you want to be seen more as a leader? Whether you are currently leading a team or your household, you need to start with you. Oftentimes when people want to improve their leadership skills, they focus on how they can better influence and communicate with others. In this series, we’ll get to those skills, but we’ll start by looking internally. That’s where your power is. Are you ready to go to the next level?

The Women's Leadership Series will dive into the six practices of Thoughtfully Fit®and the core of PAUSE, THINK, ACT. When you are Thoughtfully Fit, you are more intentional and considerate in every aspect of your life. Use the code TEMPO when registering to save $100. Reserve your spot today! 

Helping Position TEMPO Women for Business Boards

Kristine Euclide and Kim Sponem, project co-chairs

TEMPO has launched a 2019-2021 initiative called PROJECT REACH to build better business boards by making them more diverse.  The initiative will focus on increasing the number of TEMPO women on business boards. The TEMPO Board appointed a Steering Committee to lead this effort-- Kristine Euclide and Kim Sponem (co-chairs), Donna Beestman, Beth Bennett, Kathy Blumenfeld, Theola Carter,  Sue Anne Kaestner, Kelda Roys, and Shana Lewis (ex-officio).  As co-chairs of this project, we were asked to briefly share something about our business board experience. In a future article we will talk more about the initiative and about why we find business board service rewarding. Most importantly, if you would like to learn more about Project REACH, keep watching for updates and feel free to contact  any of the Steering Committee members.

We both have extensive experience with a mix of community, professional and business boards, often in leadership roles.  Kristine is currently Board Chair for WPS Health Solutions.  She previously was Managing Partner at Stafford Rosenbaum Law Firm and, in her role as Sr VP and General Counsel at MGE, she frequently interacted with the MGE Board. She also served on the MGE Foundation Board.  Over the past 35 years, and continuing today, Kris  holds leadership positions on numerous community boards at the local and state level. 

Kim currently serves on the business boards of Society Insurance and WPS Health Solutions.  As CEO of Summit Credit Union, she reports to a 9-member board. She also is currently on several community boards and industry boards (Chair of Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, Oscar Rennebohm Foundation, Credit Union Executive Society, Consumer Federation of America).  She also has a long history of service on community and professional boards at the local, state and national levels.

Again, please let us know if you are interested in getting involved with Project REACH!

Julie Fix has edited photos that each person chose, and the all original photos are loading for future needs. 

She took 50 head shots at the October TEMPOShares luncheon. Each of the photos can be downloaded by individual or for you to use for the directory. If you have any questions please let me know. 

The password to view the portraits is 2019, The link: http://www.jfixfotoworx.com/f205816624

Important Note: Photo Print purchase is not required. To download your pre-paid electronic photo - click above the photo, download and save to your computer.

Reminder: 2019-2020 Directory, please update your contact information

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO WOULD BE A GOOD TEMPO MEMBER?

Before you nominate, please review TEMPO’s membership criteria and follow our tried-and-true nomination process.   Here is a quick guide (note, for more detailed information, see the article in the August (Mid-Month), 2019 newsletter).

• 10+ years professional experience*        
• 5+ years executive level professional experience 
• Decision-making responsibility for staff and budget
• Direct access to the organization's top executive
• Leadership in professional and/or civic organizations

• Any current TEMPO member may nominate a woman for membership.  Nominees should have attended at least one monthly luncheon as a guest. 
• Do not inform your nominee that she is being considered for membership.  If you are nominating at the request of a possible candidate, PLEASE DO NOT PROMISE OR IMPLY THAT SHE WILL BE OFFERED This helps protect the integrity of the process, as well as the feelings/reputations of all involved.