Ten Thousand Women Strong – The Journey of a Nonprofit Part Three

I found myself in the 911der Women Facebook Group catching up after the Christmas holiday, when I noticed something.?We’ve officially surpassed ten thousand community members!?I’ve never been a number watcher, but this feels like a huge milestone and I think it deserves its moment.?I’ve learned a lifetime of lessons from the ten thousand women in our group, but as Samantha Hawkins tells us, we all need to take a moment to clap for ourselves.?This is my round of applause for every woman in our 911der Women community and every single person who has supported us along the way.?

I have the most vivid memory of sitting at my computer exactly one year ago, shortly after 911der Women, Inc. was granted tax exempt status as a nonprofit organization thinking to myself, “ok, so what now”.?In my life, I’ve found the end of December to be a good time to look back on the year, but last December was incredibly difficult, so I looked forward instead.?This not only proved to be an exercise in self-preservation, but also allowed me to focus on what I needed to do as opposed to where I was.?But this year is different.?As we all say “see ya” to 2021, I’m looking back on the year to appreciate how far I’ve come as a person and how far 911der Women has come as an organization and as a community.?I’m here giving all of you a standing ovation.

911der Women started as a Facebook group.?I used the group as a conduit for women to have access to and support each other in 911.?Today we are ten thousand women strong which means there are ten thousand women in our 911der Women community finding strength in one another.?There are ten thousand women finding resources they’ve never had before, gaining access to training that they never knew was available, utilizing tools that never existed before, but exist now because 911der Women exists.?Women in 911 are now standing together, finding their voice, and using those voices to make 911 better.?There is incredible power in watching each other rise and holding out a hand to help those who are coming behind us.?

We’ve accomplished so much this year. Growing and supporting a community of over 10,000 has been such an incredible journey for me and all of the volunteers and mentors who have helped 911der Women on its path.?In our first year, we raised over $100,000 which we were able to invest back into our community. This support has enabled us to:

• Offer industry-leading quarterly 911der Women Workshops that provide training virtually on various topics including leadership, career development, mental and physical wellness, and 911 operations.
• Establish 91RUNder Women, a virtual 5K run/walk in the spring with over 800 participants throughout the United States and Canada.
• Empower our community members to use their voices and talents through different channels. Some of these channels include presenting at state and national conferences and writing blogs that are published on our website receiving thousands of views.
• Draw national attention with an exclusive, live interview with Congresswoman Norma Torres.
• Helped instill the confidence in women to lead and gave women a space to connect. Many women have attested that the feeling of belonging to a network that supports them, and one built with them in mind, is invaluable.
• Host a 911der Women night with major league soccer and many other national conference events.
• Established recognition programs for the women of 911.

911der Women has great plans for 2022, but we remain flexible to accommodate the needs of the women in our community.?As an organization, we strive to identify needs, determine why those needs are currently not being met, and figure out how can we help.?We endeavor to increase communications to and among 911 agencies and let women in 911 know that we hear you and we are here to help. We will continue our successful programs into 2022 but also plan to launch some exciting new programs:

• Sisterhood: A Mentorship Platform - We are currently working on a mentorship program for women in 911 across the country that will help bring women in 911 together. This program will facilitate a mentor/mentee match and guide participants on how to make the most of this very important relationship through a mentorship platform.
• Scholarships - We will be launching a scholarship program in January 2022 to help women in 911 attend trainings and conferences to help build their careers.
• Empower Panels - We will provide women in the public safety community access to industry experts (public and private sectors), thought leaders, change agents and inspirational speakers through a series of live, virtual panel discussions. These panels will tackle relevant topics to provide the public safety community information and education that will empower them to advance in their career and personal development.

More in-person events and conferences - We believe that so much strength and value come from getting out into the community and networking.?Hosting events where our 911 heroes feel appreciated and can meet each other in person can be extremely valuable for their mental health, careers, and personal happiness.?We will continue to host events when and where we see opportunities.

This is my “thank you” to every single person who has helped me, who has supported us and who has shared your story with me; all of you have touched my life so profoundly.?You inspire me, encourage me, and keep me going on this journey that is extremely challenging but incredibly worth the challenge. I’m excited to make year two even more successful! ?See you all in 2022.?

For more information on 911der Women, Inc., check out our website 911derWomen.com.