Editorial
Front Page - Friday, November 19, 2010
Executive Women International helps single mothers around the world
Erica Tuggle
Margaret Browning grew up in an era when college options for single mothers were few to none. Now, as president of the Chattanooga chapter of Executive Women International, the firm she represents and others all over the world are helping these women.
The EWI’s mission is to send single mothers to college, and they do this in a variety of ways, from selling pecans, setting up local fundraisers and their big event each year: the barnyard auction.
The 13th annual barnyard auction was held in October this year, and raised over $15,000 for the scholarships of the local EWI. Area businesses donated cash and over 100 items like iPods, televisions, trips, and much more to the auction. The women of the council have begun planning next year’s auction already, and are now determining ways to improve the event and to make sure that everyone goes home happy, no matter if they are a winner or not, Browning says.
Browning says for each EWI undertaking, members put their feet to the fire, reach out to all areas to get more women involved, and with their yearly leadership conference, they meet with those willing to open their hearts and minds to make a greater EWI throughout the world.
Throughout her life, Brown-ing has been an active member of the Chattanooga community. For 17 years, she has been the administrative assistant to the co-drink manager at the Coca-Cola Bottling Plant, and it is through them that she first got involved with EWI.
As a community oriented organization that provides approximately 500 jobs locally, Coca-Cola’s involvement with EWI as a charter member is no surprise. In 2003, the company needed a representative for the firm since EWI consists of member firms represented by local women. The representatives chosen for each firm have to go above and beyond to let other people know how important EWI is to the community, Browning says.
After a few meetings to decide whether she wanted to be a representative, Browning says, sitting back and watching was not an option as all the women in EWI were, and still are, involved heart and soul, poised to jump into action for community needs.
Since Browning’s husband was in the ministry for 39 years, she knew what it was to help to keep a church running, and thus she applied these skills to her work in EWI, and she has been at it ever since. She was asked the honor of being the local chapter’s president, and agreed to commit three years to the duty. One year of this was the vice-presidency; this year she will be president; and next year she will stay on as an advisor to the president and vice-president.
“They put a lot of effort into helping us to prepare our hearts and minds for the presidency,” she says. “We want to keep the organization growing and alive, and everyone to know who EWI is and what we do. It’s not just one year; it is a commitment and a joy. You get to be close to the 69 firms in our group and the 76 representatives from the different firms.”
As president of this chapter of the EWI, Browning will help to keep the committees informed and instructed. She says the theme of the corporate EWI president, Sharon Bennett, is to teach, train and trust and that is what Browning is helping to foster during her time as president.
“We are teaching committees how to serve our organization, training them with equipment that they need, from instruction to materials, and any way that we can help each other within the firms and to trust them and know that when we see the need, we are going to go out there and get it done.”
Being a part of the EWI is greater than a friendship, she says. With the partnerships of the firms within EWI, each firm’s uniqueness can be utilized within other businesses for their needs.
Everyone in EWI has a desire to make Chattanooga better, and do so with the unique traits they bring to the group, Browning says. Seeing the scholarship recipients and what EWI means to them and their future is rewarding, she says. The group is beginning to see the full circle of their efforts, as one of their past scholarship recipients is now a member of the local EWI.
Browning has a big year planned for her presidency, and in-between all her plans she will be busy with the job she adores, church and her grandbabies, the newest of which was born only two weeks ago. She says she also loves people, and wherever they are is where she will be.
For more information on EWI and a list of member firms visit www.ewichattanooga.org.
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