The Washington, DC Women's Forum hosts A Capital Exchange
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The Washington, DC Women's Forum, in conjunction with the IWF, hosted a joint program exchange with IWF London in America's capital in June 2001. The two-day program included a kick-off at the Cosmos Club on Embassy Row with His Excellency Juan José Bremer Martino, Ambassador of México on hand to greet new IWF president Luz Lajous of México and 61 other members of IWF London and the Washington, DC Forums. With warm and energizing remarks from Luz and Washington, DC's new president and IWF's own vice president of communication Jenna Dorn, the group began a whirlwind program of top level exchange with the new Administration. On Capitol Hill, members met in the Senate LBJ Room with fellow IWF members and Congresswomen Jennifer Dunn (Republican) of Washington State; Loretta Sanchez (Democrat) of California; Maxine Waters (Democrat) of California and Jane Harman (Democrat) also of California. Jenna Dorn, recently appointed Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration in the Bush Government officiated from the Republican side, and IWF member and former Clinton White House advisor Lynn Cutler officiated from the Democratic side. On to a private meeting with the newly appointed U.S. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, a member of the Colorado Women's Forum, delegates heard about the Administration's approach of balancing environmental preservation concerns with resource cultivation and new and innovative approaches to unleashing American ingenuity in energy production.
At the Office of Management and Budget in the White House Complex, delegates met with Austin Smythe, executive associate director, OMB for a budget and tax briefing. Washington, DC Forum member and past IWF president Carol Cox Wait was on hand to help translate the mammoth figures under discussion. Afterwards, a trade briefing was conducted at the United States Department of Commerce with IWF's own Kathleen Cooper, Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs. Finally on the business end, delegates met at the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation for a rare briefing on Terrorism and Infrastructure Protection with Susan M. Curtis, international operations section leader, Investigative Services Division; supervisory special agent Lisa Rehak, Terrorist Groups Unit, International Terrorism Operations Section, Counter-terrorism Division; and deputy section chief Edward Gaffney, Training, Outreach and Strategy Section, National Infrastructure Protection Center.
Dine arounds in members homes; a dinner at Washington's famed 1789 restaurant with IWF member and executive chef Ris Lacoste; a private tour of the National Museum of Women in the Arts - founded and led by IWF's own Wilhelmina Holladay - with IWF member and trustee of the Museum Martha Buchanan; a dinner at Union Station with IWF hosts Janice Zarro and General Wilma Vaught followed by a production of Constant Star on the Arena Stage and a behind the scenes visit with the principal actors, provided the finishing touches to a program that was widely hailed as an opportunity made possible only by its connection to IWF.
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