Photo: Courtesy of NYWICI
Without the proper knowledge or connections, establishing one’s presence in New York City is arduous. Fortunately, the New York Women in Communications, Inc. (NYWICI) is dedicated to helping women succeed in the communications field.
NYWICI is an organization for communications professionals in the New York metropolitan area. As stated on its website, “NYWICI’s mission is divided into two main pillars: to help the advancement of women at every stage of their career, and to nurture young women to become future leaders in communications.”
Members represent all professions in the communications industry: public relations, advertising, marketing, corporate communications, print/ digital journalism, and more.
Membership is composed of high school and college students, professionals at every stage of their careers, and entrepreneurs.
For a membership fee, young women can join the organization for a number of benefits, few of which include access to career building and networking events, and special pricing to the Matrix Awards and NYWICI’s Foundation’s Student Career Conference. A full list can be viewed on the member benefits page.
To provide financial support for prospective members in the communications industry, NYWICI has a philanthropic arm – the NYWICI Foundation. The Foundation was founded in 2000. In a mere 15 years, it has donated over $1 million in scholarships to students studying communications in the tri-state area.
Linda Descano, the president of the Foundation, explained how NYWICI preps students for the communications industry in New York City. Starting at high school, the Foundation galvanizes students who’ve identified communications as a passion. NYWICI provides direction, networks, resources and ideas to push students outside of their comfort zone.
“It’s one continuous cycle and … we’re committed to connecting women across the entire journey and giving them the tools to helping them realize their potential, be all that they want to be,” Descano said.
Besides heading the Foundation, Descano is the managing director and global head of content and social at Citi Bank. She credits her success to “lifting [her] head up and keeping the pulse of how [her] industry [was] changing.” It was through professional organizations like NYWICI that Descano would even know how to “stay in tune with that direction.”
The Foundation provides its scholarships ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 based on the generous donations of members through events like the annual Ladies Who Laugh evening.
These scholarships don’t only provide students the financial assistance to pursue their career in communications, but they also identify promising women to give back to the scholarship pool they received.
Alexandra Osten was a scholarship recipient and is currently an active member of the Foundation. As co-chair of Ladies Who Laugh, Osten worked towards raising funds to provide young women the same opportunity she had to penetrate the industry.
“The NYWICI allows for young women entering college or in college the ability to have the opportunity to perhaps intern,” Osten said.
From her membership, Osten was able to intern at Glamour Magazine, and also have access to NYWIC’s elite mentorship program.
“Having a mentor right outside of college it help me feel secure with my job hunt and provided me with the tools,” Osten said.
Osten’s mentor was Brittany Hennessy, NYWICI’s co-vice president of Student Affairs.
Hennesy was also a member of NYWICI during her collegiate years. Speaking from experience, Hennessy explained how NYWICI is an “organization that is here for you to help you succeed… all the way through your professional life.”
One of the ways NYWICI helps students is hosting an annual student career conference in November. The day features two keynote speakers with 40 panelists from all disciplines in communications. In addition to learning about how to succeed in the field, attendees leave the conference with internships and even jobs.
Photo: Couresty of Flickr user Maegan Tintari
The organization’s signature quote that was promoted at last year’s conference was “a manicure is not a mentor.”
Hennessy explained how girls’ expenses on petty things, such as lattes and manicures, don’t result in landing an internship or a job.
“But if you join NYWICI you’ll have access for all of those things for the same price. With NYWICI you don’t need an internship or a job to get a lot of experience in event planning or social media,” Hennessy said. “Manicurists don’t do anything with that.”
If interested, learn more about NYWICI at nywici.com and take advantage of the available opportunities. A section of the website is dedicated to scholarship information and dates for the career conference. Opportunities to go on behind the scenes tours are also available online.
-by Nisha Stickles
