SCORE Wichita Leads State-wide Virtual Women’s Conference

In FY2021 SCORE Wichita received a $3,500 grant towards local DEI initiatives. They used this to coordinate a Virtual Women's Conference. In attempt to make the conference state wide they collaborated with SCORE Topeka as well. The goal was to organize this event so that it would continue in future years.

They had 200 people registered for the event, 180 of which attended live on the day of! The event had virtual attendees from several areas of the state. 

An active committee with people from Hutchison and Wichita is now meeting regularly and planning for another event in mid April.

They've also focused heavily on volunteer recruiting efforts. SCORE Wichita has accepted 3 new volunteers in December 2022 and 1 more lined up for interview in January 2022. In the past year the chapter saw an increase of 130% women volunteers (12%-27%).

"The grant enabled us to get a quality speaker and surround her with numerous workshops that would be of interest to women. The grant also allowed us to market on Facebook and set up a permanent website. Support from businesses in Hutchison, Kansas, gave us a great framework to build on, but many committee members from Hutchison who had served in previous years were unable to serve on the committee due to COVID...

I think the momentum from our DEI efforts has raised the awareness of SCORE in the community."

-Chapter Chair, Ann Patterson