February 2020 Newsletter

Good Day,

Hope you’ve had a great month. Our 2020 Face Book is now here! See below on how to get a hard copy.
The Belizean Grove has some exciting things planned for the years ahead – be sure to read everything below and visit our website as we are constantly updating and making new additions to the content.
If you have any updates you would like to share for future newsletters, please email me or Leslie Dube (leslie@belizeangrove.org). And don’t forget to share some of your favorite bumper sticker ideas here and we’ll feature in the upcoming Grove updates.

Cheers,
Susan

2020 Face Book is out!

To view the 2020 Face Book, click here.
Hard copies are going to start being shipped in the upcoming week.
If you would like a hard copy shipped to you, please click here to request your copy.

Edie Weiner’s Annual Neverville Weekend, August 7-9, 2020

Edie Weiner has agreed to once again host a weekend of sisterhood at her Neverville vacation home. If you have never been to Neverville, read the note from Anne Lim O’Brien on why the weekend is so special to her:
Dear Grover Sisters:
I wanted to share with you one of my most favorite BG events and destinations – Neverville – in the hope that you will join the gathering this year, August 7-9, see more details below.

One of the joys of our sisterhood is in coming together to share, to learn, to open our minds and hearts to as well as for each other… I’ve enjoyed this in our larger annual and mini retreats.  And yet there’s something so very special about the smallness and intimacy of a Neverville gathering, that has me coming back every year for the last ten years since I became part of the Grove.

For me, Neverville is short, sweet and alchemy in motion: 36 hours of serious fun; unstructured, relaxed, spontaneous sharing; and mysteriously transformational!  We bond, we bawl, we brave, and boldly, we bear our experiences. Some of my most significant life decisions were discussed, deliberated, and decided at Neverville…thanks to the magic and fairy dust that Edie sprinkles into our weekend together. Mostly, we all leave with gratitude for the deeper friendships formed.

I hope you will sign up and come to Neverville this year…and especially for those unable to meet up in Chile, this event bridges our time together between retreats. It’s a lot of work for Edie and Bill to host this event…and it only makes sense if we have a minimum of 15 signed up.

Warmest regards,
Anne

More about Neverville:

Co-founder Edie Weiner has generously agreed to host members at her vacation home in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania referred to as “Neverville” for a fun weekend and a contribution to the Adventures for the Mind Foundation.
This popular weekend in Pennsylvania will be August 7-9, 2020. Your contribution will cover everything on site: Dinner Friday night; Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner on Saturday; and Brunch on Sunday. All linens/towels/sundries provided. All refreshments, including wine, soft drinks, healthy fruits and vegetables, available 24/7. Hiking, beach, canoeing, antiquing, horseback riding…all included for those who choose (some at a nominal additional fee).
We will take no more than 30 reservations, knowing there will be cancellations as we get closer to August. Neverville sleeps about 20, and if attendance is fully booked, all rooms (and some of the larger beds) will be shared. This is a totally casual, fun weekend. Pack nothing but a change of clothes, bathing suit, pajamas and comfortable shoes!
Click here to register.

Fall 2020 Mini Retreat: San Antonio, TX (September 24 & 25)
The room block is open!
We will be staying at the Hilton Palacio del Rio! Click here to book your room!

We already have a terrific committee working on panels and securing speakers. Thank you to our committee led by Rebecca Boenigk and Pamela O’Rourke, also including Rachel Boenigk, Elaine Eisenman, Alice Starr, and Kathleen Mason.

We have already had a number of meetings and have determined several panels, including a thoughtful panel on diversity featuring some of our younger members who have faced various types of discrimination.

Looking for Panelists!
For our fall retreat in San Antonio,we want to do a panel on In the Digital and AI Age, How Companies Can Go From Vulnerable to Vigilant – Rethinking Everything

Early warning signs of not being responsive to changes in your business environment may not be easily apparent. So leaders at companies or organizations need to groom their organizations to be responsive to weak signals of potential threats and latest opportunities.

Looking for speakers, on this panel, from business, government, or the non-profit sectors, who have created multiple scenarios:

• Invested in foresight
• Created guiding questions from what you have missed in the past, diagnosing the present, and anticipating the future.

Please let Leslie Dube know if this panel would be of interest for you to speak on.

Winter 2021 Annual Retreat: Argentina
February 25-28

We heard your feedback and agree that Argentina in January will be too hot as it’s their summer and many of the people we would like to meet will be on vacation! We also understand that we are competing with board meetings and school vacations during the first two weeks of February. Therefore, we are looking at the last weekend in February, where it’s cooler, cheaper, and will have great speakers back in town. We already have a terrific committee, but are always looking for volunteers and ideas for the event, so if you would like to join the committee, please contact Leslie Dube!

Argentina 2021 Survey
Click here to take a quick survey to give feedback on past retreats and share your ideas for Argentina.

Looking Ahead…
Fall Mini Retreat 2021- Chicago
Winter 2022 Retreat- New Orleans

What the Grovers and Taras Have been Up to Lately…

-Annette Taddeo was featured in How Russian Intelligence Officers Interfered in the 2016 Election on 60 Minutes. Click here to view.

-One of Hollis Rafkin-Sax photos was selected to be in a street photography show entitled Street Shooting Around the World exhibition! It was at the Los Angeles Center of Photography going from February 7 through March 6. Her work was also shown and auctioned at the Second Half Art exhibition in London in the fall. Additionally, a very special photo (of her daughter in law nursing her 2 week old twins) was selected by the Professional Women Photographers to be shown at PhotoPlus at Javits Center in New York City this past October.

-Effective January 1, 2020, the Board of Trustees of the Mercer Funds have appointed Joan E. Steel as an Independent Trustee. She will serve as a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance and the Audit Committees of the Board. The Mercer Funds, a family of mutual funds, are advised by Mercer Investment LLC., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of the Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.

–Joy Booker was promoted to a Managing Director at PineBridge Investments, a multi-asset class investment management firm with over $100 billion in assets.

Chief Operating Officer
Need a COO for a veterinarian-led partnership of animal hospitals providing a range of medical and surgical services. This newly created role is responsible for leading all operations across a growing US portfolio of 30+ veterinary hospitals. Salary package of $300,000 plus large bonus and piece of action when the company sells in a few years. Headquarters are currently in Jupiter, FL and NJ. Can commute from elsewhere as the COO will travel and be in the field often. COO does not need to be a veterinarian, helpful if they have worked in healthcare or pet services (ideally could have worked at, or have contacts with, VCA Animal Hospital in Los Angeles, CA, Banfield Pet Hospital in Vancouver, WA, or Compassion First Hospital in Tinton Falls, NJ). See job description here.
If you have any suggestions or interest, please send resumes to Susan Stautberg at partnercom@partner-com.com, or call Susan at 561-319-0799.

Films of the Month – Curated by Naomi McDougall Jones

Streaming
Frozen II
(We know, we know, but…if you can believe it, a lot of racial justice and new economy activists are incredibly excited about this movie for the way it handled its portrayal of an indigenous tribe and the themes of reparations and social justice. At the very least, if you have kids or grandkids, you can feel good about the subliminal messages in this film)
Available on: Amazon, YouTube, Vudu, GooglePlay (also still playing in select movie theaters)
Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel
Synopsis: Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven leave Arendelle to travel to an ancient, autumn-bound forest of an enchanted land. They set out to find the origin of Elsa’s powers in order to save their kingdom.
Genre: Animated
IMDB link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4520988/

In Theaters
The Assistant
Available in theaters – check your local listings
Director: Kitty Green
Starring: Julia Garner, Matthew Macfadyen
Synopsis: A searing look at a day in the life of an assistant to a powerful executive. As Jane follows her daily routine, she grows increasingly aware of the insidious abuse that threatens every aspect of her position.
Genre: Thriller / Drama
IMDB link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9000224/

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