Behind all the successful and impactful events that CWIB puts on is the lovely Operations team. These three, along with their events committee, are responsible for all the planning that goes behind the scenes of things like social events, treks, and Power Panel. Do you want to lend a hand in planning these events also? Maybe a position on the operations team is right for you!
Name: Annie Bokulic
Position: Chief Operating Officer
Description: Annie oversees the largest committee in CWIB, keeping the ten people under her on track. She works closely with Shannon Keye to plan and execute the events that CWIB puts on throughout the semester. On a regular basis, Annie meets with her team to determine the theme of the events and make sure everyone is organized. Other responsibilities of the Chief Operating Officer include going on treks, booking/reserving rooms, and planning every detail of activities. Her favorite part of her position is being able to pick themes that she thinks will be inspiring and impactful on members’ lives and career choices. Annie’s goal is to “diversify what we’re giving our members. Its fulfilling to know I’m making an impact on them.”
Empower: Before this, Annie had a position in Outreach. In her transition from her previous position to COO, she went from communicating with the corporate contacts to planning the actual events, which was a challenge due to more planning. Annie was a little nervous when she started, because it was her first time taking initiative and becoming a leader for a whole section.
Prepare: From being Chief Operating Officer, Annie has learned that event planning is very meticulous. Being responsible for keeping ten other people on track has helped her to build leadership skills and help others carry out the responsibilities they need to do.
Connect: CWIB Coffee Chats helps Annie better connect with club members and the people she works with in her committee. She is constantly making an effort to get to know the girls on the committee and in CWIB in general.
Name: Shannon Keye
VP of Events
Description: Shannon works under Annie and helps the Events Committee. She plans social events, Coffee Chats, workshops throughout the year, and makes sure there’s food and snacks at the Monthly Meetings.
Empower: Before becoming the VP of Events, Shannon had been in CWIB for two years, gone on treks, and knew many people on leadership. Her desire to really get behind the scenes pushed her to apply for this position. She now enjoys being able to impact CWIB and guide the club through giving her input for monthly meetings and workshops. The girls in the Events Committee look up to Shannon and Annie Bokulic and she hopes their examples empower the committee as well.
Prepare: During her time as the VP of Events, Shannon has learned exactly how much planning and reaching out goes on in a large club like CWIB. She has learned how to make sure everything is cohesive by communicating with everyone so they know what’s going on. Her organization, time management, team collaboration, email writing and professional communication skills have been strengthened as well.
Connect: The more time you spend with someone, the more you get to know them. Shannon has gotten closer to Annie as a friend and team member through problem solving and working together to plan many events.
Name: Neha Shah
VP of Power Panel
Description: As VP of Power Panel, Neha organizes the annual Power Panel, CWIB’s biggest event of the year, with the goal of promoting the three CWIB principles. She reaches out to bring inspirational businesswomen to Virginia Tech, which she enjoys, as she loves to meet new people. Her main responsibilities include staying in contact and coordinating with these women, planning the date, venue, décor, and theme. Neha works closely with the Events committee in preparation for Power Panel and helps Outreach to plan which companies CWIB members will be meeting on Treks.
Empower: Becoming VP of Power Panel made Neha a little nervous, especially when it came to stepping out of her comfort zone to contact people. However, she loves meeting and getting to know new girls at the meetings, which makes her feel more confident in what she’s doing to help CWIB. In fact, stepping out of her comfort zone has given Neha the opportunity to get to know a lady from the Boston Trek, who wanted to hire more Hokies and sent Neha a list of jobs available to CWIB members.
Prepare: Neha has learned how to actively reach out to and keep in contact with alumni and CWIB sponsors. She has really enjoyed and learned a lot from teamwork-based projects, stressing the importance of communication between team members and people important to CWIB. She has added writing professional emails, communication, and project planning to her skill set while in this position.
Connect: Neha has connected to those around her through getting to know older girls and learning from them. She likes that [as executives,] “we’re not afraid to share advice and support each other.”