WANN: Nurturing a Community of Women at Narvar

As the Spice Girls once declared, “Girl Power!” I kid, of course, but the idea behind the girl group’s famous catchphrase is definitely something we at Narvar can get behind: When women put their minds together and support each other, big things happen. The reason behind the creation of WANN—or the Women of Narvar Network—is simple yet powerful. By bringing the women of Narvar together, across teams and titles, interests and talents, we are building a diverse internal network that aims to influence and improve both the company and our community at large. Going even further, the professional women of Narvar are now better equipped to help each other learn and grow both professionally and personally. Anyone can just read our mission statement—“WANN is a network where we do great things together. We support each other, inspire our co-workers, and seek outlets to cultivate new skills”—to see what it’s really all about.A few weeks ago, we kicked off WANN with a bang and a productive, exploratory brainstorming sesh. Nearly every woman in the company turned out, and it was great to get the opportunity to share not only some delicious apps & drinks, but also get to know each other better across departments and levels. After a quick introduction and a fun cross-functional icebreaker, the meeting’s organizers shared their vision for the group’s future and purpose in the form of four core activity buckets gleaned from an earlier survey soliciting everyone’s input:

• A speaker series: Once a quarter, we want to listen to and learn from successful women (such as angel investor Frederique Dame and Founder and CEO of Subcast Cara Meverden) who can share stories, career and life advice, and help us grow as employees and individuals.
• Mentor program: Along with listening to what female leaders across the community have to say, we want to help raise each other up, too. An internal mentorship program gives us the opportunity to learn fromeach other over one-on-one lunches, small group discussions, and paired buddy trainings for new hires.
• Community service: By volunteering our time and energy to do good in the community, we can help everyone around us (including ourselves) thrive. We’re currently wrapping up a back to school fundraiser, for example, to help local kids get ready for the year ahead.
• Fun gatherings: And of course, we ladies also want to make sure we give ourselves the opportunity to bond over fun activities such as local walking tours, skill building workshops, and workout classes.

The future of WANN looks bright as we move into the second half of 2017 and beyond. With one community service initiative already underway and plenty of other activities in the works, the ladies of Narvar are well on our way to building a supportive, inspiring community that will enhance our overall workplace and make us really proud to be called Narvarians.