From Staff Reports, USA TODAY NETWORK- WisconsinPublished 10:08 a.m. CT March 25, 2020 | Updated 8:59 p.m. CT March 28, 2020
FOND DU LAC – The Women’s Empowerment Series, which serves women and their children from all walks of life struggling with emotional distress, is launching a virtual mini-series on March 26, to continue to support women in the community as its in-person 12-week series is postponed due to COVID-19.
The 12-week series, which was set to begin March 12, was the first program as part of the Goebel Family Foundation after two years with Fond du Lac County. The series will now be available through Facebook Live segments.
Led by local community leaders, the nine-class virtual mini-series aims to empower women during the current global health crisis. The weekly segments will cover topics ranging from maintaining calm in the household, wellness at home, scheduling and the importance of routine, communication while socially distanced, and beyond.
The series will be posted to the Women’s Empowerment Series Facebook account at facebook.com/womensempowermentfdl.
As the program transitions to online, it is also moving through its transition to the Goebel Family Foundation. The move was a natural next step and allows the series to be even more impactful to the women and their families, Menting said.
“It’s amazing how this series started as an idea just a few years ago,” said Menting. “Thanks to loads of community support, we have been able to build this program from the ground up and have really evolved into something that is impacting not only the women and children in our community, but also all of those involved, from committee members, mentors and office volunteers, even our donors are seeing the direct impact the program has.”
Additionally, under the Goebel Family Foundation, the series was able to invite 18 community-minded women to serve as an Advisory Board, focused on: fundraising and fund development, marketing and public relations, programming, and planning and evaluation.
Green Bay Packer and Senior Vice President of University Relations at Marian University George Koonce serves as an ambassador for the program, and will focus on community involvement and awareness, as well as fostering diversity in the series. Dr. Jeneise Briggs will focus on mentor training, and will offer her expertise on understanding business and poverty, and expanding diversity.