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News Release December 21, 2005
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 Advisory Link Named as Finalist in
2005
Stevie® Awards for Women Entrepreneurs
Dallas, TX – December 21,
2005 – Advisory Link, Inc. was named as a Finalist in the 2005 Stevie Awards
for Women Entrepreneurs in both the Women Helping Women category
[recognizing businesses and individuals who supported and contributed to the
development of women in business] and the Community Involvement Program of
the Year [recognizing best practices in corporate social responsibility and
community activities]. They were selected from more than 470 entries.
Advisory Link (AL) focuses
on helping organizations increase their number of female employees, managers,
executives and customers. Partners Gerry Myers and Taunee Besson enable their
clients to achieve these goals by developing and facilitating external Women’s
Advisory Boards (WAB) and Exec-U-Link (EUL) peer-coaching groups.
Myers illustrates how their
alliance with MassMutual Financial Group (MMFG) has worked to help women in
communities across the country by creating and consulting with 12 Women’s
Advisory Boards (WAB).
“The WABs have assisted
MMFG in educating women about career opportunities, marketing and product needs
important to women,” said Myers. “We are proud that all the boards spearhead
community outreach programs that focus on the needs of women and girls in their
local areas.
Additionally, we have
created a database of more than 300 WAB members nationally who can network with
each other to do business, provide contacts and share best practices.”
One mission of WABs is
improving financial literacy for women and girls in their communities. In
Vienna, VA, Capitol Financial Partners, its WAB, and Advisory Link partner
Taunee Besson, developed a proposal for a Financial Education Center for Women
(FEC) in Fairfax County. The proposal secured financing from MMFG and others
for its three initial years. Collaborating with the county’s Community Business
Partnership and its Women’s Business Center, this new agency has provided
financial planning seminars and counseling for hundreds of women since its
inception in April, 2005.
Another community program
is Game Face: What Does a Female Athlete Look Like? Several of the WABs
have participated in this program, which has a traveling photograph exhibit and
middle-school curriculum component.
“The experience provides
self-esteem to young women, and broadens their thoughts on how athletics can
enrich their lives,” said Myers. “These are just two examples of how Advisory
Link is providing a long-term, positive impact on numerous communities, women’s
and girls’ lives and sponsoring corporations.”
“Women’s Advisory Boards
and Exec-U-Links peer-coaching groups embody the spirit of Women Helping
Women,” said Taunee Besson, chairman of Advisory Link. “Both groups are
composed of members who are successful in their careers, highly-respected and
well-connected in their communities.”
“Aside from providing counsel, revenue-generating ideas, support and best
practices to each other, the women in the Women Executive and Business Owners
EUL have formed alliances to create joint projects that are beneficial to both
their companies’ bottom line and their women customers,” Besson said.
The Stevie Awards for Women
Entrepreneurs,
www.stevieawards.com/women, is an international awards competition
recognizing the accomplishments of women executives and business owners. The
awards are produced by the creators of the prestigious American Business
Awards, hailed as “the business world’s own Oscars” by the New York Post (April
27, 2005).
“The Winners and Finalists
in the 2005 Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneurs comprise the most dynamic
women in business today. These executives and entrepreneurs have accomplished
innovative and extraordinary things while building their businesses and serving
their communities,” said Michael Gallagher, president of The Stevie Awards.
“We congratulate all of them on their achievement.”
Details about The Stevie
Awards for Women Entrepreneurs and the full list of Finalists are available at
http://www.stevieawards.com/women/.
About Advisory Link
Advisory Link (www.advisorylink-dfw.com
) provides its clients with customized Women’s Advisory Boards and Exec-U-Link
peer-coaching groups to solve their marketing, recruitment, retention and
succession challenges. The company recognizes the value women bring to the
economy and individual businesses as both talented employees and savvy
consumers.
Gerry Myers has spent years
working with corporations on successfully marketing to women.
Active in community and
civic organizations, Myers is past president of NAWBO and the Automotive Women
Network in Dallas/Fort Worth. She has served on the advisory boards of Women's
Leadership Exchange, Women's Resource Center of the Dallas Metropolitan YWCA,
Women's Link, Girls Inc., and UNT Department of Marketing & Logistics, to name
a few. In addition, she is a graduate of both Leadership America and
Leadership Dallas.
Myers has written articles and been featured or quoted in numerous national
publications including The New York Times, American Demographics, The
Financial Post, The Dallas Business Journal, Honolulu Weekly, Toronto Star and
Marketing News. In addition, She is the author of Targeting the New
Professional Woman: How to Market and Sell to Today's 57 Million Working Women.
Taunee Besson has been a
business owner since 1979. An alumna of Leadership
Dallas, she has served on nonprofit boards and committees including Girls Inc.,
Women's Center of Dallas, Girl Scouts, Dallas Women's Foundation and
Mortarboard, among others. She is an alumna of the Leadership America Class of
2003.
Besson is a director of the
World Council of the Association of Career Management Professionals
International, for whom she is developing a global advisory board of
distinguished professionals in her field. She is an award-winning columnist
for The Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal.com (formerly NBEW).
She has authored three editions each of NBEW's Premier Guide to Resumes
and NBEW's Premier Guide to Cover Letters, as well as a variety of
articles for trade and business journals.
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