Business Women's Leadership Group (BWLG)

When: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 10 - 11:30 a.m.
Where: Postino Boulder, 1468 Pearl St St. 110, Boulder, CO 80302
Fee: Free for Members, If you are not a member and would like to attend as our guest, please contact us at membership@boulderchamber.com 

On May 17th, the Business Women's Leadership Group (BWLG) will be holding a panel discussion on Senior Care Giving.
The discussion will focus on the challenges of balancing work as a professional with caring for a loved one!

The event will take place at Postino Boulder, a women-owned business.
The discussion will run from 10:00 to 11:30 AM.
Join us for an insightful conversation, delicious food and networking!

Panelist: 

 Donna Ludington, VP of Colorado Life and Health 
 Donna also works as an Independent Health Insurance Broker at Professor Medicare. She has helped thousands of seniors make sense of Medicare’s alphabet soup. From humble beginnings in 2011, the brokerage has grown and now has seven agents working to serve seniors. You will find Professor Medicare’s Resource Center in the heart of Boulder at 1660 30^th Street in the Sunrise Center near King Soopers.
In 2020, she co-authored, with her husband, Craig, "Professor Medicare's Easy Guide to Medicare". It is available on Amazon and explains Medicare in plain English.
Donna was born and raised in Thailand, where her physician parents spent many years running the largest hospital in Bangkok. She grew up watching their dedication in caring for the medical needs of an underserved community. She takes that same passion for healthcare to each person she works with. Her primary goal is to find the best plan for each client’s health and financial needs.

 Sharon Greene, Director of Operations at Cultivate
A Boulder County resident since 1970, Sharon knew at an early age that she had a calling for helping seniors. At age 11, she began volunteering as a candy striper at Boulder Community Hospital and has stayed connected to the local senior community ever since.
Many, many years later, in 2013, when the opportunity to work at Cultivate presented itself, Sharon knew it was a perfect match!
Sharon has an extensive background in Administration and Operations, Customer Support and Construction/Home Repairs. She enjoys animated movies and TV shows and never takes herself too seriously. When she’s not indulging her goofy side, she’s reading mystery novels, bopping to music, walking her dog, gardening, cheering on her favorite sports teams, or spending time with her high school sweetheart-turned husband.

Rebekah Van Sweden, Caregiver Initiative Lead
Rebekah Van Sweden was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan (the first US city – before Pearl Street - to develop an outdoor pedestrian mall) and came to Boulder via Washington DC (where she received her MSW) after living in Africa for three years.  She has broad experience within non-profit agencies and previous roles include mental health center therapist, hospital social worker, crisis counselor, paramedic-certified volunteer and Adult Protection caseworker. 
Rebekah’s current position is that of Caregiver Initiative Lead – assisting caregivers in Boulder County through education and emotional support.  Ms. Van Sweden embraced her role as a long distant caregiver for her mother, who suffered from dementia and died in late 2019.  She is a trainer for the Rosalyn Carter Institute’s Dealing with Dementia workshop.  Outside of work she enjoys interacting with her three young adult children, hiking, reading and meditation.x

Beth Blacker, It's Just Stuff
Beth is the Chief of Chaos to Calm a home organizing and move management service based in the Boulder/Denver area. She and Team IJS pride themselves on being the "conduit for change when and where it matters most for you and your home" and bring a tremendous amount of passion and compassion to each and every job. She doesn't believe that there is just one "cookie cutter" approach to the process of decluttering and, therefore, comes in with fresh eyes, ears and hands to guide clients through what can be a very emotional, stressful and overwhelming journey to reduce the burden of their stuff. She truly believes she was born with a weird gene that not only wants, but needs everything in her life to have a place and purpose. After living in 4 different states and moving close to 3 dozen times, this Michigan native left her Midwest roots behind after graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in communications and headed to the Big Apple to pursue a career in the food industry when, as Beth often says, it wasn't a cool rock star thing to do. Her passion for cooking combined with her attention to detail eventually lead to stints in the event planning and trade show management industries as well as an owner of a gift basket business in Louisville, KY where she lived for a few years until her life took her to Tampa for over 20 years. She raised her two children there who are now fully launched adults...thank G-d!...and among the many things she did during that time she had a successful baked goods company. Despite a tremendous effort to mass produce a product that was going to be distributed nationwide, she had to abandon that particular dream in 2015 when her life took a sudden and very unexpected turn that resulted in her second marriage ending and a need to leave her FL life behind to transition to the life she now loves here in CO. Beth is a very active and engaged member of the Boulder community, thrives on being surrounded by so much beauty and during her free time will always choose to be hiking during the day and dancing all night long. Her friends refer to her as the "Energizer Bunny" who literally "hops" from one thing to the next without missing a beat as she continues on her quest to help those who simply can't let go of what no longer serves them. 

 Michelle Dodd, Founder and CEO of Merge Studio
 Merge Studio is a web design and digital marketing agency serving mission-driven organizations across the country.
After two decades in digital communications, Michelle finds joy in putting all the pieces together to raise the bar for clients: by building and leading the right team, and finding and serving the right clients. Michelle’s experience in marketing and web development fosters a big-picture approach that leads to tailored, effective solutions.
Michelle spent a few years adventuring on multi-month self-supported bike tours, sea kayak expeditions, and through-hikes. These days she balances her time behind a screen with backpacking, mountain biking, and skiing with her husband and daughter and playing volleyball.

As one of the strongest and most active groups within the Boulder Chamber, Business Women's Leadership Group (BWLG) provides Boulder's community of business women with education, networking, leadership, and recognition through informative and professional programs. The BWLG also provides the committee for the Women Who Light the Community signature event. We invite you to join the to help you build your business and advance your career.

*The Chamber and Boulder Transportation Connections (BTC) encourage you to use sustainable transportation options to get to Chamber events! Learn more about transportation options in Boulder and how BTC can help employers encourage their employees to commute sustainably, on the website or by emailing us at info@bouldertc.org. Home - Boulder Transportation Connections. BTC promotes transportation choices that are efficient & sustainable and enhance the Boulder community as a great place to live, work, & play.

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NOTE: The opinions and information provided by Chamber event speakers are strictly those of the speakers. The Boulder Chamber does not necessarily endorse their opinions and has not independently verified the information presented.