Woman Within International Logo

Go back to the last session of your Woman Within weekend and see in your mind’s eye the web that was created by the pink yarn as we sat in circle together. Connections from your weekend web are still present. You are also connected to a growing number of almost 10,000 women who have attended the weekend from as far away as Cape Town, Africa; England, France, New Zealand, Hawaii, California, Florida, Maine and from British Columbia to Ontario, Canada. Since its humble beginnings in 1987, the web does indeed stretch across the United States, and Canada, to parts of Europe and Africa and in March, 2008, will be offered in Australia.

The vital foundations of the web include its history/vision, legal base, monetary support, commitment of women, the psychological/social theory base of experiential learning and women’s spirituality. It was the commitment of a small group of women: Susan Ballje Ro Getto, Nan Luedtke, Kathy Porter, Chris Waters, Char Tosi and Michele Conlon who provided the foundation for the web as it is today.

Although Char Tosi and Susan Ballje wove together the curriculum for Woman Within, many women contributed their creative talents. Kenna del Sol, Ro Getto, Kathy Porter, and Marcella Jones were all contributors to the readings and design of the program. A group of women from Chicago suggested the making of the necklace. (In the beginning we gave out woven bracelets at the end of the weekend.) The pouches were originally made by hand on the weekend. Now they are lovingly made by circles of women who volunteer their time. Lauralynn Southworth started the tradition of sewing a small bead inside each pouch seam as a gift to the initiate. This tradition continues today in many regions.

Original Woman Within Logo

After a spider has established a foundation for weaving a web, she then produces the silk which creates the form, structure and process of the web. The orb web has three parts: a center, the orbs and the radials. The orb and radial lines bind the whole together. Every point of contact is a point of connection. Our purpose is to emphasize interrelationships, work to tighten them, and help to build strength. It is this strategy that honors the feminine principles of inclusion, connection and being responsible for holding the vision for this time. Before the Internet became the huge connection it is today, Woman Within was using the initials www to stand for Woman Within Weekend and the newsletter was “The Web,” long before this word became the common vernacular. Woman’s intuition led the way to creating a metaphor that is now used by billions throughout the world.

Today, the Center of the Woman Within Web is Margaret Renaud, the Executive Administrator of Woman Within International. Marg works continuously to support the Board, the Regions, outreach programs, leadership programs and other Woman Within programs. Other women who have held this key position through the years were Doris Couch from 1988-1992 and Lauralynn Southworth from 1992-1994. Marg has been serving Woman Within to get the Center in Ontario, Canada established, as editor of the newsletter, “The Web”. In 1995 she became the Executive Administrator.

The Woman Within International Board forms a circle of support (an orb) around Marg to help her hold a strong center. In the very beginning, Susan Ballje, Kenna del Sol and Char Tosi held this support orb as a for-profit corporation from 1988-1990. In 1990, Susan Ballje and Kenna del Sol resigned and Char became the sole owner of the corporation. Many women stepped forward to support and continue weaving the web. Some of the key weavers then were Judith Pauly, Julie-Berg Einhorn, Belkis Muldoon, Jennifer Hartgering Maria Scott, Joyce Brahm, Leslie Reambeault, plus many others too numerous to mention.

The outer orbs became the graduates of the Woman Within Training. Through their common experience they give back to Woman Within by staffing, by supporting their partners, family and community with a new sense of who they are. Through this web of women the world is being healed.

In 1990, the Woman Within weekends were filling rapidly with a two year waiting list. To accommodate more women, a “mid-week” model was offered. The participants arrived on Wednesday night and ended on Friday afternoon. Women were coming from Canada, Texas, East Coast, West Coast and England. The web was expanding far beyond the dreams of the Founders.

The first center to be established outside Wisconsin was in Ontario, Canada. Marlene Nappa led an enthusiastic, competent group of Canadian women to start the first weekend there in 1993. Women from Ontario drove many miles to attend the staff training, which was held two weeks prior to the weekend in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and then drove back to staff the weekend. Dedication, compassion and hours of work went into starting up the Ontario, Canada community.

Karen Kahn, a psychologist from Maryland attended the weekend and was determined to bring this work to the East Coast. She brought women to House in the Woods in Delavan to staff and learn the weekend and opened up the East Coast Center in 1993. The East Coast Region now called East Coast Sage Circle, Inc., has now grown to offer weekends in Boson, Georgia, North Carolina and New Jersey.

The Texas Region came into Delavan, Wisconsin in a BIG way! Before they started their weekends in Houston they filled a weekend with only Texas women, staffed mostly with Texas women who had already attended the weekend. Gisele Rojo and Cheryl Burns were the co-leaders of the Texas Region. The Texas Region operates under the name EnVision Connection, Inc.

In 1995, Minnesota started their center led by Lia (Sablosky) Falls and Marina Telfer. They held several weekends. They now support the Midwest in their weekends.

Next, a woman from Texas, Janice Clark, seeded the Woman Within Training in England. After she moved to London she missed having a community of women, so she invited Judith Pauly and Char Tosi to come to London to do a workshop to introduce women to women’s work. Women from England then began to come to House in the Woods in Delavan to attend the weekend and returning to staff. Edwina Reason, Katrina Taee, Naomi Davis, Melissa Kay, Juliette Clancy and Hilary Stirling were some of the women who held the strength of the Europe orb and started their first weekend in England in 1997. Transitions Europe, Ltd. now holds three weekends a year in England and one in France.

Through the diligent work of Stephanie Depierre and Alison Davis, the weekend has been translated into French. For several years a bilingual training was held in England with one team all English-speaking and one team French speaking. The first all French speaking weekend was held in 2006 in France. At this time there are 80 women on the waiting list to take the next weekend in France.

The West Coast was seeded and supported by Maggie Anderson, Debbie Starrett, Kathie Wickstrand Gahen, and finally Sheri Zuccato took on the responsibility to lead the group to establish their own trainings. International supported the first few weekends as an outreach, and now Women Worldwide-West Coast, Inc. offers trainings in Northern California, Southern California, Seattle, Washington, and Arizona.

In 1993, the Midwest became its own region led by Joyce Brahm. The Midwest Region, now called Woman to Woman Midwest, Inc., offers and supports weekends in Louisville, Kentucky Memphis, Tennessee, St. Louis, Missouri, Indiana and Iowa, as well as House in the Wood in Delavan, Wisconsin.

Woman Within International also serves areas of the world that do not fall into a Region’s territory. At this time outreach programs are offered in Alberta, Canada: Denver, Colorado; Michigan South Africa, and Australia. Starting outreach programs is a way to get a community established who can then run their own weekends after enough women have the experience and desire to start their own Region.

Every summer from 1993 until 1999, all the Regional presidents and other committed women gathered to discuss issues and concerns around the community and weekend. It was became clear that Woman Within needed to become a not-for-profit (NFP) organization, since it was staffed mostly by volunteers and in reality was not a ‘profit’ making business. What had stopped this from happening earlier was all the red-tape involved in applying for tax exempt status.

In 1999, the NFP corporation was established with Marlene Nappa, Karen Kahn and Char Tosi taking on the Board positions. Since then the WWI Board has taken on many configurations. Karen Kahn was key in getting the NFP tax exempt application completed. Mary Ann Armour took over as Board President in 2000, and was magical in getting the tax exempt status approved by the IRS. In 2002, Denice Smith became president and used her gifts as a lawyer and leader of women to refine and rewrite the licensing agreement with the Regions. Under the leadership of Leslie Reambeault from 2003-2006, the licensing agreements were signed and the South Africa outreach was started. Today the Board is led by Ro Getto, one of the original Advisory members in 1987.

The role and responsibility of the Board is to uphold the administration and protocol of the weekends. Holding this responsibility can be heavy and cumbersome, yet it is through the solid holding that the heart of the program (the weekends) can be clean and pure.

The radial threads that extend from the center of the web provide frame and structure for the orb threads and like spokes in a bicycle provide support for the whole. In a spider’s web these threads transmit information through their vibrations which go to the center, the outermost edges and throughout the orbs to communicate what needs to happen next. When we are attuned to one another, we can feel the vibrations throughout the web and act on our intuition.

One of the radial threads created from this center of supportive women was the creation of the Empowerment Circle (E-circle) concept by Belkis Muldoon and refined and redesigned by Julie Berg-Einhorn, Leslie Reambeault, Liz Oppenheimer and Nancy Board. There are now hundreds of E-circles around the world which continue to connect and weave the Web. One day Empowerment Circle Trainings, as well as, 8 week led programs and self-lead programs using the manual are available for graduates.

Weekend Leaders (WEL), formerly called Crones, are both an orb that supports the WWI Board and Regions, as well as, a radial that expands from the Center. The WELs are certified by the Board of Directors and hired by a Region to lead the weekend. The WELs hold the container of the weekends and are vital to the continuity and integrity of the program. Current weekend leaders are Joyce Brahm, Rhonda Gaughan, Gaye Hall, Carol Kahn, Marlene Nappa and Char Tosi. Esther Robertson is a Weekend Leader in Training. We pause to grieve the loss of our dear Sheri Zuccato who was a WEL and left this earth plane in January, 2007, yet her presence and influence is felt in the hearts of many women around the world.

Another radial of the Web are the Facilitators and Facilitators in Training (FITs). The facilitators are certified by a protocol developed by JoAnne Alfeld and administered by Doris O’Brien. Both of these women bring professionalism and clarity to the certification process. In order to be ‘on the carpet’, facilitators have taken the One Day Staff Training (ODST), Women Empowering Women (WEW) and Woman Within Level 2 (WWL2). After many years of “on the weekend” training, facilitators progress through the facilitation track to be certified. This arduous program insures each participant is being facilitated by a safe, creative, competent team in the Woman Within Way.

Team Leaders are also key players as radials to the weekend. They weave together the staff and logistics to create a seamless, safe container for the participant. Many women have served in this role and Marg Renaud brings her skill and years of experience to many women becoming Team Leaders.

In order to staff a Woman Within Weekend a woman must take the One Day Staff Training that was developed and designed by Sheri Zuccato. Another dynamic program for all women that is required to become a leader in WW is Women Empowering Women. This program was designed by Gaye Hall, Judith Pauly and Char Tosi. It teaches aspects of shadow, communication tools, and accountability. This program has been offered since 1989.

A 5-day program, Woman Within Level 2 has evolved through the years. It began as a Facilitator Training and became Leadership Training. This program was led by Joyce Brahm, Judith Pauly, Marlene Nappa and Char Tosi from 1994-2005. This program has been redesigned to give women a chance to go really deep into their inner castle and discover nine archetypes that operate in their life. This new design is led by Monica Robinson, Esther Robertson, and Char Tosi, and has the added feature of training Facilitators to be presenters, and FITs to lead the processes. This program has been offered on the West Coast, Midwest and England. It will be offered in October, 2007, in Elmer, New Jersey, in Texas in January, 2008, and in South Africa in November, 2008.

Other radials that support the web of the Board, regions, and participants are programs that support a woman’s growth in certain areas. These programs are: Healing the Wounds of Shame, led by Judith Pauly or Marlene Nappa. Sexual Self is led by Char Tosi and Incest Healing is led by Marlene Nappa. Return to the Castle is a one and one-half day program that repeats the weekend from Friday night through Saturday night and can be taught anywhere in the world where there are 15 women who want to repeat the weekend and do some more in-depth work.

Another radial that supports the web is marketing that is done by handing a brochure to women who might be interested in attending the weekend. Under the enthusiastic leadership of Laurie Riedman, the logo and the brochure was redesigned in 2001. The first logo was designed by Char Tosi’s sons, Tony and David, who were computer experts when they were teen-agers (and still are experts!) Abby Macrae, Reneé Riley-Adams, and Laurie Riedman gifted their time, talents of design and writing and marketing to create the new logo and brochure which reflects the beauty of women and the organization.

Char Tosi, Founder of WW

A vital radial that is needed and being developed is Multi-cultural awareness. In 2005 Woman Within entered into an agreement with ManKind Project to co-sponsor the “Isms and Issues” program in local communities. Other programs that support this radial of the web are Bridges and Boundaries and the Multi-Cultural Conference that is being offered in Kenosha, Wisconsin July 13-15, 2007.

The original vision for the Woman Within weekend was that the web would stretch around the world, connecting and healing women. As many of us can attest, it has done that and much, much more. As women have grown and healed from being supported by other women, they have gone on to help other women. And the connections continue, with our children, our families and with mother earth.

Click to see Char's WW photo album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/heartbeat-news/: Click on each of the small images to see larger images and complete description.

Disclaimer: If we have fogotten to honor any women who have helped/volunteered their time/or given of themselves for Women Within, we apologize. This is the first time the Women Within history has been written out from a historical perspective in its entirety. If we have omitted anyone or forgotten a piece of the development of Woman Within please let us know.

Two corrections to last month's article: Woman Within: Beginings: Change #1 -- Bill Kauth was responible for the vision of the New Warriors not Ron Hering. Change #2 -- In the short paragraph about the pyschological theories that make up the background of Woman Within, we included Jungian and 'other feminist theories'. Woman Within does not use feminist theory and is not a feminist organization.

10th Anniversary, Chicago, Illinois, June 1997. Crones: Joyce Brahm, Jennifer Hartgering, Marlene Nappa, Judith Pauly, Char Tosi, Karen Kahn Wilson.