Mary Lehman MacLachlan
Economic Empowerment Award

Mary Lehman MacLachlan was an esteemed WPO advisory board member and a true leader in the women's business community. She helped to start the WPO and believed that women must be economically independent. As Mary best stated herself "I really care about women in positions of leadership and ownership. Now is the time for women to claim their rightful place as capitalists in the greatest capitalist country in the world. And, in this effort, women need to support other women because if they don't, no one else will."

Based on Mary's convictions, the following criteria for economic empowerment were established for this award in her honor.

1. The applicant must be a WPO member in good standing.
2. The applicant must model Mary's beliefs about economic independence.
3. The applicant's business must reflect entrepreneurial growth:

• The business must be profitable
• The business-owner must fairly compensate herself
• The business must have positive financial benefits for her staff, including:
  • Competitive benefits package
  • Strong training opportunities
  • Competitive compensation package
• The WPO member must demonstrate that she has supported other businesswomen in her community.

The award recognizes women who exemplify the outstanding qualities of Mary Lehman MacLachlan and have demonstrated leadership, ownership and economic independence in their professional career. Kate Lehman will be in attendance at the award ceremony on April 23 in her mother’s honor. The recipient of this award can consider herself representative of all women who strive each day for excellence and has excelled beyond all others.

We urge all members to submit the attached application for this prestigious award, no later than March 17, 2010. Thank you for your participation.

Click here to download the application in MS Word.