1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1 Introduction
West Point Women is a global network of female U.S. Military Academy (USMA) graduates dedicated to the principle of empowerment through mutual support and mentorship.
1.2 Strategy Summary
"To become a highly effective network dedicated to providing mentorship, solidarity, education, and perspective to support the lives and careers of female USMA graduates."
 2. STRATEGIC SITUATION
2.1 History of West Point Women
In the fall of 2001, the West Point Women founder, Niave Knell, was reading an article in Working Mother magazine about a mentoring program for current and former female Goldman Sachs employees. The program was founded by Janet Hanson, and called 85 Broads in reference to Goldman Sachs' Manhattan address. The article discussed the need for a mentoring program for women as they went through various stages of their lives and careers and were faced with some difficult choices. Niave felt that this need also existed in the Army, and began researching ways to establish an online mentoring program. In 2003, she met Hanson, and Hanson agreed to let her use 85 Braods software and server to
establish the www.westpointwomen.org website.
During the summer of 2003, Chris Lepp, founder of the Paladin Foundation and fellow classmate, contacted Niave about establishing a memorial scholarship through his foundation in honor of their fallen classmate, Captain Jennifer Shafer Odom. She agreed, and secured Captain Odom's family's approval. The initial scholarship, awarded this year, will be funded by the Paladin Foundation. Future scholarships will be funded by the West Point Women.
In July 2003, Niave began a more formal mentoring program for the Class of 2003. She solicited members for those interested in mentoring and those interested in being mentored.
2.2 Current Status
As of April 2004, only 4 female graduates have given a negative response, meaning that they do not want to be part of the group.
2.3 Pending Opportunities
The West Point Women's founder is currently seeking assistance from the Association of Graduates (AOG). Specifically, she is seeking Society status to enable her to spread the word about the network through the Society pages of the Assembly magazine. She also wants to use contact information from the AOG's database to send a one-time invitation to all female graduates.
The founder is also planning a conference in Summer 2004, pending the number of group members and their level of interest. Realistically, the group would need approximately 800 members to generate the number of attendees (80+) to make the effort worthwhile.
3. ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW
3.1 Mission Statement
West Point Women is a global network dedicated to providing mentorship, solidarity, education, and perspective to support and empower the lives and careers of female USMA graduates. Members network, form contacts, and work together to pursue a wide range of professional, personal, and philanthropic opportunities.
3.2 Organizational Structure
3.2.1 President. The President is the chief executive of the organization responsible for overall operations. The President facilitates meetings between all other organization staff members to design and implement strategy. The President ensures the goals of the organization are met.
3.2.2 Senior Advisor. The Senior Advisor is a member of the Class of '80 who provides advice and counsel to the President and Managers.
3.2.3 Alumni Affairs Liaison. The Alumni Affairs Liaison represents the USMA Women at the AOG's annual leadership conference; researches, writes, and submits articles for the Assembly; and serves as a potential point of contact for issues and affairs affecting female graduates.
3.2.4 Managers. The Managers comprise the top end of the organization's hierarchical structure. Managers are primarily responsible for implementing the tactical means necessary to achieve the goals established by the organization. Managers are also responsible for supervising their departments and the operational groups under their authority. Simply stated, managers are responsible for converting plans and strategies into operations and real-world results.
Executive Manager. The Executive Manager is the chief operations manager of the organization. This senior-most manager has direct supervisory and operational authority over all of the other managers. The Executive Manager reports directly to the President and is responsible for implementing the tactical means necessary to achieve the organization's goals. The Executive Manager essentially acts as the tactical and operational compliment to the President.
Active Army Manager. The Active Army Manager is responsible for four areas:
1) recruiting active army members, 2) setting up informal gatherings, dinners, workshops, and meetings for active army members as necessary,
3) maintaining the active army network (database) on the Smartgroups website, and
4) establishing and operating the active army mentor program.
Memorial Scholarship Manager. The Memorial Scholarship Manager is responsible for raising funds for the Captain Jennifer Shafer Odom Memorial Scholarship, and for coordinating the award of the scholarship with the Paladin Foundation.
At-Home Mothers Manager. The At-Home Mothers Manager is responsible for three areas: 1) recruiting at-home mother members, 2) setting up informal gatherings, dinners, workshops, and meetings for at-home mother members as necessary, and 3) maintaining the at-home mothers network (database) on the Smartgroups website, and 4) establishing and operating the at-home mothers mentor program.
Reserves Manager. The Reserves Manager is responsible for four areas: 1) recruiting reserve members, 2) setting up informal gatherings, dinners, workshops, and meetings for reserve members as necessary, 3) maintaining the reserve network (database) on the Smartgroups website, and 4) establishing and operating the reserve mentor program.
Working Professionals Manager. The Working Professionals Manager is responsible for four areas: 1) recruiting working professional members, 2) setting up informal gatherings, dinners, workshops, and meetings for working professional members as necessary, 3) maintaining the working professionals network (database) on the Smartgroups website, and 4) establishing and operating the working professionals mentor program.
Working Mothers Manager. The Working Mothers Manager is responsible for four areas: 1) recruiting working mother members, 2) setting up informal gatherings, dinners, workshops, and meetings for working mother members as necessary, 3) maintaining the working mothers network (database) on the Smartgroups website, and 4) establishing and operating the working mothers mentor program.
4. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
4.1 Initial Goals. The initial goals for the USMA Women follow:
- Recruit personnel to serve in Manager, Senior Advisor, and Alumni Affairs positions
- Gain Society status from the AOG
These goals should be accomplished by November 2003.
4.2 Intermediate Goals. The intermediate goals follow:
- Host a USMA Women Conference in 2004
- Achieve 50% market penetration, i.e., approximately 1,250 members
- Achieve 25% participation in mentor programs in all 6 areas
- Fund the Captain Jennifer Shafer Odom Memorial Scholarship with at least $1500
These goals should be accomplished by December 2004.
4.3 Long-range Goals. The long-range goals follow:
- Host a biannual USMA Women Conference
- Achieve 80% market penetration, i.e., approximately 2,000 members
- Fund the Captain Jennifer Shafer Odom Memorial Scholarship with at least $1500 annually
- Achieve 50% participation in mentor programs in all 6 areas
- Move from Society status to non-profit/not-for profit organization status
- Open organization up to the other service West Point Women
These goals should be accomplished by December 2006.
5. MARKET INFORMATION
5.1 Description of Market. The market is female graduates from Classes of 1980 through the Class of 2003, with the addition of approximately 100 women a year. Including the Class of 2003, there are **** female graduates to date. Graduates range in age from 22 to 46 years old. They are in a variety of stages of their lives and careers retired, active duty, reserves; married, single, divorced; and businesswomen, stay at-home mothers, students. They are spread out throughout the world, but the majority are in the United States.
5.2 How Need Is Currently Filled. The need is half-filled through the following programs:
Geographically-based West Point Societies. These are great for networking among other graduates, but there are no specific programs aimed at females, and females are very much the minority in these organizations.
Mentoring by a supervisor/superior, in both business and the military. In many cases the mentors are males, who can be very understanding but do not face the same issues.
Sigma Phi Psi, which is a female military, educational, service, and social sorority. This is a full-fledged sorority that includes an $80 initiation fee, rush requirements, and travel to an induction ceremony. The sorority aspect may not appeal to all members of the market. Also, membership is opened to current and former members of all military branches, and is not specifically aimed at officers.
5.3 SWOT Analysis
5.3.1 Strengths. Strengths of the market include a strong bond between all members based on common experiences, the already-established networks among female graduates of any given class year, the variety of experiences and professions represented, and the ease of maintaining contact through established systems, such as the AOG Class Pages, the Assembly, the Army Knowledge Online (AKO) accounts, etc.
5.3.2 Weaknesses. Weakness include the perception problems with a female-only organization and the difficulty in bringing members together for face-to-face meetings due to geographical separation and other commitments.
5.3.3 Opportunities. Opportunities abound, including:
- Mentoring programs that provide members with support, and assist in career progression and retention.
- Providing female graduates a voice, through the society, in alumni affairs
- Providing funding for an annual memorial scholarship
5.3.4 Threats
6. COMPETITORS. The West Point Women's main competitors are also the organizations that currently fill the need, as discussed in 5.2.
7. MARKETING PLAN
7.1 Using AOG Resources. If authorized, the West Point Women would request a one-time AOG database query for all female graduates' e-mail addresses. These would be used to send an invitation to join the Women of West. If authorized as a Society, the West Point Women would use the Societies section of the Assembly magazine as one medium to keep members informed.
7.2 Using Website. West Point Women will use the website to share information with its members.
7.3 Using Word of Mouth. When new members accept the invitation, they are asked to then send invitations to their friends and classmates. This has a cumulative effect, and it reaches potential members outside the current members' circle of friends.
7.4 Potential Members. There are very large gaps between the members' classes. Many of the members are clustered around the classes of '90, '91, '92, and '93, and then there are some in the class of '03. The classes in the 80s are unrepresented, even though they are the best candidates for mentors. The number of members in the classes between '93 and '03 is very small. They are at a cross-roads in career and life decisions, and are the best candidates for mentoring.
8. HUMAN RESOURCES
8.1 Current Personnel. As of today, there is a President and a nucleus of committed members.
8.2 Personnel Growth Plan. Within the next 3 months, the President will recruit members to fill the organizational structure. The President is in contact with a member of the Class of '80, who should be able to provide potential candidates for the Senior Advisor position. Other positions may be filled by the committed supporters, or may be recruited through other avenues.
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