Five women from five countries will attend the 2012 GlobalWomen's Leadership Forum in Gdask, Poland, next week courtesy ofscholarships from the Global Women's Leadership Network.

The network, co-founded by World Council of Credit Unions andthe Canadian Co-operative Association, will hold its annualeducation and networking forum in conjunction with the WOCCU Conference.

Formed in 2009, the network was created to promote the professional andpersonal development of credit union women around the world throughone-to-one networking, social media, peer-to-peer partnerships andeducational workshops.

According to Brian Branch, president/CEO of WOCCU, it serves asjust one example of WOCCU's focus on building a strong globalcredit union community.

This year's recipients include: Lara Thomas, founder of TheMILLA Project in the United States; Jedidah Nyongesa Musamali,program manager at the Social Entrepreneurship Program under theGoezraal Springs Empowerment Foundation in Kenya; Gail Rajkumar,executive director and public relations officer at TATECO CreditUnion Co-op Society Ltd., in Trinidad; Yamata Karki, programcoordinator and social worker at the Prakritinagar WomenIndependent Group and Nayapati Savings and Credit Cooperative Ltd.,in Nepal; and Arou Christine Tanyi, network operations manager forthe Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League.

The five recipients will receive a one-year membership to thenetwork and a cash stipend to attend the 2012 forum.

This year's Global Women's Leadership Forum, slated for July 15,will include speakers such as branding expert Jiao Zhang, a partnerwith marketing research and strategy firm Attune, to internationaldevelopment professional Gabriela Zapata, consultant for theConsultative Group to Assist the Poor.

“The Global Women's Leadership Network is dedicated to sharingresources to build an even stronger credit union movementworldwide,” said Susan Mitchell, network chair and CEO of Mitchell,Stankovic Associates. “I look forward to meeting the scholarshiprecipients, hearing their compelling stories and exchanging ideasthat we can take back to our organizations to make adifference.”