2017 IPWS Highlights – Our Year in Review

December 18, 2017

It’s almost time to start celebrating the Christmas holidays and welcoming the new year. But before wrapping up 2017, we wanted to take a look back at some of the many highlights from our past 12 months.

What an exciting year it has been for IPWS. Our amazing Shanghai community of international professional women (and an increasing number of men) has grown significantly, and through our various channels and platforms, we now reach more than 6500 people every month!

The purpose of IPWS is to provide different platforms to connect, build networks, and foster personal and professional growth. Mainly we do this through different kinds of events – workshops, panel discussions, networking events and mentoring opportunities – and this year we’ve had the pleasure of hosting dozens of exciting gatherings. Some of 2017’s most popular events included the following:

To kick off the new year, IPWS hosted an expert panel of professional women discussing the world of digital marketing, and in particular Key Opinion Leaders (KOL). Like many of us, if you’re using any kind of social media, you might be influenced by a dynamic Key Opinion Leader without even knowing it. Read 7 insights on Shanghai’s KOL & digital marketing world discussed at the event here.
As we’re in a city with so many exciting career possibilities, we found it highly interesting to host an evening with an expert panel of career specialists sharing their expertise and answering questions on How to Optimize Your Job Search in Shanghai. Read their best tips here.
Again in 2017, IPWS joined forces with our good friends at M on the Bund and the Shanghai chapters of AmCham, AustCham and BritCham to launch another year of monthly Mentor Walks. Mentor Walks brings together established women leaders and emerging women leaders in our community for a casual morning walk to discuss professional and personal successes, challenges and aspirations. Mentees have the incredible opportunity to seek advice from seasoned professionals who will provide an open ear, honest feedback and meaningful guidance. Interested? Stay tuned for the Mentor Walks 2018 Launch here.
In June, we hosted the second annual IPWS Leadership Summit, IPWS’ flagship event of the year. More than 200 attendees had a professional and personal development experience like no other, networking with top leaders, hearing dynamic speakers and participating in innovative workshops. We can’t wait for the 2018 IPWS Leadership Summit coming up again in a few months on May 25th, but in the mean time, here’s a recap and video from this year’s conference.
The 2017 IPWS Leadership Summit also featured the Women Leadership Awards (WLA), which is the longest running international award in China for women leaders, and was the only such award for over a decade. The WLA recognises professional women who have emerged as leaders in their field. As leaders, these inspiring women (and since 2016, men supporting women) have made a marked difference in our community and have forged paths for others to follow. See this year’s winners here.
To kick off the summer, IPWS hosted a White Party Fundraising Brunch to raise money for our charity beneficiary, The World Academy for the Future of Women (WAFW). We were more than delighted to raise over 35,000 RMB for this bold and daring leadership program focused on developing young women for leadership roles. See pictures of the gorgeous day here.
In October, we got the chance to understand how Improv Techniques can be applied into everyday situation at work and in your private life. Improv coach Elva Yao from Zmack showed “how easy it is to convince people to come out of their shell and provide valuable input”, as one event participant put it. How can improv help you to become a better leader? Read all about it here.
One of our most popular events of the year brought together a panel of experts to discuss China’s hottest industry: Ecommerce. The panelists shared their expertise from various perspectives and industries, discussing the Chinese ecommerce phenomenon and how to compete on the world’s biggest shopping day, Double 11. Read some of the key takeaways here.
Just like previous years, IPWS continued to host networking events throughout 2017, providing our community with opportunities to make valuable business connections and new friends. For some events, we also partnered up with other organisations, such as BritCham, AustCham, SwissCham, CanCham and BenCham.

During the year, we also had to send our very best wishes to outgoing IPWS President, Tiziana Figliolia, who graciously served on the IPWS Board of Directors for several years and has now relocated to Boston, USA with her family. Tiziana continues to support IPWS as an Advisor to the Board of Directors.

We also warmly welcomed new IPWS President, Amanda Argentieri, who has served on the Board of Directors for several years, and now continues to lead and develop the IPWS organization and community.

An enormous thank you to all IPWS sponsors, partners, friends and the entire community for your continuous support this year! We’re beyond excited for 2018, particularly as the new year marks 25 years since the organization was first founded in 1993. We’re looking forward to all of you joining us for more events, workshops, networking, professional development and celebrations!

Happy holidays and all the best from all of us on the IPWS Board of Directors!

PS. Start saving the dates for our 2018 events. Make sure to sign up for membership before January 18th, and you’ll get the first event of the year free of charge!