Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Arlington Chamber taking over Awesome Women group

The Arlington Chamber of Commerce will be taking over the Arlington-based professional networking group Awesome Women (AWE) starting in 2021, the chamber announced Thursday.

During the transition period, the new Arlington Chamber Chapter of AWE will begin offering will begin offering AWE-branded women’s-only networking events this fall.

Founded in 2014 by Karen Bate and Evelyn Powers, AWE spun off five additional chapters across the greater Washington, D.C., metro region.  All of these will be invited to join the chamber and consolidate into the Arlington Chamber Chapter of AWE in January 2021, Bate says.

Memberships and monthly events for current AWE members will continue through 2020. Bate and Powers will continue to serve as ambassadors to the new AWE when it transitions to the Arlington Chamber later this year.

“We are thrilled to take what feels like a natural step in AWE’s evolution,” Bate and Powers said in a statement. “Women-only networking events have grown and flourished since we began AWE six years ago, and we believe the chamber is the perfect place to carry on this popular offering for women business owners and business leaders.”
Though Bate and Powers will no longer be managing the day to day running of AWE, they will continue to retain the rights to the AWE brand and will continue holding the annual AWE summit conference, Bate said. They will also continue hosting “The Awesome Women” podcast but will no longer air their live weekly radio show on WERA 96.7 FM in Arlington.
“Karen and Evelyn are amazing leaders who have built an authentic space for women business owners to deeply connect,” said Arlington Chamber President and CEO Kate Bates. “I’m honored they selected the Arlington Chamber as the home for the Arlington chapter of AWE, and look forward to the valuable opportunities this collaboration brings to AWE’s existing members and to the women business owners in the Chamber.”
“We are so grateful to our members and chapter leaders who have shared our passion for supporting one another since 2014,” Bate added. “We look forward to continuing to advocate for all of the awesome women entrepreneurs in our community and throughout the D.C. area. Being part of leading AWE has been, and will continue to be, one of my and Evelyn’s proudest accomplishments.”