March is recognized as Women’s History Month, and on Sunday it was a celebration of connection, empowerment, and community.
Erie DAWN hosted its Rise and Shine Women’s Networking and Celebration Brunch at the Erie Art Museum, bringing women together for a day focused on building relationships, uplifting and learning from one another.
Dr. Susanne Kuligowski, the Executive Director of Erie DAWN said, “We want all women to come and celebrate in this, so when we have this event next year, we would love to see them, to come mingle, have a great time and really get together and know one another and see how they can be involved in the community.”
According to Dr. Kuligowski, the event welcomed women from a wide range of industries, “non-profits to advocates, to doctors, attorneys, pharmacists, nurses, students, women from all over Erie.”
For some attendees, the brunch was also a chance to grow their businesses with the support of like-minded professionals. Megan Leo of Megan Leo Photography said she attended to explore new ways to use her work to better connect with others. According to Leo, “One of my driving reasons for being here is I want to get more involved with how I can use photography to connect with our community.”
Leo’s connection to the event runs deep. As Leo explained, “I actually was a participant many years ago. I actually spoke at this event last year and it’s really nice to be able to be here and give back to a program that is so close to my heart.”
Leo said she knows how important the support from other women is and she wants to give back and help women too. As Leo explained “When we get a group of women together, there’s nothing we can’t do and just finding more ways we can use our combined skills in order to make a difference.”