by Chelsea Nelson
Interactive Communications Director

Last night members of United Way of Salt Lake’s Women’s Philanthropic Network gathered at the beautiful OC Tanner building in downtown Salt Lake for their annual Summer Social. Members met to network and mingle and also hear more about WPN’s priority of Women for Educational Achievement. Everyone had a wonderful time enjoying the gorgeous surroundings and discussing the successes that WPN has seen over the past few years.

Jennifer Smith, the Women’s Philanthropic Network Chair, spoke about the great work that has been happening in United Way of Salt Lake Neighborhood Centers–thanks much in part to the generous donations from WPN members. She also discussed the struggles that Utah is seeing with young women finishing post-secondary education. Jennifer encouraged guests to take action and invest in WPN’s new priority, Women for Educational Achievement.  Utah currently ranks 26th in the nation for higher education completion and the gap between male and female’s attaining a four-year college degree in Utah has grown to 6 percent; no other state is even close to a gap that size. Jennifer was positive that with the commitment of WPN members, those statistics could change!

Thank you to everyone who came out and made this event such a success!

Also, a huge thank you to OC Tanner for generously hosting the WPN Summer Social and creating such a warm and welcoming atmosphere!

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To learn more about Women’s Philanthropic Network and how to get involved, please contact Megan Jones at megan@uw.org.