DinnerGrrls: Job networking is on their plate

By Ryan Rourke

Journal Staff Writer

Reprinted from The Providence Journal October 6, 2004

PROVIDENCE The women have never met. They agree online to have dinner. Now theyre DinnerGrrls.

Its new.

The grassroots organization offers working women insight, advice and a network to advance their careers.  It started in New York City three years ago.  Now there are seven chapters around the country, including the first in New England, in Providence, which got going last week.

Eight women walk into the Cactus Grille.  They dont know who theyre looking for, only what theyre hoping to find: some vocational guidance.

Your friends may not have industry instincts, says Manilay Khamsyvoravong, of Lincoln.  They may be emotionally helpful, but when it comes to careers, theyre as lost as you.

Khamsyvoravong is coordinator of the Providence DinnerGrrls chapter.  She joined the organization a couple of years ago, when she was living in New York.  At the time, she was working as a financial risk manager.

I wasnt happy, she says.  I wanted to meet other women and hear about the choices they made.

Khamsyvoravong has considered lots of careers.  While attending New York University, from which she graduated in 2000, she first wanted to study medicine, then computer science, and then economics.  Now she works as a real estate agent.

Choosing a career by process of elimination is time consuming.

Im curious about different career paths, she says.  I think theres a need for this.

Through the DinnerGrrls.org Web site, Khamsyvoravong has so far received 35 inquiries from women interested in joining the Providence Chapter.

Meetings are informal, especially this inaugural one.

A lot of us arent talking about jobs, although eventually that will come, says Tyler Lewis, of Warwick, a fundraiser and event planner for a nonprofit agency.  At this point its just creating a community.  That may be difficult for men to understand.

This is about women who previously knew nothing about each other forming friendships, from which beneficial career information may come.

To a point, its a manufactured community, Lewis says.  But while its manufactured, its fluid enough we can make it what we want it to be.

Those who want to change careers may find inspiration.

Rebekah Gould moved to Providence from Boston a year ago.  Shes working as an administrative assistant.

Its not what I want to be doing the rest of my life, she says.

Those who dont want to change careers may simply be interested in the vocations of others.

I thought it would be fun to find professional women who arent in my field, says Grace Dole, of Providence, a clinical social worker.

Dole, by the way, comes to this dinner with a co-worker, Fran Dalomba, of Warwick, whos also a social worker.  A couple of years ago she started a group for new mothers, which shares some principles with DinnerGrrls.

Its a way of networking, Dalomba says.  And it gets us out of the house.

DinnerGrrls was started in 2001 by Annitah Patrick, a 1999 Yale University graduate who missed her collegiate support network of women.  So Patrick brought together a dozen of her female friends for dinner in a New York City restaurant.  They talked about their jobs, their lives and issues that overlapped.

The concept spread, online, to Chicago, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Washington and Portland, Ore., attracting hundreds of women.

I think women feel more comfortable sharing their experiences with other women, Khamsyvoravong says.

At this first Providence chapter meeting, a few women realize they share an interest in joining a writing group.  One unemployed woman receives a referral to an organization that assists women interested in beginning businesses.  And two women commiserate about working in nonprofits.

You know what its like, Lewis says to Dole.  Its really, really hard.

The DinnerGrrls members can find help not simply from their chapter members, but from all DinnerGrrls members.  The organizations Web site has an archive of questions and answers provided by its members.

If you have a question, someone else has probably already asked it, Khamsyvoravong says.  This has made me realize that Im not the only one asking these questions.  Im not alone.

For more information, go to www.DinnerGrrls.org.

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