Championing Women in Otolaryngology through the AAO-HNSF WIO Endowment
The Women in Otolaryngology (WIO) Endowment was conceived over pre-Annual Meeting cocktails in Boston, MA, in 2010.
Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, Chair,
WIO Endowment Committee
The Women in Otolaryngology (WIO) Endowment was conceived over pre-Annual Meeting cocktails in Boston, MA, in 2010.
Linda S. Brodsky, MDPell-Ann Wardrop, MD, suggested the idea, the late Linda S. Brodsky, MD, championed it, and the small group of women at the meeting ran with it. Over the following four days of the meeting, solely via word of mouth, 41 otolaryngologists pledged more than $400,000. Since then, there have been 86 total donors to the WIO Endowment fund. Six of them are our male colleagues; thank you, #HeForShe. About $15,000 per year is available from this endowment to fund vital projects that advance issues important for all women in otolaryngology. To date, the WIO Endowment has funded several projects. Some of these projects include:
Pell-Ann Wardrop, MD- Tanya Meyer, MD, did a social science interview study, “Women Matter: Work Life Balance in Academic Otolaryngology.”
- Katherine R. Kavanaugh, MD, Nicole Murray, MD, and Kimberly Rutherford, MD, created a local/ regional WIO chapter starter kit and toolbox for national implementation.
- Jamie Litvack, MD, and Stella Lee, MD, have an ongoing project identifying disparities in wages and career advancement, aiding women in the field of negotiation, and addressing burnout concerns of particular import to women.
- Jennifer A. Villwock, MD, and Erynne A. Faucett, MD, and Diane Durham, PhD, have started the Rx: Fierce podcast to empower women in self-coaching techniques to address gaps and enhance success.
The year of 2020 will mark 10 years of the WIO Endowment, and for that Annual Meeting, we will be back in Boston. We are kicking off a year of celebration by introducing WIO Endowment 2.0, a campaign to raise $800,000 or more to expand grant funding for ongoing success of current projects and to continue to invest in the future of women in otolaryngology.
Stay tuned to learn more about the WIO Endowment 10th year anniversary campaign as it officially kicks off in New Orleans at the AAO-HNSF’s 2019 Annual Meeting & OTO Experience, providing you with opportunities to invest in Women in Otolaryngology.
