Many women seeking to advance their careers or improve or promote their business have found an association that can help them do so—and help others at the same time.

The group is the fastest-growing and one of the most recognized professional women’s organizations in the country with over 107 local chapters and more than 150,000 professional women members. The association’s dynamic online platform and in-person networking events let members showcase their businesses and gain exposure for their career endeavors.

According to Matthew Proman, founder of the National Association of Professional Women (NAPW), “The association provides an opportunity for women who head their own business to reach out to other members across the country or across the street. By reaching out to others with like-minded interests, members can benefit from the insights and mentoring of women with on-point experience that may help them grow their own enterprise,” Matt Proman notes.

For women in the corporate world, NAPW’s networking offers professional women access to fellow members who have similar experiences in similar industries. Advice on climbing the corporate ladder or changing career paths can be navigated more easily with the help of a member mentor who has blazed a similar trail. Whether in their own business or in a corporate setting, NAPW members get discounts and exclusive access to resources and educational tools designed to enhance their lives professionally and personally with seminars, conferences and job-search tools.

For today’s professional women, NAPW offers these steps toward success:

• Show you care. Take on extra work and work extra hours.
• Go beyond what is expected. Deliver more than your competitor or what your boss has asked for.
• Accumulate knowledge. Learn all you can about your field or industry. Keep up with innovations.
• Examine the needs and goals of your clients or your company. See what competitors or other employees are doing.

Now, professional women can learn even more from one of today’s most recognized and influential young businesswomen, Ivanka Trump, the keynote speaker at the National Association of Professional Women’s First Annual Conference in New York on April 29, 2011.

The conference offers a full day of formal and informal member-to-member networking and provides an opportunity to discuss financial matters, career and business development, mentoring and advice for supporting small-business growth, new product and service introductions, and breaking through the “glass ceiling.”

Trump, executive vice president of Development and Acquisitions of the Trump Organization’s real estate interests, a principal of Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry, one of the stars of NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” and author of the New York Times best seller “Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life,” will offer insights about the role of women in today’s economic marketplace, the importance of networking for today’s professional women and the importance of building and maintaining a business and career-building brand.

For more information on the conference or the organization, go to http://www.napw.com.

- courtesy ARA