NOLA Global Women Connect - what is it?

tanjabspitzer
2 days ago
3 min read

“Is this a networking event?” I get asked that a lot. The answer is: “Yes—and no. Well, maybe….”

Networking, as a

concept, is deeply cultural. In many parts of the world, the idea of gathering solely to expand your professional network feels strange at best, and off-putting at worst. It was foreign to me when I first came to live in the US... And it is not what I had in mind when I started this gathering.

What I did have in mind is a feeling. It’s the feeling you get when you meet another woman who is also not from here. That quiet relief of knowing you don’t have to explain. That, while your backgrounds and life stories may be very different, she understands what it means to feel disconnected. To raise a family on foreign soil. To not understand references in a conversation - or the conversation as such. To feel a shift in identity. To miss parents/siblings/friends. To not be able to find the right ingredients to make that one comfort food… the list goes on.

But if networking means creating a supportive circle of women who share a common thread, then yes—this is a networking event.

This idea is deeply rooted in my own story. I grew up in a middle-class German family who moved to Turkey for several years when I was six years old, so my father could work at the German school there. In many ways, that move shaped my entire life. Only much later did I truly understand what it meant for my parents—especially my mother who was the “trailing spouse.”

What she always spoke about, though, was the community she found. They were the other women who welcomed her, supported her, “showed her the ropes,” and lifted her up—simply because they knew what she might be experiencing. They had been there. They knew. (She still has her copy of an old, xeroxed plastic bound, handmade “cook book“ made by the German community in Istanbul to help make the foods from home in a new land).

Back in Germany, there are many interkulturelle Frauentreffs—intercultural women’s meetups—often organized by communities or municipalities. Their purpose is clear: to create an easy, judgment-free space to meet, share, and build community — often combined with language learning and support around integrating into the local community.

These thoughts and memories were swirling in my head. And last summer, they came together into a simple idea: What if we created something like this here, in New Orleans?

A temporary alternative world.
A trusted circle where you don’t have to explain yourself.
A place to share the fun, frustrating, fearful, and fulfilling sides of living abroad.
A space to make new friends that learn from and inspire each other through our stories.
A place that‘s easily accessible, with a low threshold to attend, and kid-friendly.

That’s what NOLA Global Women Connect is - an invitation to gather, to meet, and to share experiences and ideas. To have a drink. To laugh, connect, and feel at home. Whether you‘ve been calling New Orleans home for decades or just arrived.

So I invite all global women to join us!

The principles are:

—Connection, exchange and enjoyment in community

—Mutual support and shared resources

—Supporting and strengthening local intercultural and international life

—A space that feels safe, welcoming, and inclusive