Netlinks 2 Group (left to right): Joan Miller, Kim Sweat, Anne Coles, Melissa Jennings

I recently joined the ”Netlinks 2 Group” of the Grayson Chamber of Commerce. My particular group is just one of several that meets weekly around the “Tri-City” area for networking. It’s an eclectic mix of small biz owners and ambitious sales folks who mow lawns, prepare taxes and fix the siding on your house. Team facilitator, Anne Coles of the Wren Group keeps the meeting agenda in perfect order just like her clients’ Quickbooks.

In the three meetings I’ve been to so far, the fun and lively conversation seems a bit testosterone driven. (What I mean by that, in metaphorical terms, is that more men than women seem to attend Netlinks 2. And it is, what it is…know what I’m sayin’?)

So I was surprised to find out that at least 50% of all GGCC members are actually “not” men. Yes. I’m talking about women. These members of the opposite sex run insurance agencies, offer custom decorating services and own accounting firms. They bank, consult, sell houses, style hair and even perform on stage. So there you go. From hair salon blow dryers to singing telegrams, Gwinnett County women in GGCC are making a powerful noise.

Meanwhile, miles and miles across the world, so is Hanh, an HIV-positive widow in Vietnam; Nada, a survivor of the Bosnian war; and Jacqueline who works the slums of Bamako, Mali. Three very different lives. Three vastly different worlds. But they share something in common: Power. These women are each overcoming gender barriers to rise up and claim a voice in their societies.

Their story, A Powerful Noise, will be playing at a special one time showing in Gwinnett on March 5. Coincidentally, the film was edited and co-produced by another woman with Atlanta ties, Emory graduate Jennifer Fineran. Perhaps her film would be a nice social outing for all the biz women who make a powerful noise in the Grayson Chamber of Commerce.

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