Our Story, Our History

The Jacksonville Women’s Network was born out of the desire to unite Jacksonville’s female leaders from both business and community organizations to promote and accelerate the influence of women in our community.

In 1978, a statewide initiative was underway to support the advancement of women in Florida. The Athena Society, a group of women leaders from Tampa, reached out to encourage Jacksonville to join the effort. Four Jacksonville leaders, Pat Ashworth*, Cecilia Bryant, Rosanne Hartwell* and Edna Saffy, PhD*, accepted the invitation to meet. Betty Castor, then a Florida State Senator, was looking for ways to network women throughout the state to “ensure that succeeding generations [of women] have freedom of choice to devote themselves to being wives and mothers, to pursue a career, or to combine the two."

As a result of that meeting, in June 1978, these women were inspired to establish the Jacksonville Women’s Network. For over 40 years, the Jacksonville Women’s Network has brought together female thought leaders from across the community.

For an engaging story about the founding of JWN, see JWN Founder Cecilia Bryant's Personal Story