Stamford Resident Receives Woman of Distinction Award

The 2011 Connecticut Women’s Conference, hosted by the Connecticut Women’s Alliance, Inc. (CWA), was held on March 24 at the Farmington Marriott. This year, CWA also recognized their first Woman of Distinction Award recipient — Stamford resident Louise Moss.

"I knew that my staff nominated me, but then I forgot all about it," Moss told Patch. 

Moss is the executive director and co-founder of , an organization that serves Lower Fairfield County by promoting sustainable economic security for disadvantaged women and their families. In 1990, a pilot program worked with ten women. Today, the Women’s Mentoring Network serves approximately 275 women every year, providing employment services, adult education services, one-on-one mentoring and scholarships.

"When I accepted the award, I said that I thought all of the women I've worked with should really be the ones receiving it," Moss said.

The importance of mentors is at the heart of everything Moss and her organization does, from giving women the skills to thrive in the workplace to getting them the resources to get an education.

"It's such a simple process," Moss said. "It's nothing your friend or your mother hasn't done over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table."

Prior to co-founding the Women's Mentoring Network, Moss spent 13 years as a case manager at the .

"I saw women who were really intelligent, but they were on welfare and were trapped. Why were they trapped? They lacked the skills they needed and the education they needed," Moss said. "Our goal is to break that cycle...poverty is not an indicator of potential."

Women's Mentoring Network not only works with women, but with their entire families, ensuring that children are also getting the resources they need to get an education and become successful later in life.

Throughout the years, Moss has watched the women that her organization mentors complete their education, first an Associates Degree, and in later years, Bachelors Degrees and Masters Degrees.

"The most outstanding was when one of the women walked back into our office later and said she was now making more than we were," Moss laughed. "She was making more than her mentor, we were like parents...so proud of her. There have been a lot of funny moments like that along the way."

Over 200 women attended the 2011 Connecticut Women’s Conference — a day filled with panels, workshops, and speakers, including bestselling author Joan Anderson.

"It was a lovely day. It was great to have the program recognized and to be able to give my message to the women there," Moss said.

Moss's message, and the mission of Women's Mentoring Network, is simple and critical — everyone can be a mentor to someone in their life.

"We all got where we are because of someone, someone who cared and was able to help us," Moss said. "People can do that through the people they meet in the community, at church, anywhere...when you see a need, you can help."