In 1982, Elinor Guggenheimer of New York and Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, DC founded the National Women’s Forum in New York City. The Washington DC Forum was created shortly thereafter when Alexandra Armstrong and Susan Davis brought together a group of accomplished women at the top of their respective fields of finance and communications in Washington. The DC Forum quickly grew to include some of the most influential women in the nation’s capital.

The founding members of the DC Forum instituted the policy of reciprocity that allowed the IWF to become a national, and then international organization. In 1987, the organization was incorporated as the International Women’s Forum (IWF).

The DC Forum continued to initiate new programs at the International Forum level. The International Hall of Fame (1987) which honors women across careers and the Leadership Foundation Fellows Program (1993) which helps prepare future generations of women leaders were both begun by DC Forum members.  In 2012, “On the Board,” a joint venture between George Washington University School of Business and the IWF was launched to prepare women leaders to become successful corporate board members.

Today, the DC Forum has grown to over 250 members who are dedicated to the advancement of women leaders worldwide.

More IWF History