The Insurance Women of Greater K

	History
Insurance Women of Greater Kansas City Greater Kansas City Insurance Association Insurance Professionals of Greater Kansas City	The Insurance Women of Greater Kansas City (IWGKC) was chartered in 1941 by the National Association of Insurance Women (International) (NAIW). The original name, Insurance Women of Kansas City was later changed by adding the word "Greater" to broaden the membership base by connotation that the organization drew members from the five-county, bi-state area known as Greater Kansas City.
	The Association was organized as a nonprofit, exclusively female organization and membership was limited to women who had worked at least one year in the insurance industry. Membership eligibility has been changed over the years by the National Association to include male members and there is a continuing redefinition and expansion with regard to membership eligibility in keeping with the constant changes taking place within the insurance industry.
	Only within the last decade has the image of local NAIW associations begun to change. Prior to that time, many were considered nothing more than social groups, often referred to as "clubs" and common interest of our vocation was shared in fellowship. Of course, education and safety have always been objectives of NAIW, however, both the national and local associations have over the years expanded their horizons to encompass legislation and much loftier levels of education. The CPIW Designation serves as a strong stimulus to the membership to acquire these higher levels of education. With the emphasis on continuing education within the industry itself, it became vitally important for the national and local associations to aid and encourage members in their educational endeavors. In 1959 IWGKC sponsored their first basic insurance training class. Since that time, countless numbers of "rating" classes have been sponsored and offered to members. The Communicate with Confidence Program (public speaking/communications) has been sponsored by IWGKC and we have had the proud distinction of sending a number of CWC graduates to Regional and National competition.
	Our image as "social clubs", fund raising with bake sales and arranging social gatherings for employers has diminished. We have become a vital and necessary trade organization with high standards of achievement as our common goal, a true asset to the industry, promoting education, legislative involvement and good public relations for the insurance industry.
		Effective June, 1987, IWGKC was moved into NAIW's Region V which includes the states of Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota. Region V contains approximately 40 Associations. When we were a part of Region VII, we hosted four Regional Conferences (1954, 1962, 1973 and 1983). Since joining Region V we have hosted one Regional Conference in 1992. Our Association has also had a number of members who have held office at the National and Regional level.
	As part of our continuing efforts to encourage all industry professionals to join our association we changed our name to "Greater Kansas City Insurance Association" in September 1989.
	Our future growth is limited only be the limitations we impose upon ourselves and our association. However, our history has shown us we have no limitations. Our existence and importance to the insurance industry has been well established and we are launched into a path of professionalism and growth for our members, which will enhance our history as we progress into the future.
	To provide a greater emphasis on professionalism, we changed our name to “Insurance Professionals of Greater Kansas City” in June of 2002.

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