Angelenos in green business are lucky. With Green Business Networking, EcoTuesday, green-themed BlobLive events, and even the more casual Green Drinks — not to mention more niche specific mixers and events put together by the U.S. Green Building Council, permaculture groups, and many others — pretty much every day can be eco-biz day.

But women in the green sphere now also have their own event. Dubbed Women of the Green Generation, this few-months-old, gender-specific eco-group meets about once a month, bringing together eco-thinking women eager to meet like-minded females.

Women of the Green Generation was started by Kris Willey (left), a green event planner and green product representative, back in May this year. After hearing from a number of women who expressed interest in a women-only green business networking event, Kris started hosting the events at Vernare Living Showroom in West Hollywood in June.

About 30 women showed up to the first event. What — besides the women-only thing — makes Women of the Green Generation events different from all the eco-networking events? “A lot of the time when you go to networking meetings, you don’t meet everyone in the room,” says Kris, who says the women-only event allows for a “totally completely different energy.” “In my group, we have the opportunity to introduce ourselves so everyone gets to hear what everyone else is doing.”

That really gets people networking with each other, according to Kris, who says she wants to create “this community of supporting each other, nurturing each other, connecting with each other.” After all, the women come from all walks of life and all professions. Attendees include professionals working at CNN to job-seekers with an interest in the green economy. “We’re there to inspire others — It’s not a closed group,” Kris says.

Even with the first meeting, interest and participation was high — and is only growing from there. Kris is now thinking about how to shape the future of Women of the Green Generation, which is already about to get big enough that personal introductions of all attendees at the beginning could soon get to be too much. The event could get split up into more neighborhood-specific locations — or directed towards more specific topics.

What this popularity shows though, is that a need for women-only eco-networking event clearly exists. After all, even the eco-business world, men often dominate the key power positions — and correspondingly, the keynote talks at green business conferences, networking events, and the like.

I hope more eco-savvy women across the country start similar events in their neighborhoods. Women of the Green Generation events generally have a $10 fee, which includes free drinks and food for the attendees.

This month, though, both women are men are welcome to a special Women of the Green Generation dubbed “Celebration of Living Foods” — a raw food-focused event exploring the intersection between living green and eating raw.

There’ll be lots of raw food to sample — and drinks to wash it all down with. There’ll be speakers chatting about detoxing — a practice I’m skeptical of despite having done a few “cleanses” myself. And of course, there’ll be mingling and chatting with like-minded eco-folk.

“Celebration of Living Foods” happens Tues., Sept. 22, from 7 – 10 pm at Vernare’s Living Showroom, 607 N. Huntley Dr., West Hollywood. RSVP to Kris at 310.310.5692 or bhaktiyogagirl@msn.com. Cost: $20, with an unspecified portion benefiting Whole Foods’ School Lunch Revolution.

Whether or not you can make it to that event, you can keep on top of future Women of the Green Generation events by visiting the website.

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