Introducing WIPN — WE Inspire. Promote. Network.

Today, the Women in Pensions Network (WiPN) announced its rebranding, to now be known as WIPN — WE Inspire. Promote. Network. 

WIPN also adopted a new mission statement along with the rebranding. The organization now says, “We:

• Inspire each other to achieve our professional goals and personal aspirations through a national network of local chapters.
• Promote diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the retirement industry.
• Network to share our knowledge and experience, informed by research.”

A year or so ago, the organization leadership was looking at how much it had evolved, says WIPN President Jennifer Norr, and realized that although it had originally been about networking, the organization’s mission had become “networking plus,” which includes developing proprietary research and content, as well as creating mentoring relationships and career development support. “We needed the name to catch up to where we are,” she told PLANADVISER.

“We opted to retain the WIPN name because the brand has become synonymous with empowering women in the retirement industry, and we look forward to continuing to build on this foundation,” she said. However, she noted the elimination of the word pensions from the name comes as a way to show that the organization welcomes all business models in retirement, including defined contribution investment only (DCIO) firms, recordkeepers, third-party administrators (TPAs), advisers and more.

“Pensions wasn’t representative of the membership we have,” Norr said. “At a high level, it is a very diverse group of roles across the industry.” The group has more than 5,500 subscribers in the retirement industry with more than 1,450 members and 32 regional chapters.

The new brand, which was developed with Princeton Marketing, will be unveiled on LinkedIn Live today and then introduced to the chapters, Norr said.

Although the brand will continue to focus on women, removing women from the name also reflects the importance of male allies and the need to ask men to engage. “We know that many of our women members have great male mentors and sponsors,” Norr said. “We need to continue that; we can’t do it alone.”

Promotion of equity and diversity is also an important focus moving forward, Norr noted. “We have an additional responsibility to reach back and carry forward, to champion and support each other.”

“As we evolved the WIPN brand, it was important to ensure that we were being a champion for diversity, equity and inclusion within our industry by advocating for opportunities for women of color and the LGBTQ+ community,” said Jen Mulrooney, WIPN marketing chair.