The Great Lakes Woman Project is an independent online publication sharing stories about women in the Great Lakes region of the United States.
On this website, Great Lakes Woman Editor and Publisher Patti Samar shares a mix of individual profile feature stories about the women she meets around the Great Lakes region, alongside a collection of sometimes reflective, sometimes humorous, sometimes very opinionated, and sometimes just downright grumpy, personal essays.
Because, she is, you know, grumpy much of the time.
Patti began sharing women’s stories in 2011 when she established her first print and online magazine, Blue Water Woman, in her adopted hometown of Port Huron, Michigan.
Now she’s taking that idea beyond her own backyard: She is traveling throughout Michigan, and eventually around the Great Lakes region, to find women whose stories deserve a bigger audience.
And the stories Patti loves to tell the most?
The stories about the women you know.
Women who quietly take on projects no one else is willing to tackle.
Women who are the heartbeat of their communities.
Women who volunteer and give back to their communities without ever expecting recognition for their efforts.
Women who, if Patti drove into town and asked the local gas station attendant or hardware store owner, “Who should I know if I want to share a story about the most interesting, underrated woman in your community?”
Certainly, we are also very interested in featuring the women who are “movers and shakers” across the Great Lakes region, such as the CEOs, the elected officials, and other women with impressive resumes.
Every woman has a story. We want to help share them.
Our Mission, Vision and Values
Every Big Deal Corporation establishes, and publishes, a mission, vision and value statement.
We are a Small Deal Company, but we have standards, too.
Our Mission:
Great Lakes Woman exists to share women’s stories because women’s stories matter.
We want to introduce you to women you might never otherwise read about: women who are overcoming challenges, women who are making their communities better places, women who are changing direction, women who are starting over, women who are making us laugh, women who are making us think, or women who are, simply, living interesting lives.
And: The Great Lakes Woman Project is an open and inclusive publication because every woman deserves a place at the table and a voice in the conversation.
Our Vision
We want to build a community of women from around the Great Lakes region who see themselves, and their friends and neighbors, in the stories we share, recognize a little bit of themselves in someone else’s story, and say:
“I know a woman you need to meet. Her story needs to be told.”
We are beginning our storytelling quest in Michigan, and we hope to eventually traverse around the Great Lakes, sharing the stories of women in big cities, small towns and everywhere in between.
Because the more we share women’s stories, the greater our understanding of the heartbeat of communities across the Great Lakes.
What We Believe: Our Value System
We believe women’s stories should be shared.
We believe both the woman running a company and the woman cleaning those corporate offices have an extraordinary story that needs to be told.
We believe in listening to women and letting them speak for themselves.
We believe in diversity and being open, inclusive, and welcoming to women who come from different walks of life, who have a wide range of identities, ages, and life experiences.
We are most interested in sharing stories about women who are diverse, open and inclusive, who are welcoming to all no matter who they love, no matter the color of their skin, and no matter what faith they practice, if they practice any faith at all.
We believe in honesty and integrity. We believe in independence. And we believe in having an opinion and a point of view.
And we believe women are pretty damn interesting.