The Portuguese American Women's Association (PAWA) is an organization of professional women of Portuguese descent dedicated to the advancement and the recognition of Portuguese American women in the United States.

The organization was started in 1990, by a group of women led by Carolina Matos, Susan A. Pacheco, Grace > Fernandes, Maria Wall, Maria de Lourdes Serpa, Maria Lindia, and the late Aida Abreu. After a few months of meetings, the group elected its first Board of Directors and established itself as the Portuguese American Women's Association, Inc.

Since its inception, the Portuguese American Women's Association has provided a network of support and encouragement for Portuguese women and has promoted social and cultural events. Its members are professional women who sponsor enriching community activities such as mentoring programs, conferences, international exchanges, and public events. The organization has also sponsored art exhibits, lectures, book launchings, a movie premiere, social gatherings of interest to its members, and several trips to DC, New York, Newark, Boston, and Montreal.

In 1995, PAWA was hosted at the Presidential Palace in Lisbon, for a luncheon given by the First Lady, and an elaborate dinner with the Mayor of Lisbon, Jorge Sampaio, who is the current President of Portugal. In 1996, Teresa Simoes Ferreira Heinz presented to our membership and the extended community a keynote address entitled: "Empowering Women for the Twenty First Century" and inspired the current PAWA logo: "Women Empowering Women". In 2001, PAWA co-sponsored an international conference on women's health, education, and legal issues. While there, they were hosted by President Carlos Cesar and First Lady Luisa Cesar. PAWA currently sponsors career workshops in various fields, such as banking, medicine, investment, and education, addressing how goals are defined and accomplished. PAWA's commitment is to women of all ages, but particularly to mentoring and encouraging young women to expand career options.

PAWAs by-laws clearly state the goals of the organization:

• To create among women of Portuguese origin a strong bond of solidarity and recognition of the importance of their roles in society as mothers, educators, business and professional women, artists, writers, workers in general, or any other role they choose.
• As family archivists and cultural preservationists, PAWA members have a unique challenge to continue valuable traditions of their heritage while participating in the American community. PAWA strives to bring together people of Portuguese origin with the goal of promoting their individual and cultural values, and to contribute to the preservation and promotion of the Portuguese language, culture, and heritage in Americas multi-cultural society.

Since 1990, PAWA has honored and publicly recognized many outstanding women who serve as role models, women of character and accomplishment. They include amongst several regional and local honorees: Former First Lady of Portugal Maria Barroso; Teresa Fernandes, the Vice Consul of Portugal in Boston; Teresa Heinz, wife of Senator John Kerry and head of the Heinz Foundation; Meredith Vieira, co-host of The View; Ana C. Dyer of Fleet Bank; Senator Teresa Paiva-Weed, of the Rhode Island Senate; novelist Katherine Vaz; First Lady of the Azores, Luisa Cesar; and Grammy winner, singer/song writer Nelly Furtado.

PAWA's desire is to provide an awareness of the great influence women of Portuguese descent are having on our American culture and in our global community.