Recognizing the power behind women, Catherine Anaya started “The Sisterhood of Super Women” as a way to bring women together to inspire each other. As Catherine’s career took her in different directions, the organization went under different leadership; however, Catherine continues to promote the sisterhood concept. You may have previously met or seen Catherine Anaya, a news anchor for CBS 5 News, in person or on television.
Catherine Anaya is a three-time Emmy Award-winning journalist who anchors CBS 5 News weekdays at 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and 10 pm. Catherine is also an award-winning magazine writer for magazines such as Latino Perspectives Magazine. She’s a proud mother of two, a motivational speaker, and an avid runner completing 10 marathons since 2005, including the 2007, 2011 & 2012 Boston Marathon.
“I met and heard Catherine for the first time at a SCORE event in Phoenix and was blown away (as the old saying goes). Every woman in the room could relate to a segment of her desire to pursue what “she” wanted out of life and in a career. She pushed forward and overcame every personal and professional obstacle that confronted her. As a result of this passion and her own experience, she started an organization called, Sisterhood of Super Women”.
A personal glimpse into the Life of
Catherine Anaya
“I am a Super Woman. It’s taken me a long time to admit and embrace that. But let’s be honest, women – we’re master multi-taskers – often carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. We juggle career and family; try to get involved in our community – maybe squeeze in some social time – and still find time to fuel our passion for various causes and charities that need our help.
We’re so used to doing it all that – if you’re like me – you’d often end up beating yourself up at the end of the day for missing something — rather than applauding the fact that you achieved a lot.
Nearly three years ago I started experiencing that overwhelming sense of stretching myself too thin. I brought it up during one of my motivational speeches and was comforted by a large number of women who told me afterward, they felt the same way! So I started thinking: we’ve grown up hearing about Super Man — and not nearly enough about Super Woman. Super — not because we have extraordinary powers — but because we do super things that tend to fall under the radar because we’re either not conditioned to tooting our horns — or we make it look so effortless, few people notice.
That’s when the idea came to me: why not pick one Sunday a month — where every superwoman I know –and every superwoman they know (and so on, and so on) could get together over lunch and spend two hours sharing our passions, celebrating our achievements, and inspiring and embracing each other for the super things we do? Then, take it a step further by tapping into our collective desire to give back to our community by picking a different charity each month to support through cash or in-kind donations.
Plus, we would pledge to only gather in locally-owned businesses or restaurants so we’re not only keeping part of the dollars we spend in the community, but we’re also recognizing and giving our business to local entrepreneurs.
That is how I came to found the Sisterhood of Super Women. We are women from all walks of life: CEOs, writers, mothers, lawyers — you name it; women helping women succeed.
Little did I know my small idea would turn into something so incredibly large! I know – because organizations like Childhelp tell us. More than 50 years ago, Sara O’Meara and Yvonne Fedderson founded Childhelp to protect children and families from child abuse. These two superwomen recently hosted one of our luncheons at their Valley headquarters and opened their hearts to us about their mission and how we could help. And boy did we come through! We raised and donated $1,000 that day to help these ladies continue with their child-saving efforts.
Equally important is the comfort we find in sharing parts of ourselves, whether we’re old friends or new acquaintances. When we take the time to celebrate our triumphs or share our challenges – we find a commonality: a desire to better ourselves while giving back for all the blessings we’ve been given.”
Visit Catherine’s website, and you’ll see the dozens of charities and causes she has supported, some of which included 60 thousand-plus pounds of donated goods and close to 10,000+ dollars in cash; or the more than two dozen different restaurants, caterers galleries, and boutiques that were supported with lunches and purchases.
