Around Town

Q&A: Meet One of the New Canaan Chapters of P.E.O.

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For this, our final installment of a Q&A series with local service groups, we put questions to New Canaan resident Laura Dijs of the local chapter of the Philanthropic Education Organization, or “P.E.O.”

P.E.O. does many things on behalf of women—celebrating with advancement, helping with education and motivating women to “achieve their highest aspirations.”

Here’s our exchange with Dijs, president of the local chapter. New Canaanite: Is P.E.O. in New Canaan part of a national or international organization? If so, please provide details of that organization, such as the year it started, its size and scope. Dijs: P.E.O. (Philanthropic Education Organization) is an international organization with members in the U.S. and Canada. We were founded in 1869 by seven young ladies at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt.