February 2024

Help AAUW Grow and Prosper - 
Be Part of the Action!

This time of year, AAUW is abuzz with projects, elections, legislative initiatives and events that are happening statewide. You can and should be included. Stay informed, sign-up, join-in, make a financial contribution…but anyway you can; help AAUW grow and prosper for the benefit of all the women and girls to follow in our wake. 
Here Are 5 Ways You Can Be Included In The Action:

  • 1) Register for an AAUW-FL Regional Conference in your area.

  • Conferences will be held 10:00 am - 3:30 pm at the following locations:
  • March 2, 2024  Daytona Museum of Art
  • March 16, 2024 The Villages - designated Recreation Center 
  • April 4, 2024    Venice Art Center 
  • April 20, 2024   North Palm Beach Library

Registration is $25 pre-paid, including lunch. Details for payment will follow.

The day’s activities and topics to be addressed in four 45 minute sessions .

10:00 - 10:15 Registration - Meet your Counterparts

10:15 - 10:30 Welcome and Opening Remarks

10:30 - 11:15 Introducing the ‘Pathway to Leadership’ Project

11:30 - 12:15 Sharing Branch Successes

12:15 - 1:15 Lunch - Mix and Mingle

1:15 - 2:00 Promoting Public Policy Issues - A Year-round Endeavor

 2:15 - 3:00 Achieving Sustained Membership Growth

 3:00 - 3:30 Wrap-Up and Adjournment

This is the Best opportunity for you to meet, mingle and learn along side members from nearby AAUW Branches.



  • 2. VOTE on AAUW National Bylaw Amendment to adopt the new definition of AAUW Member eligibility. 

Voting will begin April 3 and end May 15, 2024. Every AAUW member should have received the proposed Bylaw change by Email from National. If you did not receive the email, this is the link to read more about the proposed Bylaw. https://www.aauw.org/resources/member/governance-tools/national-election/ At the upcoming Regional Conferences the proposed Bylaw will be discussed.

In 2021, when the Bylaw change to open membership was last voted on …. In Florida, 41% of voting members; voted YES.  Nationally, the vote in 2021 was 63% YES. It takes a 2/3 majority for the Bylaw to Pass. 

The AAUW-FL Board of Directors wants every member to explore the pros and cons of opening AAUW membership and most importantly VOTE!!

  • 3) Be Informed about Public Policy Forums and Legislative Updates Learn as much as you can about current issues of importance to the citizens of this State and Country. Become active in your Branch and community to really work to make a difference. There is detailed information below.

  • 4) Support Tech Trek to assure the annual STEM Camps for rising 8th grade girls continue to give our future women leaders a chance to learn and grow together.

  • 5) Volunteer to Serve on a State or Branch Committee or as a Branch or State Board Officer. Just Ask! There are open positions at all levels of Branch and State governance. AAUW- FL has an opening for a candidate for Director for Membership. Let me know if you would like to be considered for this office,

Be an Active and Engaged AAUW Member - Working toward Equity for All

President.
AAUW FL.
In 2024, AAUW Florida will present two Tech Trek camps in June at Florida Atlantic University and at Stetson University. We hope you are interested in donating to the 2024 AAUW Florida Tech Trek Camps for girls who will be selected to attend one of the summer camps .Except for a registration fee of $50 the entire week of camp is free to the girls who have demonstrated an interest and/or ability in science, technology, engineering or math. Students are nominated by their math or science teachers, complete an application and are interviewed by local branches.

Use the form to submit your contribution
Choose one of the suggested amounts or another amount that you would like to contribute
    
 Support a Girl at the 2024 Florida Tech Trek Camp
AAUW-FL Tech Trek is a science, technology, engineering, and math camp for girls who will enter the 8th grade for the 2024-25 school year

Every Contribution Will Make a Difference!

_______ $50 will fund general camp supplies supplies
_______ $120 will provide workshop supplies for a camper for a week
_______ $600 will finance half the camp cost for one girl
_______ $750 will fund a STEM workshop teacher for the week
_______ $750 will sponsor an afternoon workshop
_______ $1000 will fund supplies for a core course
_______ $1200 sponsors a full week of camp for one girl
_______ $1200 will fund a core class teacher
_______ $1500 will sponsor a core class
_______ $5000 will sponsor the Professional Women's Night Dinner
______ Other amount

Name_____________________
Mailing Address____________________________________________
State and Zip Code____________
Branch name if applicable____________________________

Make checks payable to AAUW FL Supporting Foundation, Inc
Write Tech Trek 2024 on the memo line

Mail this form and your check to:
AAUW FL Supporting Foundation, Inc
Post Office Box 126
Palm City, Florida 34991
Contributions are income tax-deductible.

Donations are welcome from all members and community members!

Coordinator,
AAUW Florida Tech Trek
AAUW Florida Public Policy
Lobby Days: Members Shared our Mission in Tallahassee

AAUW FL Co-Director for Public Policy, Pat DeWitt, and a group of AAUW FL members spent the first part of last week in Tallahassee for Lobby Days! We carried our message to our own legislators and visited supportive legislators with thanks, and enjoyed dinner together. The Naples, Vero Beach, Gainesville, Palm Beach and Jacksonville branches were represented.

You didn’t need to attend Lobby Days to help us advocate. You can find all of our position papers here: https://aauwadvocacyflorida.blog/2024/01/10/florida-2024-legislative-session/

So how can you continue to spread the advocacy work? 
Here are some tools to help:

  • Please let local media know about these bills which are not getting publicity. Send out the lists of bills with your own introduction or use them to highlight the bills you’re most interested in. If you would like additional help, please contact us.

  • We know many of you have begun this already, but please contact your legislators. Among the bills selected by the Public Policy Committee, perhaps the one that has the best chance of passing is Pregnant Women in Custody. After a pregnancy test on their request, every arrested female would be allowed to petition for a postponement of incarceration. While in Tallahassee, we heard that there have been conversations about the problem of pregnant women in custody and the care of their children who might be born in prison. One such infant died in Gainesville last year (please see position paper for more details). Feb. 27 is the last day for committee meetings. We have an attachment that has the list of committee members attached to this bill. If one is your local representative, please try to contact them and share AAUW’s position.

  • Share all the AAUW position papers with your branch and friends. The AAUW Florida website now includes a widget that reports on the progress of our bills. Scroll down on the right side of the home page to see it. You can click on the links for more information.


How We Select Bills

About 300 bills were passed during the 2023 Florida legislative session. Right now, there are around 1600 actual bills filed on every topic you can imagine. Your newspaper only reports on a few. That's why we need AAUW members to contact their legislators to support our list of bills.

We have been asked how our list of bills was selected. First, national AAUW provided us with a database which we can search based on keywords within the topics of education, economic security and civil rights. From the results, we came up as a committee with a short list of bills to support or in one case, to oppose. Committee members were asked to write detailed one-page position papers on the bills they were most interested in. The final list includes only those bills for which committee members were willing and able to write position papers.

In selecting bills, we keep in mind the mission of AAUW: equity for women and girls and equity for all. Our job is to concentrate on those legislative initiatives that directly impact women, girls, and those who are currently suffering conspicuous inequities.

Currently the AAUW Florida Public Policy committee consists of four members plus the two directors. We are always looking for committee members who will take the time to do this work for our membership statewide and to further our mission. Please contact one of us if you are interested!
Florida AAUW Action Plan: Pregnant Women in Custody 2024 (S100/H237)
 
Among the bills selected by the Public Policy Committee, perhaps the one that has the best chance of passing is Pregnant Women in Custody. After a pregnancy test on their request, every arrested female would be allowed to petition for a postponement but not a reprieve, of incarceration. We heard from Leisa Wiseman, legislative aide to senator Lauren Book, that there have been conversations about the problem of pregnant women in custody and the care of their children who might be born in prison. One such infant died in Gainesville last year (please see position paper). So, we know they are aware of the problem.

The first step for any bill once filed is to be heard in its first committee. Very few bills make it through the entire process, but we can advocate to try to get these bills scheduled for a hearing in their first committee.

The Public Policy directors and committee are asking you to advocate for these bills. Here is how to do it:
  • check the list below on page 2 to see if any of your local legislators are on it.
  • If they are, please let them know that you support the bill and hope that they will see that it is scheduled in the criminal justice committee.
  • The easiest way to do this would be to click on the link on page 2 for the legislator and send them an e-mail using their form. The links should take you to their government pages which list their contact information and other personal facts. Or you can go to the appropriate website listed below and search for them.
  • It might be worth going to a little more trouble, especially for the chairs and vice chairs, by sending them a snail mail letter or calling them. It is easy to ignore emails.
·     Here is some wording that you might use: “As a resident of (your location) I am a constituent of yours. Along with AAUW of Florida, I would like to ask you to do all you can to see that the bill Pregnant Women in Custody (HB237 or SB100) is heard in the Criminal Justice Committee of the Florida (House, Senate). The conditions in prison pregnancy wards are not suitable for childbirth, and this has already caused one infant death in Alachua County. There should be a strong public policy interest in promoting healthy pregnancies and good birth outcomes for incarcerated women and their infants. Unlike the proposals to establish birthing centers in prisons, this bill would cost the state no additional money.” If you know they are anti-abortion, stress saving the child.

The Florida legislative websites are:


Thank you for your advocacy!
The AAUW FL State Board needs YOU!  Our future depends on our members! If you have a background or particular interest in membership development and are willing to take a Board position for the 2024-26 term, the Nominating Committee needs to hear from you. Our current Director for Membership, Rose Llanos, is willing to mentor you and be on your committee.
 
Here are the links for the job description and application:
  • Director for Membership - to assume responsibility for developing and maintaining membership
  •  You can nominate yourself or suggest a name that the Nominating Committee can follow up with. Nomination Form
 

To have your questions answered, please contact Rose Llanos, Director for Membership at roseyllanos@gmail.com or Diana Sells, Chair of the Nominating Committee at: aauwflsells@gmail.com
AAUW Florida Project Grants

If your branch has been working on an idea for an AAUW mission-based program or project that requires funding, remember that the final deadline for applications is March 1. You can apply for up to $500, or if you are working with another branch, up to $1500.  Any AAUW-FL branch may submit a proposal that has direct community impact and follows the stated purposes. 
 
Guidelines and instructions, as well as all applicable forms are provided on the AAUW FL website, on the Branch Resources page.

AAUW FL Director for Program
AAUW Legacy Team Members: Patricia Ross paross@aol.com &
Susan Barley barley702@gmail.com
For information contact: 
Bea Holt - AAUW Florida President: aauwflbholt@gmail.com
Kay Lee Smith - AAUW Florida President-Elect: aauwflksmith@gmail.com

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AAUW advances gender equity for women and girls through research, education and advocacy.