AAUW Texas Membership

“Forget-Me-Nots”

Diane Claiborne-Carr

Don’t forget to:

• Keep track of the members who join your branch through the Shape the Future Program. You will need to verify the number of complementary memberships allowed by national circa June/July 2025.
• Complimentary memberships awarded for FY2025 must be redeemed by 30 September 2024 using the Redemption Form.
• The Shape-the-Future program also provides an incentive for recruiting new members, with an offer of half-off national dues ($36 v. $72). The current code to process this discount is STFFY25. 
• Work closely with your Finance Officer who is notified when a member pays dues online as a new member or as a renewal. A member is not a member until dues are paid.
• Ensure you make verbal contact with a member who may not respond to reminders to renew their membership.
• As the VP for Membership, be very familiar with how to add or join new and lapsed members, updating their profiles and contact information, and downloading a membership list. There are tutorials available to guide you through the processes at AAUW.org. See more at Community Hub: Tools and Resources.
• Contribute no less than one goal each for recruiting and sustaining members to your branch’s goals and Five-Star program for FY25.
• During the year, ensure one of your membership newsletter articles addresses AAUW’s Legacy Circle.
• Mark your calendar for our Quarterly Membership and Finance Meetings on the 3^rd Monday

November 18, 2024 - 7:00P.M.

March 17, 2025 - 7:00P.M.

July 21, 2025 - 7:00P.M.

Fast Funds Facts

Next state-wide Programs & Funds officer Zoom meeting: Tuesday, November 12, at 7 pm*

We're off to a great start! For the first six months of 2024, AAUW National reports that branches throughout Texas donated a total of $23,048. An impressive 96% of that, or 173 donations, went to the Greatest Needs fund, as National requested. Although most Texas branches operate on a July through June calendar, National uses our total donations from January through December to calculate our annual Texas branch leaderboard rankings. 

Another matching grant? In recent years, National has announced donation matching starting around Thanksgiving through the end of December. Consider overlapping your fundraisers with this possible opportunity to double each gift.

Remember to distinguish national fundraising from local fundraising. Just like Walmart and Target, our national and local fundraising efforts accomplish similar goals but have separate bank accounts and separate oversight. To be clear, with the exception of donations intended to underwrite branch fundraising efforts, money raised for national Funds goes directly to AAUW in Washington, D.C. This money does not return to your branch for locally managed programs, scholarships, or operational expenses (except indirectly, in the case where a branch applies for and receives a specific grant from National). 

Yes, you can have a fundraiser that supports both national and local efforts, but... Because this distinction is often confusing for branch members and board members alike, please help your audiences understand to what extent underwriting donations or funds raised at a branch event will support national efforts and/or local efforts. 

Visiting the Community Hub - Logging in to aauw.org as described below automatically places you inside the members-only Community Hub, which includes additional resources for board members.

Using the Community Hub to make National donation reports and leaderboards more accurate - Encourage other members to do the following, and help each other with tech support if necessary. These steps are much easier to do than to explain! For screen shots, see https://westharriscounty-tx.aauw.net/funds/.  

1) Log in to aauw.org with the exact same email address that appears on messages from AAUW National, especially if that address ends in @gmail.com and contains punctuation characters. So, if AAUW National reaches you via eleanor.roosevelt@gmail.com, you must include both dots when you log in at aauw.org. (Google Gmail understands the email address if you leave out the first dot, but the AAUW National computer/database does not. This technicality kept at least one branch leader from being able to log in and donate recently.)

2a) After you log in, you will be on the Community Hub page for members. Click My Affiliations (on the left menu). Under Primary Affiliation (on the right), the branch that should be associated with your donation should appear first. Note that if you belong to one or more branches, your Primary Affiliation should be the branch you want to associate with your donation, not "TX-Texas" (the entire state). If your Primary Affiliation shows the desired branch, go on to step 3 and make your donation. 

2b) If you do not see the correct Primary Affiliation, look under Other Affiliations. Next to the branch that you want to make your Primary Affiliation, click the red box with the three dots and choose SET AS PRIMARY from the drop-down menu. It may look like your change took effect immediately, but follow the precautions in the next step.

2c) Just to be on the safe side, log out and then log back in about 30 minutes later or, better yet, the next day. Repeat Step 2 until you see that your Primary Affiliation shows the branch that you want associated with your donation.

3) Click the big red DONATE button (in the upper right corner) and continue with your donation. Remember that National requests that we focus our support on the Greatest Needs fund. 

Why mention this process?  If a member donates without logging in, their branch or state will not get credit for it because the national computer does not know which branch to associate that person with. Moreover, many of us have experienced logging in and making a donation through aauw.org, only to find out later that the national computer associated our donation with another branch (or even "TX-Texas," which is the AAUW state board for all of Texas). As such, the "bank statement," if you will, for our branch was not accurate, which could affect our branch's annual ranking on state leaderboards.

The good news is that no matter which branch gets credit, these donations still help our AAUW counterparts in Washington advocate for gender equality in education, economic security, and leadership throughout the nation. More good news is that for local fundraisers, branch Funds officers are asking members to "buy their tickets" simply by using their credit card to donate securely through aauw.org. This aligns beautifully with the U.S. Postal Service's recent warning to stop sending checks through the mail, to avoid fraud and identity theft. 

Pro Tip for finding material on aauw.org - Entering greatest needs site:aauw.org (no space between the colon and aauw.org) in the Google Chrome search bar returns only pages at aauw.org that contain the words greatest and needs. 

To see results with the exact phrase Greatest Needs, use quotes like so: "Greatest Needs" site:aauw.org (put quotes only around the exact phrase). Google Chrome's "site operator" works for any web address, not just aauw.org. Googling "Community Hub FAQ" site:aauw.org directs board members to typical questions and answers about Funds and other roles.

*If you have questions about Funds or would like to receive meeting

announcements for state-wide Funds officers, contact incoming Funds Vice President 

aauw.debbie.campbell@gmail.com (Life Member, Houston and West Harris County Branches).

Public Policy Update

On April 6^th the Texas President of the League of Women Voters (LWV), Joyce LeBombard, spoke at the virtual AAUW Texas conference. As part of her presentation, she emphasized the opportunities for collaboration with the LWV. 

“The League of Women Voters of Texas is a nonpartisan, grassroots civic organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.” LWV Texas and AAUW Texas have similar priorities:

• Voting Rights & Election Law: advocating for online voter registration and mail-in ballots
• Public Education: opposing vouchers/education savings plans and book bans
• Women's Health and Reproductive Rights: including access to abortion
• Immigration
• Gun Safety: advocating for raising the age for purchasing specific weapons
• Health Care: supporting Medicaid Expansion

You can find a wealth of information at lwvtexas.org/advocacy-issues.

Some AAUW Texas branches have previously complemented their Public Policy efforts with information and connection with LWV. We are working to more fully engage and collaborate with the League.

There have been two joint Zoom meetings. State officers, branch presidents along with public policy chairs, and LWV chapter presidents attended. We discussed ways we can aid each other in achieving our goals. It was noted that not all counties have both a LWV chapter and an AAUW Texas branch.

The homework assignment from the first meeting was for each branch to connect with their local LWV. AAUW Texas president, Mary Smith, encouraged branches to work together with the LWV registering voters; Get Out the Vote activities engaging and educating voters on where and how to vote; and educating voters, including our members, on select issue topics we have in common. Two examples of new collaborations with LWV:

Ten West Harris County Branch members joined the Houston LWV Thank You Note day. Members wrote thank you cards to newly registered voters to indicate appreciation for their commitment to vote and to remind them of the upcoming early election date. At least two more events are planned.

San Antonio Branch Public Policy Chair connects a LWV staff member, who can recommend volunteer opportunities, to individual AAUW members.

During the fall election season, we have the power to shape our communities and influence legislation. Some actions you can take:

• Help with voter engagement and assist in getting out the vote. 
• Learn what’s going on in your school district by attending school board meetings.
• Download the excellent AAUW Voter Issue Guide
• https://www.aauwaction.org/voter-education/voter-issue-guide/
• Contact your local and state legislators on issues such as women’s healthcare, education, and gun safety.
• On the national level, call or write your U. S. Representative to ask for their vote to pass the. Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 (HR 8467) commonly referred to as the Farm Bill. It is a legislative package that sets policies for food and agricultural programs. The bill includes funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which provides food benefits to low-income families so they can afford nutritious food to stay healthy.

Georgia Kimmel

Public Policy Chair

Women’s Equality Day

Celebrated with a Trip to

Texas Woman’s University

By Cheri Butler

On Saturday August 24, in honor of Women's Equality Day, AAUW NETC collaborated with Tarrant County League of Women Voters to arrange a field trip to Texas Woman's University to visit the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership/Sue S. Bancroft Leadership Hall. 40 women from AAUW Tarrant County Branch, NETC, North Dallas and Denton and League of Women Voters from Tarrant County and Gainesville attended. This collaboration was the result of a seed planted from the AAUW Texas 2024 Conference when one of the speakers from Texas League of Women Voters encouraged us to collaborate with other organizations.

We had remarks from Melissa Alfaro from Marc Veasey office about voter registration. She discussed attempts to suppress eligible voters and how to overcome that.

We also toured the exhibits on Pioneering Women, Texas Women in Politics and Women's Suffrage. There were wonderful video clips of such great women in Texas such as Barbara and Laura Bush, Barbara Jordan, Sandra Day O’Connor and Ann Richards.

We learned more about Women's Equality Day and its significance. Marlene Phillips, Director of the Center for Women in Government lead us through a quiz about Women’s Equality Day. Did you know that August 26 commemorates the passing of the 19^th amendment? Did you know when Texas women got the right to vote? It was 1918 but only for the primaries.

We were granted a Share project grant from AAUW Texas to cover the cost of a bus to take 30 of us from DFW to Denton and we had a lovely luncheon at The Chestnut Tree Tea Room and Bistro a local Denton Restaurant which we paid for ourselves.

Lin Patton from LWV and Pat Cheong and Cheri Butler from AAUW NETC were instrumental in making this event happen. A good time was had by all.

We would be happy to pursue future collaborations with like-minded organizations such as LWV in the future.

Facilitating Program Planning

with the Five-Star Rating in Mind

by Diane Siegel 

How to gather your program planning committee together and keep in the back of your mind as you plan, the AAUW mission and the Five-Star rating.

First: As committee Chair:

1.   Gather info about previous years’ programs or ideas

2.   Review 5 Star Criteria re Mission based programming

3.   Explore the websites of other AAUW branches in the state and in nearby states. What have they done? Make a copy of this information that might be relevant to our branch.

4.   Make a packet of these program ideas and make enough copies for the planning attendees to discuss in small groups to generate interests and ideas

Invite the committee to your planning meeting.

• Provide refreshments and relaxed, festive atmosphere
• Introduction and Welcome. Here’s what we’re doing and how we’ll do it. Provide pens and paper and copies of the packet to groups of 4-5 people.
• Describe the process to guide our development of 2 years’ worth of programs (8 per year in our branch)
• Explain the Goal: Host at least 4 mission-based programs per year that align with the AAUW strategic plan.
• Identify the other topics that fit local concerns, community involvement, member well-being. This serves 5 Star achievement.
• Ask them to review the materials by reading and passing the pages around the group
• Also provide a scheduling sheet to suggest when a program might happen and who might be a champion for that speaker.
• Make note of ideas that look good for our branch
• Note NEW ideas that come up in the discussions.
• Bring the groups back together and ask them to “report” what they found or ideas they came up with
• Begin to evaluate potential programs in relation to Mission and Strategic Plan without eliminating any ideas

At this point, the group will begin to start zeroing in on the first few sessions or programs they would like to see happen. Begin to plug those Program titles into a master scheduling sheet along with suggested speakers and champions who might bring them in.

In some cases, the program topic will require a subject matter expert that is unknown to any in the group. This will require someone to “network” in the community to identify and recruit a qualified and willing person. For example: Topic of women’s health. Experts are available at the local universities or hospitals. Through websites, we found a contact who helped us identify a speaker.

See our examples of programs we chose for the 2022-2023 year. I hope we gave you some good ideas on how to align your programs with the missions of AAUW.

The Unforgettable Opportunity of NCCWSL

By Mary Smith

A little-known fact perhaps is the third part of the SHARE grant package at AAUW Texas which is used for sending college students to the NCCWSL conference each year. The state will pay for the early bird registration fee of $565.00 for each student going to the NCCWSL conference in Maryland. NCCWSL stands for Conference for College Women Student Leaders. Unfortunately, the registration fee is only part of these students’ expenses. Branches often will help out with some of the transportation and incidental costs.

Since A&M has no local AAUW branch, North Harris County offered to pay the transportation costs of each of the students attending from Texas A& M. They write a letter to share a little of their experiences at NCCWSL this past May.  One student, Megan, shared that at the NCCWSL conference, she attended a session titled "Dare to be," which empowered her to persist in the field of STEM. This session focused on breaking barriers for women in STEM. The speaker stressed the need for resilience, continuous learning, and being cautious with personal information in the workplace. She also discussed the impact of microaggressions and the "dark triad" of narcissistic, Machiavellian, and psychopathic leaders, which women in STEM must navigate. Success strategies included building community, trusting oneself, and taking control of one’s outcomes. Our group (the group at A&M) plans to implement these lessons by creating a support network for women in STEM on campus. We aim to host workshops on financial literacy and investing, ensuring that our peers are equipped with the knowledge to achieve financial independence. Additionally, we will organize seminars focused on professional development, where speakers can address the challenges and strategies discussed at the conference, such as overcoming microaggressions and navigating difficult workplace dynamics.

Adriana shared a different experience, but an equally important one. During her attendance at the AAUW NCCWSL conference she found that she was able to connect the most with her first two panels centering on controlling her emotional actions and reactions and knowing that it is okay to change paths at any point in her career. During the Tending to our Emotions When Triggered panel led by the amazing Olga Liapis-Muzzy she was able to dig deeper into herself on why she has such strong reactions to phases in her life not going exactly as planned. She resonated deeply with her saying “Trauma is not what happened to us. Trauma is the wound we sustain because of what happened to us”. Women in the workplace are often forced to close off our trauma and never have strong reactions otherwise we are labeled as emotional and weak when we should acknowledge our emotions. Unacknowledged emotions being left unattended turn into emotional volcanoes ready to explode. Attending the “Finding the Right Career for You” panel right after the emotional panel opened her eyes to the fear and anxiety she was holding onto when thinking of her career and future. She truly resonated with Shakira Hemphill’s story and advice on finding the balance between Happiness and Money while also following our strengths as much as our heart. She wants to take what she has learned from these two panels and share it with our members- that it is okay for us to not know every phase of our lives starting now. We are only just beginning our path and there will be times where we’re at a crossroad that’s emotionally charged, or life changing opportunities that don’t go along with the current plan. Women have been held to a higher expectation that makes us feel that any misstep is a failure but that is simply not true, and that mindset can change by simply sharing what she has learned from this amazing opportunity.

A third student and attendee, Denisse shared that every aspect of the conference contributed to her personal and professional growth, from engaging workshops to meaningful conversations with fellow attendees. Before attending NCCWSL, she said that she was uncertain about her career path after graduation. However, after attending NCCWSL, she feels more confident about the career paths she can pursue and the vast array of skills she has acquired. She feels like she can confidently say that as a group, NCCWSL has provided us with a wealth of information and resources that we can apply to organizing events and workshops for AAUW members at Texas A&M. One idea we are currently working on is reaching out to speakers for NCCWSL workshops to implement resources for fellow Aggies, such as vending machines for feminine hygiene products.

Callie also confirmed that this was an amazing conference that allowed her to network with so many amazing, hard-working women. She attended a reproductive health panel that had a woman on it who works with a non-profit called EC for EC, Emergency Contraceptive for Every Campus. One of their biggest goals is to provide a vending machine holding emergency contraception to make it more accessible for college students. This really sparked her interest as she is very passionate about women’s health. She talked to Nic, the lady speaking, after the panel and started her journey towards getting a vending machine for feminine hygiene products on the TAMU campus. Nic connected her with an alumnus who works with this non-profit who really helped her figure out a starting point. Next, she contacted some directors of the University Health Services on campus and had several meetings to see how we could work together to get this done. As of right now the AAUW group is in the process of planning for a Sex Ed seminar to be held on campus for anyone who would like to come. She has received donations from Plan B, 517 tablets for AAUW to hand out and provide to the students of TAMU. She has been doing research on the best vending machines for this idea, talking to Nic and doing my own research has helped me narrow them down to a few great ones. Next, she plans on putting together a proposal to take to the Student Board to ask for funding. This plan is going to be tough as TAMU is not really in support of having emergency contraception easily accessible to college students. She is hoping to gather funding elsewhere and show student support. She will be forever grateful for her time at NCCWSL and the resources this conference gave her to pursue a project like this.

All four students want to extend their deepest gratitude to the state and NHC who helped them get to NCCWSL. Your funding was the key reason we was able to attend the NCCWSL conference, an experience that has profoundly impacted our personal and professional development. The insights and knowledge we gained at the conference will not only benefit us but will also be shared with others on campus as we work to implement the lessons learned. Reflecting on our recent experience at NCCWSL, we are filled with a profound sense of gratitude and inspiration. The conference exceeded all our expectations, offering valuable insights, skills, and an unforgettable opportunity to connect with other like-minded women. These four were funded by North Harris County AAUW, but many other branches around the state also pitch in and aid students in getting to NCCWSL.  It is a fantastic experience.

AAUW Texas Board Votes to Fund Branch Zoom Accounts

The AAUW Texas Board voted to include reimbursement to branches for Zoom accounts for the 2024-25 budget. This is the fifth year that the state has voted to provide Zoom support for branches. Initially, the accounts were essential during the COVID years when social interaction was prohibited or limited. Even though we are now holding regular branch meetings in person, branches have found that Zoom continues to be an invaluable tool for hosting committee meetings, small gatherings, and collaborative meetings with other branches or organizations. Some benefits to Zoom include avoiding traffic, long commutes, and night-time traveling. Zoom accounts are available for $159.90. If your branch has not yet done so, we encourage you to establish a branch Zoom account. Be sure to set up the account as a nonprofit organization. Send an email to Vickie Natale, AAUW Texas Finance Officer, with your branch’s receipt to receive the reimbursement. 

The next Membership and Finance quarterly meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 18, at 7:00 p.m.

Elected Officers  

Mary Smith

Ann Berasley

Pam Wolfe

Malinda Gaul

Cheri Butler

Diane Claiborne-Carr

Debbie Campbell

Vickie Natale

LInda Walsh

Elected District Representatives

Brenda Van Derbur

Cheryl Fuller

Margaret Martin

Tamara Mancini

Standing Committees

Georgia Kimmel

Appointed Positions

Michele Taylor

Sara Wood

Chasity Crawford

Communications Team

Malinda Gaul

Janani Janakiraman

Jerrilyn Woodard-Entrekin

Contact at:https://aauw-tx.aauw.net/about/leadership/

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