August Newsletter

President's Message

First of all, welcome new AAUW NJ board members: Sharon Suber, Communications VP, Karen Kaplan, Program VP and Mary Hagar, Co-Public Policy Director – your new energy and insights inspire us. Thanks, continuing board members who are taking on additional responsibilities in order to keep AAUW NJ going. Your AAUW NJ Executive Committee is working to make the board operation easier, and easier to transition to the next office holder. We hope you’ll get to know the board better, starting with their brief bio’s in our newsletters.

Thank you all for your patience as AAUW National transitions to the new Community Hub member database. In the new parlance, boards are called “committees.” National has extended the deadline for current branch leaders (president, finance and membership) to update their branch committee members in the Community Hub until August 31. See below for tips and reference pointers.

Current events point to the need for AAUW to strive to be more effective in shaping public policy debates – this is not the time for us to give up. I see more and more often in the news that people are starting to voice what we’ve been saying all along: it’s wrong to devalue a person’s body, or to discount their work, based on their sex, or the color of their skin, or any physical trait. We have to keep calling out what’s wrong until what’s right becomes the new normal.

We're glad to have you, our members, helping to make equity for all the next new normal.

Karen Brown, President

AAUW NJ News

Your Website is Connected to the World

Every branch in the state of New Jersey now has a website that is connected to the State and National Websites. If someone goes to the National or State website to locate a branch the link goes to your branch’s website. Take a look at your site. Is it current? A website is an excellent place for recruiting new members, communicating with your members and publicizing your branch in your community.

State Website: https://www.aauwnj.org

National Website: https://www.aauw.org

AAUW NJ Annual Meeting and

Leadership Conference 2022

This year's June conference was awesome. If you missed it the highlights are on the website under the member only section, contact aauwnj@gmail.com for the password to the section.

Introducing the Executive Committee:

Karen Brown

President

Karen is currently serving her fifth year as president of AAUW NJ. She previously served as AAUW NJ Finance VP, and in most of the positions on the board of Somerset Hills Branch. She has been an AAUW member for 35 years. Karen earned her master’s degree in Computer Science from Rutgers University while working for Bell Labs. Then after working for Bell Labs/American Bell for a few more years, she started the next phase of life as a full-time parent, homemaker, and community builder. Community building is what volunteer leaders do - they work to build strong, supportive communities for people with shared values. In addition to AAUW, Karen volunteers for Somerville Area FISH and Literacy Volunteers of Somerset County

Linda Harmon

Secretary and Treasurer

Linda is a retired educator and administrator who joined AAUW in 2015. She is a past President of the AAUW Atlantic County Branch. She has been a member of the AAUW NJ Board since 2016. She served as Southern District Coordinator and is currently the AAUW NJ Treasurer, Secretary, and STEM Director.She is part of the Tech Trek Camp Leadership Team and has recently brought a successful day of TeenTech to Atlantic and Cape May County high school girls at Atlantic Cape Community College.

Sharon Suber

Communications VP and Webmaster

Currently the President of the Burlington County Branch, Sharon has served as branch Membership and Public Policy chairs. She has been a member of AAUW since 2000 and is a recently retired educator. Her interests include technology equity and voter’s rights. Sharon is also a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, the League of Women Voters and the NAACP.

Diane Crawford

Membership VP and

Northern District Coordinator

Diane joined AAUW in 1994 and is an AAUW Life Member. She began her leadership role as Sussex County Branch Membership VP and in subsequent years was AAUW NJ Membership VP and AAUW NJ Northern District Coordinator. Diane served on the National AAUW Membership Committee and today serves on AAUW’s Advancement Committee. Her interest is in recruitment and engagement at the branch and state level, and the AAUW Mission: Equal pay and pay equity issues. Diane is currently employed with Radancy Corporation as a Senior Quality Assurance Engineer.

Karen Kaplan

Programs VP

Karen joined the Summit College Club (SCC) branch of AAUW in 2016, drawn to the book sale and the mission of advancing equity for women. She served as Membership VP in Summit for the 2018-2020 term and participated on the Programs committee prior to that. Karen also hosted a Work Smart seminar (November 2019), and implemented a new website for the Club (2021), a virtual panel discussion she hosted in 2020 called “Then and Now: 100 Years of Social Protest and Change,” which explored the Suffragist movement and the social protests of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd, and a 2021 panel discussion on pay equity featuring academicians from Harvard and Rutgers. Karen now maintains the Summit College Club website and manages the quarterly electronic Bulletin for members. Professionally, Karen worked in employee communications and change management for over 30 years.

Jacqueline S. McGuinness

Southern District Coordinator

Jacqueline S. McGuinness is currently the Southern District Coordinator for AAUW NJ. She earned a BS in Biochemistry from Rutgers University. She served in the US Army Chemical Corps for 10 years. She currently teaches high school Physics, Chemistry, and STEM. As an advocate for girls in STEM careers, she volunteers with AAUW Tech Trek summer program as a counselor and instructor. Jacqueline has been a member of AAUW for 6 years. Before her current position, she served as VP Programs AAUW NJ 2020-2022; Secretary AAUW NJ, 2017-2019; Nominating Committee Chair 2021-22. She also serves as a member of the Charitable Trust Committee. Jackie states "I believe that our mission is to improve the lives of NJ women and girls as part of a collaborative effort of other like minded organizations."

Why I Donate

August 2022

Since 1881, the mission of AAUW has been to advance gender equality for women and girls through research, education, and advocacy. Many others have thought gender equity to be a priority issue too, and what follows are some wise words from some wise people.

“Freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all kinds of oppression.”- Nelson Mandela

“As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it.”- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things.”- Plato

“It is time that men and boys recognize the part they must play in gender equality and join with the voices and actions of the women and girls who are trying to re-shape society in the interests of us all.” - Jimmy Carter

“No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contribution of half its citizens.”- Michelle Obama

“Men are from Earth, Women are from Earth. Deal with it.”- George Carlin

Again, thank you for your generosity and support to AAUW. If you want to help advance gender equality and create a more economically secure world, please consider donating. It’s so easy to do! Just go to https://aauw-nj.aauw.net and click “DONATE”.

Nina Del Collo

Funds Chair

AAUW National News

The Community Hub

The Community Hub is AAUW’s database for members, supporters and other contacts. By setting up an account on Community Hub, you can manage your personal profile, renew your membership and donate. If you are an AAUW president/administrator, membership vice president or finance officer, you can also access your branch’s roster and manage memberships (join/renew/transfer members) and donations on behalf of others.

Logging in to access your account: click the “Log In” at the top right corner of the national website or visit my.aauw.org. The first time you log in, you’ll need to reset your password by clicking the “Forgot Password” link. Once you create a password and log in, you can update your profile by clicking “Edit Profile” in the menu on the left side of the screen.

Please visit AAUW Community Hub FAQ page for more help.

A New Time for Virtual Office Hours

AAUW’s virtual “office hours” provide a real-time forum for member leaders to share their questions and concerns with AAUW National staff. These sessions have become so popular that they have added another time slot. Now you can sign up to talk on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. ET in addition to Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Women's Equality Day

August 26th

The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote nationally on August 18, 1920, so why is Women’s Equality Day on August 26th each year?

The simple answer is that even when a constitutional amendment has been ratified it’s not official until it has been certified by the correct government official. In 1920, that official was U.S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby.

On August 26, 1920, Colby signed a proclamation behind closed doors at 8 a.m. at his own house in Washington, D.C, ending a struggle for the vote that started a century earlier.

Other News

STEMinist Camp 2022

In the heat of summer, the classrooms and outdoor areas of Stockton University were filled with high school girls who were engaged in learning about topics related to Science,Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). They were participants of “STEMinist Camp”, and came from high schools throughout New Jersey.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, Atlantic County and Cape May County Branch members organized and made possible this summer a version of the Tech Trek program under a new name: STEMinist Camp. The Camp was held July 24 - 30, divided into two parts with a total of thirty-five girls in attendance.

Click here for the full Press Release.