Dear fellow AAUHHaHaveaveGNB Members,

It is time for your Board to begin to plan for the 2022-2023 AAUW GNB Season. Last fall, we introduced our Women in Leadership theme, and we created a responsive and open model to describe the multitude of Branch leadership opportunities available to our membership. Throughout the year, we invited women leaders who spoke at branch meetings about their own leadership journeys and offered their personal experiences in overcoming obstacles as they worked to lead in a variety of capacities and transform communities. We also recognized members whose leadership efforts were essential to supporting our mission, and we celebrated our many members who have demonstrated leadership for our community programs (STEAM, Reading is Fun and SmartSmart), our special interest groups and our advocacy efforts.

Everyone's efforts were essential to the solid success of our year as we rebounded from the effects of the ongoing pandemic and were forced to deviate from the "business as usual" model. We now are formalizing our branch strategic plan for 2022-2024 as we continue to move forward despite the many challenging currently facing our country and the world.

As the AAUW Greater Naples Branch Board begins to plan over the summer for the next season, we need your input so that our branch continued to expand and offers meaningful opportunities to each of our members. We are a Mission Oriented organization, and your ideas, your voices and your leadership are essential and will enable our dynamic branch to thrive. Won't you please pick your spot in our Leadership Model? Your talents and gifts will help us evolve and execute the mission of AAUW to achieve equity in Education, the Workplace and Leadership roles. There is a spot for each of us!

Please contact any member of our Board with your suggestions. Our email addresses can be found on the members page of our website https://greaternaples-fl.aauw.net/ We've saved a spot for you!!!

Wishing you a great summer!

Your Co- Presidents,

Jacky Territo

Karen Dempsey

We have two new members! Read all about them!

Susan Goff

Education:

PhD Seton Hall University 1994

MS Ed Monmouth University 1985

BS Montclair University 1975

Occupation: Psychologist

Program Interests: Book Group – Fiction and Non-Fiction, Movie and a Meal, Cocktails and Convos

Committees: Membership Functions

Talent/Skills: Event Planning/Programming

Pat Rogan

Education:

Ph.D. University of Wisconsin- Madison 1987

Occupation: University Professor (Retired)

Program Interests: Local Scholarships, Book Group-Fiction and Non-Fiction, Non-Sequiturs, Movie and a Meal, Cocktails and Convos

Committees: Public Policy/Legal Advocacy/Legislative Advocacy

Talent/Skills: Writing/Editing, Education, Political Activism

AAUW Greater Naples 2021-2022 Dues Expire July 1, 2022.

It is time to renew your dues for 2022-2023. The dues are $67 national, $12 for AAUW Florida, and $38 for Greater Naples for a total of $117. The preferred payment method is by credit card through your Personal Snapshot in the Community Hub.

This is what you should do as soon as possible: 

1. Log in to the Community Hub by going to https://www.aauw.org/. Click Log In, located in top right corner of the home page. Put in your email address. If you have not previously set up your personal information, you will need to reset your password.

You are then on your way to following the directions to pay your dues. 

 2. If you wish, you may pay your dues by check. Send to AAUW Greater Naples Branch, P.O. Box 9742, Naples, FL 34101.

Support the 2022 AAUW Florida Tech Trek Camp

Every summer, the AAUW Florida Branches hold a science, technology, engineering and math camp for girls. The 2022 camp will be a virtual camp held June 19-24. Except for a registration fee of $50, the entire week of camp is free to girls who have demonstrated an interest and/or ability in STEM. Girls, entering 8th grade, are recommended by the branches to be selected to attend. The Greater Naples Branch has recommended girls from Collier County in the past.

The Greater Naples Branch sends a donation each year to help support the camp. Donations are also needed from individuals.

Contributions are tax deductible. To learn more about the camp: https://techtrek-fl.aauw.net/

Make checks payable to AAUW Florida Supporting Foundation, Inc. Write Tech Trek 2022 on the memo line. Be sure you note that you are a member of the GNB so that the branch gets credit for the support. Send to Tech Trek Florida 2022, PO Box 2938, Jupiter, FL 33468

THE AAUW GREATER NAPLES BRANCH AND THE GREATER NAPLES AAUW CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, INC. CONGRATULATE THE AMAZING LOCAL WOMEN AWARDED SCHOLARSHIPS THIS YEAR!

As Chair of the AAUW Greater Naples Branch Scholarship Committee and Director for Scholarships of the Greater Naples AAUW Charitable Foundation, Inc. I take pleasure in announcing the remarkable recipients of this year’s scholarship awards.

These AAUW organizations have a 20-year history of making scholarship awards to local adult women returning to school. Our mission to provide scholarships began with a desire to assist women with few opportunities for scholarship awards because most are aimed at graduating high school seniors. This year we award scholarships to two local women who are close to completion of their degrees and give them some help and support on their journey.

Altanice Valentine will be receiving a McMahon Foundation Local scholarship for adult women. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Already working as a Certified Nursing Assistant, Altanice found that she loved working in senior living facilities. She has enjoyed how rewarding it feels to care for others but also all the life perspectives her residents share with her. This experience validated her decision to go into the field of nursing and she is looking forward to graduating in 2023. 

Melissa Wilson is the recipient of the Rose DiBiasi Local Scholarship. She was right at the finish line when she submitted to us for scholarship funds. She is enrolled in her last semester and will be completing her Bachelor of Sociology and immediately sitting for the state licensing in Florida to become a teacher. Melissa had been working in a middle school in Naples as a teacher’s aide for a special education classroom

.  

Since 2018, we have also awarded scholarships to deserving local high school senior girls and older students entering a field of study in science,technology, engineering or mathematics. This year, we were able to select five young women to receive STEM scholarships. 

Stephanie Roberts is graduating from Immokalee High School. She participated in the Science Students Together Reaching Instructional Diversity & Excellence 

(SSTRIDE) program and has intentions of becoming a NICU nurse. She boasts a 4.5 weighted GPA and a 12 of 319 class ranking. She plans to attend Florida Stat University in the fall to start her Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Brianna Patino is graduating from Immokalee High School and has been dual enrolled at Florida Southwestern. She aspires to become a dentist. Her essay submission told the story of a first-generation student keenly aware of the sacrifices her parents had made. They instilled in her a strong work ethic but also a reverence for knowledge as a pathway to opportunities. At her young age she has already completed a six-week internship at a physical therapy center and has a strong desire to help others.

Lianna Larson is the recipient of the Laura A. Candris STEM Scholarship. She is graduating from Lely High School with a ranking of 3 out of 301. She is a hard working part time Publix cashier who will be attending University of Florida this fall. She loves science and research and will be begin classes in the field she loves, biomedical engineering.

Kamili Henry is the recipient of a McMahon Foundation Scholarship. She is an Immokalee High School student graduating with a strong record of community service all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. She has an interest in science which led her to participate in the Science Students Together Reaching Diversity and Excellence (SSTRIDE). She would like to become a pediatrician. Kamili has a part time job as a tutor at the Guadalupe Center. She is dual enrolled at Immokalee Technical School and will soon seek her Certified Nursing Assistant license.

Camila Rojas is graduating from Barron Collier High School with a 5.03 weighted GPA with an intense course load of AP level classes. Her class work has not deterred her from becoming very involved in her school in various clubs and volunteer work that have led to a long list of awards and recognition. She recently completed an internship at CatapultMD, a biomedical manufacturing company and has her sights set on attending University of Miami’s College of Engineering to become a software engineer. 

We are honored to help these amazing women with scholarship awards and enthusiastically congratulate each of them!

This Summer in Public Policy

The political forecast is hot and stormy in Florida this summer:

•     The redrawn Congressional district map approved by Governor DeSantis in last month’s special session has been blocked by a circuit court judge. The state will appeal, but time is tight as candidates soon need to file and election supervisors need time to reconfigure precincts before the August primary election.  

•     Rallies for reproductive rights are expected to continue. Watch for the Supreme Court’s final decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Subscribe to Planned Parenthood’s emails for rally dates and locations at https://www.weareplannedparenthood.org/pGPUfPzxL0-W-

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•     Florida’s 2022 primary is August 23. Be sure you are registered by July 25. Please vote and choose school board candidates who support public education. Check your registration at http://www.colliervotes.gov/ or http://www.lee.vote/

On a sunnier note, the GNB Advocates met with Enrique Padron, SW Florida Director for Representative Jose Diaz-Balart, at his Naples office on April 25. The team introduced our mission at AAUW and shared our branch efforts to help local women and girls. We also urged support for legislation to improve the economic security of women, such as childcare funding, paid leave, and raising the federal minimum wage. The hard work of this team in preparing for our first face-to-face advocacy effort resulted in a positive meeting with Representative Diaz’s office. We hope to do more outreach to state and local legislators in the fall. Kudos to team members Beverly Friese, Mary Schell, Barbara Richardson, Cathy Hackney, Carol Siwinski, and Carol Light.

If you have any questions, please contact Carol Light, Public Policy Co-Chair.

Myanmar and Asean 

In February 2021, a military coup ended a brief democratic experiment in Myanmar, a country of more than 54 million people. Since then, civil resistance and ongoing human rights crises have led to the chaos in the Southeast Asian country.

How are neighboring countries reacting, and what role will ASEAN play? 

The Great Decisions group will meet via Zoom on Monday, June 6, at 6:00-7:45 p.m. A link will be sent before the meeting. We will also watch a brief video from the Foreign Policy Association series. This will be our last meeting until October 2. 

If you are interested in learning more about the group or attending this meeting, please contact Carol Light at her phone or email in the GNB AAUW Directory.

December Third, 2022, Holiday Luncheon and Silent Auction

We know that its only June, but October will be here before you know it with the holidays close behind. Susan Becker, Laura Candris, and Jacky Territo are already at work on this year's Holiday Luncheon to be held on December 3. Once again, we plan a silent auction to raise money for the Branch. And, once again, Judith MacGregor will donate one of her magnificent necklaces of semi-precious stones! We need more auction items so please consider soliciting a gift certificate from your favorite restaurant, store, or salon. Or donate tickets for an event you will be unable to attend. Did someone give you a lovely gift you are unable to use? Donate that! If you have a talent or skill, consider donating lessons! Please contact Laura Candris if you'd like to help and with questions about donations.