In this issue...
President's Message
Featured Program:
- Annual Meeting - In person June 4
State News:
- Nominating Committee Report
- Make Your Vote Count
- Why I Donate
National News:
|
|
Research
*
Education
*
Advocacy
Equity
for all
|
|
It’s not too late, if you act today, you can still register for our June 4th Annual Meeting & Leadership Conference. I’m looking forward to catching up with members from across the state and learning about women’s leadership from our amazing guest speaker, Patty Collins.
Many thanks are due to Lynn Caterson (Atlantic County Branch), Chair of Atlantic County Board of Elections, who followed through on her commitment to inform us about the most recent changes regarding elections, despite being confined to her hospital bed by a serious illness. We wish Lynn a speedy recovery and hope she bounces back better than ever. You can read about challenges and gain vital information about voting on our website and listen to the recorded meeting with Lynn (coming soon).
Congratulations to Linda Harmon (Atlantic County Branch) and Jean McAlister (Chief of Staff & Chief Advancement Officer at ACCC and Atlantic County Branch) for the successful execution of Teentech 2022 at Atlantic Cape Community College for 90 female students and their chaperones from 6 high schools on May 25th. Thanks, too, to the other 10 AAUW NJ volunteers who helped the day run smoothly, it couldn’t have happened without you!
We all owe our thanks to Linda Harmon who has agreed to serve as a temporary Treasurer, with partial responsibilities, until we can find a new Treasurer. She will share check writing and banking privileges with me, and we will work together to keep the books, make tax filings, etc. in order to maintain AAUW NJ as a financially sound, non-profit corporation. Also, I will continue to serve as president, for at most one year, as long as the search for new officers continues.
Your current board members really appreciate the support that a statewide organization gives to both AAUW NJ and branch equity projects and programs – this is how we make a difference in lives of women and girls in New Jersey. We heartily thank incoming program vice president Karen Kaplan and communications vice president Sharon Suber for taking on executive Committee responsibilities. If you understand the value of being connected across the state, please volunteer to help us in whatever capacity you can.
This is our last newsletter of fiscal year 2022. Hopefully we will have some good news to report in time for an update in an August newsletter. Continue to send information for the website and future newsletters to: aauwnj@gmail.com
Have a relaxing and rejuvenating July and August!
Karen Brown, President
|
|
Parking fees will be covered, bring your parking ticket
to the front desk to be validated.
|
|
AGENDA
8:30 - 9:00 Registration and Breakfast
9:00 - 10:15 Annual Business meeting
10:30 - 11:15 Networking
11:15 - 11:45 Keynote - Patricia Collins
12:00 - 1:00 Hot Buffet Lunch
1:00 - 1:20 Message from AAUW CEO
Gloria Blackwell
1:20 - 2:00 Leadership Peer Group Conference -
all invited to participate
2:00 Wrap Up
|
|
Keynote Speaker
Patty Collins
Colonel, USA (Ret) Patricia “Patty” Collins served 24 years in the US Army, which included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, service in Special Operations, and becoming the first woman in the Department of Defense to complete the Military FreeFall Jumpmaster Course. In 2006, while riding her bike to work, she was involved in an accident that ultimately led to her brave decision to amputate her leg above the knee. Upon retirement in 2015, she joined the McChrystal Group as a Principal Consultant for leadership development. She trained and competed in the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Currently, she is the Deputy Director of US Government Publishing Office (GPO). A native of Hackettstown, NJ, Patty holds a Masters Degree from the National War College and a Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers University.
|
|
AAUW CEO
Gloria Blackwell
Gloria Blackwell is not only AAUW's new CEO but she is also our main representative to the United Nations. Among her many accomplishments is her 15-year management of AAUW’s highly esteemed fellowships and grants program—awarding more than $70 million in funding to women scholars and programs in the U.S. and overseas.
|
|
Nominating Committee Report
The following are the positions to be elected for the 2022-2024 Fiscal Years:
- President/Co-Presidents: Open
-
VP Programs: Karen Kaplan
-
VP Membership: Diane Crawford
-
VP Communications: Sharon Suber
- Central District Coordinator(s): Open
-
Southern District Coordinator: Jackie McGuinness
- Nominating Committee Member (2022-2023)
- North District Representative: Open
- Central District Representative: Open
- South District Representative: Open
Position Continuing 2022-2023:
-
Northern District Coordinator: Diane Crawford
Nominations for our open positions will be taken from the floor at our Annual Meeting June 4, 2022. Prior consent of the nominee is required.
|
|
Make Your Vote Count!
Read up on our voting series, found on our state website:
|
|
Why I Donate
June 2022
In 2017 I had the pleasure of meeting Kat, an enthusiastic, intelligent, and highly motivated 7th grader who was interviewing for the highly sought-after opportunity to attend the Tech Trek camp. In her application she wrote that she was “interested in attending a STEM centric camp that caters exclusively to girls because STEM is typically viewed as a boys’ club.”
In a recent conversation with Kat, I found out that she was accepted to Pre-Med programs at both the Newark and New Brunswick campuses of Rutgers University and New Jersey Institute of Technology. She is as focused as ever in pursuing a STEM career and is especially interested in the study of Science Communication. In reminiscing about Tech Trek, she reported that the experience greatly impacted her. It taught her that she had the capability to achieve her high goals and be academically competitive, even when she was the only female in an AP Physics class. I look forward to hearing from Kat again to learn about her transition to university life, confident that AAUWNJ played a significant role in her future.
Donating to AAUW can help make a young woman’s dreams come true. Go to https://aauw-nj.aauw.net and select the “Donate” button. You will have the option of donating either to The AAUW New Jersey Charitable Trust or to AAUW National Funds or Programs. Both options advance our mission and goals, especially those related to gender equity in education, the workplace, and leadership for women and girls.
Nina Del Collo, Funds Director
|
|
National Member Services
Database: Updates
If you’ve logged in to National’s new membership database, “Community Hub,” you’ve probably experienced some problems, and noticed things just don’t look like AAUW – most prominently, branches and state affiliates are referred to as “Companies,” and your membership is referred to as an “Affiliation” at each level below National.
National’s staff and board recognize that things are not ideal, but because we could not afford a truly custom system, we are having to learn to live with an adaptation of system designed for a business, rather than a membership organization. The officer update functions were not yet available, as of this publication, but should be coming soon. Hang in there, and let’s keep our local groups going as we wait for National to catch up.
|
|
Suffragists Speak:
Slavery and the Fight for the Vote
Film available for viewing and sharing!
Suffragists Speak is a recording of a live performance of the story of the struggle for the vote for women. The hour-long film brings to life the words of historic figures from the struggle for suffrage – Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Alice Paul, and Carrie Chapman Catt – culminating with the speech to the 1964 Democratic Convention by civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. The video gives voice to the moral questions and passionate commitments each of the characters brought to the fight for suffrage and reminds us that the fight for the vote did not end with passage of the 19th Amendment.
The Charitable Trust provided the largest single grant in support of this project, and it seemed fitting to share with AAUW members across New Jersey an update on how the video has been received. I am pleased to report that since August 2021 more than 923 individuals have viewed the video, and almost 200 individuals after a viewing have participated in group discussions with the cast via Zoom.
There is a resource guide and discussion questions available for those showing the video if they would like supporting materials, and the program can include by prior arrangement, a live discussion of the film and its present-day implications led by the cast members. For more information about Suffragists Speak or to arrange to present the program, please email suffragistsspeak@gmail.com. The following members of the AAUW Northern Monmouth County Branch are part of the Suffragists Speak cast, Connie Goddard, Gilda Rogers, Lorraine Stone, and Marian Wattenbarger.
Surely the importance of the vote is as timely today as it has ever been so we are asking you, our members, to share the availability of Suffragists Speak with colleagues, friends, and other organizations.
|
|
2022 Teentech
Atlantic Cape
Community College
May 2022
Teen Tech 2022 featured a series of workshops presented by ACCC faculty, featuring studies in engineering, computer, biology, genetics, and the environment. Students chose workshops based on their interests, which included mathematical theories, drones, lab work in biology and genetics, physics, and environmental awareness. A distinguished group of professional women employed in STEM careers joined the girls for lunch to share stories of their own career paths.
AAUW NJ organizes events such as Teen Tech to give girls a chance to experience success in a college setting. AAUW research shows that workforce projections for 2024 confirm that the top 10 fastest-growing occupations require at least a bachelor’s degree with significant science or math training. The supply of new workers in these fields is struggling to match demand, and women remain severely underrepresented. The mission of AAUW is to advance gender equity for women and girls through research, education and advocacy.
Made possible by AAUW Atlantic County and Cape May Branches, Atlantic Cape Community College Foundation and funded by a grant from South Jersey Industries.
|
|
If your branch is forwarding the AAUW mission in some way, please share your activities with aauwnj@gmail.com. We want to celebrate you!
|
|
See what's happening on our social sites |
|
|
|
|
|
|
