AAUW Sacramento president Nancy McCabe and her granddaughter.

As I have transitioned from president-elect to president, it seems like a good time to tell you who I am. I moved to Sacramento from Ohio 49 years ago when my husband was stationed at McClellan AFB. I grew up in Columbus and graduated from the Ohio State University with a BS in social work, which was my chosen field for 42 years. Most of the time I worked in adult services or employment services.

I have two adult daughters, one in the Bay Area and one here in Sacramento. My 22-month-old twin granddaughters live about five minutes from my home, which allows me to spend time with them. Of course, they are the joy of my life!

After I retired, I was looking for a way to give back to the community and hadn’t really found my niche. My friend Sharon Norris asked me to contribute to the backpacks that AAUW was putting together for children at the Stanford Home. I contributed, and the project piqued my interest. After looking into AAUW, I decided to give it a try. As I had no idea how involved I would become, I chose to use an old email address that I use for businesses and groups that send out way too many emails. I now spend way too much time telling people that Nancy Gant and Nancy McCabe are the same person and to use the McCabe email address.

My priorities for this coming year are to raise AAUW’s profile in the community and to engage members in activities that further our mission of advocating for women and girls. I would hope that all of our branch members are good community spokeswomen who are familiar with our reason for being and communicate that to prospective members. I would like to collaborate with women’s groups who share our mission and values to do more than we as one group can do. As we collaborate, we need to reach out to diverse groups to strengthen our mutual interests. Ultimately, we all win.

“Alone we can do little. Together we can do much.”  ~Helen Keller