Daily Archives: September 2, 2017

Our Annual Branch Showcase is Saturday, September 23, 2017, 9 -11 a.m.

Arcade Library Meeting Room
2443 Marconi Avenue
Sacramento 95821

Plan to attend our upcoming Branch Showcase on Saturday, September 23.  This is a great opportunity for members to learn about plans for the upcoming year to implement our theme “AAUW Speaks Out for Women.”

  • Information about outreach priorities, such as Speech Trek, Tech Trek, Financially Fit Forever, and Public Policy, and upcoming programs/events will be shared.
  • Our Tech Trek participants (six 8th grade girls from two area schools) will discuss their experience at the UC Davis Tech Trek Camp.
  • Scholarship winners will be introduced and recognized.

Our upcoming Branch Showcase is a great time to introduce friends and prospective members to our Sacramento Branch.   Information about Branch Interest Groups will be available and members and prospective members who join AAUW will have the opportunity to sign up for Interest Groups.

To attend, please register at Eventbrite by clicking the Register Now button below:

Eventbrite - 2017 Annual Branch Showcase

or send an email confirmation of your attendance to Dawn Arnone Boyd at darnone1@att.net.

So, mark your calendar, bring a friend, and get ready to learn, explore, and connect.  Oh, one more thing:  please remember to bring your AAUW nametag!

Presidents’ Message by Donna Holmes and Marty McKnew

Our new presidents, Marty McKnew and Donna with last year’s president Nancy McCabe (center)

Welcome to an exciting new branch year!  Marty and I plan to be very involved, hands-on presidents visiting and participating in as many committees and interest groups as possible.

We are thrilled to have all our board positions filled and with dynamic women!  Ashley Anglesey who comes to our branch from the CSUS branch after graduating in June has filled our last open position, Public Policy.  Our board spans 50 years, women from 25 to 75, giving us age diversity other branches envy!

At our retreat last month, the board chose “AAUW speaks out for women” as our theme.  On October 10th we will be showing “Equal Means Equal” at American River College in collaboration with CHAR. Come to Showcase and hear more about our plans!

We will also stay very involved with completing our 100th Anniversary Grant and getting ready for our 100th birthday celebration in 2020.

We are proud to be your Presidents and hope you all will free to contact us with ideas or questions.

Hugs & Cheers, Donna & Marty

Potential Interest Groups and Our Showcase by Cherril Peabody

Hope to see you at our Showcase meeting on September 23rd, where you will have the opportunity to sign up for interest groups.

Folks have suggested several new groups that you may be interested in helping to form:

  • A political action group is one which would have group members express support for AAUW positions to their elected officials via letters, postcards or visits.
  • Another related idea is a book group that reads about political topics.
  • A third idea is a group whose members would attend chamber music concerts together.

Interested? Come to the Showcase and sign up. We need engaged and interested members.

All ideas are welcome for new interest groups, just let me know before the meeting, so that I can have a sign-up sheet ready. Contact me at capeabody@comcast.net or 916-973-0821. I hope to see you there!

Membership Matters by Linda Patterson and Sharon Norris, Membership Co-Directors

This is a great year to join AAUW particularly if you are interested in advancing equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research. If you bring a prospective member to the Branch Showcase who later joins this year, we will buy you a cup of tea or coffee and award you with a small token of appreciation from AAUW.

In acknowledgement of member responses to our recent Member Survey, the Membership Committee will be organizing member get-togethers by zip code. We are looking for individuals interested in helping to organize an event in their area.  If you can help, please email us at aauwsacmembership@gmail.com.  This will be a great opportunity to get to know your AAUW neighbors.

In other news, the Sacramento Branch received two free National memberships through the Shape the Future campaign.  This campaign is a National effort to increase membership at program events.  The Branch awards these free memberships to members who have made significant contributions to the Branch in the recent past.  This year the memberships were awarded to Inger Lindholm, for her work on public policy issues and me, Linda Patterson, for my work with Tech Trek and programs.

Finally, we want to emphasize the importance of registering for and then signing in at all Branch meetings you attend.  The Membership Committee keeps detailed records of attendance to monitor member interest in our programs and member activity in our Branch.  This helps the Board of Directors and program chairs plan events and activities that meet the interests and needs of our membership.  Thanks for your help.

2017-2018 Budget Needs Branch Approval by May Ruth Lynch and Other Documents and Calendars for your Convenience

The Board of Directors has approved the budget for fiscal year 2017-2018 here. We request that all branch members review the proposed budget, as we will vote on it at the September Showcase.

Please direct any questions or suggestions to May Ruth Lynch at 382-4412 or mayrlynch@comcast.net

In addition to the budget, please click below to get hard copies of our interest group calendar, book group calendar and printable articles:

  • Click here for the interest group calendar
  • Click here for the book group calendar
  • Click here for printable articles

11th Annual Speech Contest Plans Begin by Liz Jordan

Would you like to join the fun?  This is chance to give a kid the opportunity to build a life-skill.

AAUW Sacramento has been very successful over the last 10 contests.  Our winners have gone on to the AAUW CA Speech Trek Semi-Finals and Finals, to win all five possible places, from 1st Place ($1500) to 5th Place ($150).  Planning for another successful competition year has just begun.

Our Sacramento contest will be held on the Cosumnes River College Campus February 17, 2018 in Winn Room 150.  We are very excited to be working with the administration at CRC to bring our contest to their campus.

The topic for the coming contest is: How can we stand up to sexism? What can I do as an individual, what can organizations like AAUW do to break down stereotypes and biases in school, in the military, at work, and in our communities?

 By presenting an Informational Workshop on each of the 9 high school campuses of the Elk Grove Unified School District, we recruit high school girls and boys to compete.   The workshop, conducted by a Speech Trek committee member, includes contest information and speech preparation materials for interested students.  Committee members coach students who commit to the competition from the workshop to contest day.

If you are interested in joining our committee, we are looking for enthusiastic new members.   We offer you the chance to shadow an experienced committee member in arranging and presenting the workshops.  We need help with all the preparations for contest day.

For more information, contact:

Funds Update by Funds Director Kathleen L. Asay

I first became acquainted with AAUW fellowships and grants over forty ago when I was in my twenties, newly married and working in the graduate division fellowship office at UCLA. Above my desk hung a poster for post-doctoral fellowships being given by the American Association of University Women. I was impressed that there was a program just for women but even more impressed by the women who were applying for it.

We’re still giving those awards, but now AAUW offers support for women in all levels of education, in research, career development and study for select professions such as STEM or business. AAUW funds provide community action grants to individuals, branches and non-profits. Did you know that nearly $4 million is awarded every year? Since 1888, AAUW has awarded more than $100 million.

This year, Sacramento branch is proclaiming loudly that AAUW Speaks Out for Women. One way we speak is through our financial support of women who will be the leaders of tomorrow. Be watching for ways you can help

AAUW National Convention by Nancy McCabe

Dr. Tererai Trent

Shirley Wheeler, Gloria Yost, Linda Whitney and Nancy McCabe attended the national AAUW convention in Washington DC this past June. The new Chief Executive Officer, Kimberly Churches was introduced.

The convention dedicated a substantial chunk of time on information we would need to lobby our senators and representatives. The first dinner speaker was Judy Woodruff, current co-anchor and managing editor for the PBS News Hour and previously a newscaster for both CNN and NBC. She has received numerous awards for her work in journalism and has authored several books. Judy noted that she has never seen anything like the current level of discourse in Washington during her over three decades of broadcasting.

The second day we dispersed to visit our senators and members of Congress. As the Senate was voting, we met with our senators’ aides to lobby for AAUW’s goals. Afterwards, we visited our Congressional House members’ offices for the same purpose. Gloria saw Ami Bera while Linda, Archana Maniar and I first met with MOC Matsui’s aide. She ushered us into her office where she was glad to see us and was very warm. She loves AAUW!

Justice Sonia Sotomayor

In between the main speakers, we had workshops and dialogs to give us ideas for our branches. The speakers for the Friday dinner were Dr. Tererai Trent, Oprah’s favorite guest. She has been married off at a young age in Tanzania but managed to get to the US for school with her children and became an AAUW International Fellow. The award came when she needed it most, and she is very grateful as it enabled her to pursue her dream of building schools in Africa. Dr. Trent was followed by Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor who walked among the crowd answering questions from Ms. Churches. She had quotes too numerous to remember, but said that education wasn’t a way to success, it was the only way.

We also heard from two female political pollsters who recommended that we work at the state and local level. Be a problem solver- not a complainer. It was a busy four days!