Our Funds Directors with our named branch honorees

Applause Please!

It is with great pleasure that we announce our Named Gift Honorees, four members who have worked for years behind the scenes to hold us together as a branch or out front to forward our mission to help women and girls.

Since 2006, Sunshine officer Jane Cooley has quietly sent greetings in the name of the branch to members to acknowledge their personal events. Jane has held many other positions, including branch president, but the sunshine that she sends with each card reminds us of our friendship and mutual goals. Jane went into the Air Force and did not attend college until later in life, graduating from CSUS. She joined AAUW soon after, looking for like minds, and began taking on board positions. She’s also a long time member of the Healthy Heart group.

Kimberly Rutledge has served on the branch’s newsletter team since 2013. She has a BA in journalism and worked as a journalist in Boca Raton, Long Beach, the Bay Area, and for the Sacramento Bee. Kim then went back to school, to UCLA, for her Masters in Social Work. She returned to Sacramento to work in legal advocacy and disability policy and joined AAUW in 2012 after attending a happy hour hosted by Angela Scarlett. Besides editing our newsletter, Kim is interested in AAUW’s work for equal pay and education for women and girls. She’d also like to reinvigorate our happy hour with an emphasis on networking.

Susana Mullen and Anna Storey have chaired our branch’s thriving Scholarship program since 2015. During these years, they have developed new procedures for screening and evaluating applicants and worked to connect with college staffs to publicize available scholarships to increase the number of applicants. They work well together, as one works with numbers, the other letters.

Susana is the numbers co-director, currently working for the CA Department of Finance. She worked in finance for non-profits such as WEAVE and Girls Inc. Susana profoundly believes in the mission of AAUW and often keeps in touch with the scholarship winners. She is also an active member of Book Section 6, the working women’s group.

Anna taught high school English in Maryland for many years before relocating with her husband to be near family in Sacramento. Her daughter suggested she join AAUW, and Anna, too, was drawn to AAUW’s mission. She looked for an opportunity to help young women continue their education. That led her to Scholarships. Anna is also an active member of a book group, Section 8, and a regular with Couples Dining Out.

Please join us in recognizing the work of these women. Their work honors us all.