Monthly Archives: January 2025

February Program – Speech Trek Contest

Speech Trek Contest By Ann Arneill

The 18th Annual Speech Trek contest will be held on Feb. 15, 2025 from 10a.m. to 1p.m. at Cosumnes River College off Bruceville Road in Room Winn 150. Students from the Elk Grove Unified High School District will be participating.

The topic this year is: “Climate change is happening. The effects are widespread and touch upon almost all aspects of our life on this planet. Select an area of
impact and explore the effects climate change is having on women in the USA,
and around the world.” Students will deliver 5- to 6-minute speeches for cash prizes.

The Speech Trek Committee just hosted the Speech Trek Challenge where AAUW
members had stimulating discussions about the topic in small groups after hearing a
background presentation orienting them to the subject. We encourage members to
attend this event every year as a lead-up to the contest.

We have had significant interest from students this year, and we hope that many AAUW
members come to the contest to give them an enthusiastic audience! To register for the event, click <here>,

President’s Message

President’s Message By Nancy McCabe

Those of you who attended our Winter Luncheon in December may recall the big stack of books our members contributed to the Love Talk Read program. You can find a copy of the thank you letter from the program’s director Celeste Roseberry-Mckibbin, CSUS, <here>. The grand total of books donated was … drum roll … 240 books! Proving once again that our members are so generous and awesome!

Also, there is a metric that AAUW branches use to measure how well we are doing, called the Five Star Program. Earning all 5 stars is awesome, and most branches do not achieve it. For 2024, our branch did reasonably well but there is room for improvement. Here is the notice we received from the AAUW Deputy Director of Advancement:

Dear Branch President,

It is with great pleasure that I share some exciting news—AAUW Sacramento Inc. (CA) Branch has achieved three stars in AAUW’s FY24 Five Star Program! Your branch attained the Advancement, Communications & External Relations and Programming stars. This recognition is a testament to the dedication, hard work, and commitment of your branch members to advancing AAUW’s mission of gender equity for women and girls.

The Five Star Program is designed to honor branches that align their work with AAUW’s strategic priorities in areas such as Advancement, Public Policy & Advocacy, Governance & Sustainability, Programming, and Communications & External Relations. Earning three stars is an incredible accomplishment, and we are thrilled to celebrate this success with you.

Congratulations again on this well-deserved recognition. Thank you for your continued leadership and dedication to creating a more equitable world.

And a reminder that we are still requesting help with next year’s programs and presidency. Partnering with a buddy is a good way to do it. Having a partner makes the position easier as you can share the tasks.

As the outgoing president, I can state that the position of president is not difficult. The members of the board are responsible and get their parts done. The monthly board meeting is on Zoom and typically lasts no longer than an hour. A position in the branch gives you opportunities to meet and plan with a really nice group of women! Do choose to get involved in our mission, now more than ever.

Book Groups

Book Groups Update By Sharon Anderson

If you wish to see what others are reading, or get ideas for your book group or yourself, please refer to the “books” page under “Activities” on our branch website (https://sacramento-ca.aauw.net/bookgroups/).

Each book group has its own tab, by book group number. (These book group numbers correlate with page 6 of the branch Membership Directory.) On each list, the meeting days, times and coordinator are listed.

Top 4 Favorite Books Read in 2024 – by Book Group 4:

Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk
Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
Five Days at Memorial, by Sherri Fink

February Book Groups

Book Group 1:
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett, by Annie Lyons, on Feb. 13; coordinator is Susanna Mullen

Book Group 3:
Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt, on Feb. 26; coordinator is Carolyn Meeker

Book Group 4:
Master Slave Husband Wife, by Ilyon Woo, on Feb. 12; coordinator is Pat Morehead

Book Group 8:
The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams, by Stacy Schiff, on Feb. 24; coordinator is Diana Squire

Book Group 10:
James, by Pervival Everett, on Feb. 20; coordinator is Sandi Schoenman

Book Group 12:
The Murmur of Bees, by Sofia Segovia, on Feb. 6; coordinator is Linda Cook

Living Our Mission of Equity By Charmen Goehring

We hope you will join us in a monthly equity conversation where we look at our own biases, seek actions we can take to attract diversity to our branch and become better people in the process. Each month, we read a section of our selected book then meet to discuss what we have learned, along with exploring other issues related to race and equity. We meet the first

Wednesday of each month from 7 to 8 PM on Zoom.

The Zoom meeting code is 737 420 3780 or you can join using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7374203780

We will discuss our current book, Subversive Southerner: Anne Braden and the Struggle for Racial Justice in the Cold War South, on Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. We will discuss chapters 5-8. If you have questions and to RSVP, please email Charmen at charminme@yahoo.com.

Interest Groups

Interest Group Happenings By Pat Winkle

If you are interested in participating in any of our Interest Groups, please contact the coordinators listed here. If you would like to propose a new Interest Group for our branch, please contact me and I will present your ideas to the board for approval. My contact information, as well as the contacts for each of the Interest Groups, is in your branch directory.

Art & Architecture: Friday, February 7, 1 p.m. The group will visit the Sacramento Fine Arts exhibit. Contact: Deborah Dunn
Great Decisions I: Monday, Feb. 17, 7 p.m. on Zoom. Contact: Cathy Locke
Great Decisions II: Thursday, Feb. 13, 7 p.m. on Zoom. Contact: Lynn Blair Wood
Great Decisions III: Monday, Feb. 17, 1 p.m. Meets in a member’s home.
Contact: Margaret McCarthy
Healthy Heart Lunch: Friday, Feb. 14, 11:30 a.m. at Fabian’s 11755 Fair Oaks Blvd in the
Almond Orchard Shopping Center. Contact: Jane Cooley
Reader’s Theater: Contact: Diane Petersen for updates.
Scrabble Just for Fun: Monday, Feb. 24, 1 p.m. in the game room at Eskaton Village Carmichael. Contact: Vivian Counts
Singles Dining Out: Sunday, Feb. 2, 6 p.m. at Urban Plates 2080 Fair Oaks Blvd.
Contact: Nancy McCabe

Leadership

AAUW Sacramento Branch Leadership By Hedda Smithson

AAUW Sacramento-Organized February 1920

Look at our 105^th year!! Marvel at the improvements we’ve made over the years. A sleeker, well designed framework that takes advantage of technology and communication has emerged.

9-member Board of Directors
10 Board of Directors’ meetings on Zoom – rarely last more than 90 minutes
2 positions will be elected this year for the 2025-26 membership year: President and Program Vice President
2 positions continue: Finance Director and Secretary
5 positions will be appointed for one-year terms. (See page 8 of the directory)
4 branch meetings required by our governing documents,

And how (you are thinking to yourself) can I help? We thought you would never ask!!

Put on your thinking cap – what topics or issues would you like to have addressed at a branch meeting?
What interesting meeting places would you like us to consider?
Reread the article in the January issue of Capital Ideas for more details.
Think about how you would like to become more involved in your branch.
Then call, text, or email Nancy, Hedda or Barbara. (Pages 9, 24, 25 of directory.)

Side note: We have a standing reservation at the North Ridge Country Club for the second Saturday in December for our Holiday/Winter Luncheon. Members of the Citrus Heights/American River Branch of AAUW will be joining us for the 2025-26 membership year. The majority of their members live in Citrus Heights, Carmichael and Fair Oaks.

MEMBERSHIP DOINGS

MEMBERSHIP DOINGS By Gloria Yost

We Have More New Members!
And They Found Us Online!

Fatuma Yusuf
*Lives in Carmichael

Shelagh O’Rourke
*Is new to Sacramento and is excited to get involved in many of our
activities

WELCOME Fatuma and Shelag
We are glad you have joined and look forward to getting to know you!

Looking for more Membership Ambassadors!
2024-25 Membership Ambassadors so far:

Jan Stuter, Charmen Goehring, Gloria Yost,
Hedda Smithson, PJ Missman, Liz Jordan
Congratulations to Hedda, our January drawing winner!

Please join us by doing the following:

Bring in a new member — get your name on our Wall of Honor
Bring in a new member — get your name added for our drawings
Monthly drawing for prizes at meetings
Recruit the most new members — WIN a free AAUW membership for 2025-26

Help us Strengthen our Branch connections and friendships. Contact Gloria Yost or Vicky Lovell, our contact information can be found in the Membership Directory.

Celebrating February Birthdays!

Happy Birthday to All!

Anna Storey 2/1
Kathleen Deaver 2/2
Margaret Steinberg 2/3
Arlene Cullum 2/4
Kathie Huff 2/4
Ann J Burke 2/5
Susan Whetstone 2/9
Laura Weaver 2/12
Jane Cooley 2/14
Nancy Fox 2/16
Carol Finney 2/25
Inger Lindholm 2/26
Karen W. Smith 2/26

March Program – Equal Rights for All

Lights! Camera! Action!

Equal Rights for All By Lisa Howard

Saturday, March 15, 2025

10:30 AM – 1:00 PM at Roberts Family Development Center

766 Darina Avenue, Sacramento

AAUW members have long raised awareness through their impactful initiatives, programs and research. We recognize the need to attract and retain members, and to celebrate the diversity that all individuals bring.

At a national level, AAUW is prioritizing the skills we need to hone to be able to have the bold and challenging conversations that we are likely to encounter as we work our way out of the divisive conditions in which we find ourselves. National AAUW will host a webinar on “Bold Conversations” Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. PST to review key skills like active listening so critical to engaging in difficult topics. Click <here> to register for the webinar.

To further prepare our members, Lisa Howard and Jessica Waugh will use the AAUW best practice toolkit materials discussing diversity, equity and inclusion and will lead the group in exploring how our unconscious bias informs how we are perceived when we engage with people with different life experiences from our own.

We will gather for this panel discussion at the Roberts Family Development Center in Del Paso on Saturday, March 15 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. RFDC is located at 766 Darina Ave., Sacramento. At the meeting we will take participants through the AAUW DEI Toolkit to explore the terminology for greater understanding.

Hope to see you there!

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Corner

As an organization, AAUW strives to remove barriers for women. As educated white women of means, much of the AAUW membership has lived through a hopeful and dynamic phase of history. With such a noble mission, it is easy to assume that all women had the same experiences that we have, which is not true.

Women of color within our generations experienced the shared history quite differently. Young women today face less economic stability and often less reproductive freedom than most of our current membership. In support of attracting members to the mission, diversity is first about taking steps to understand the context that people may bring. For 2025, I will be sharing a recommended reading each month that can be used to guide a learning journey for those interested in exploring our diversity.

The first recommended book is The Sum of Us – What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGee. One of today’s most insightful and influential thinkers offers a powerful exploration of inequality and the lesson that generations of Americans have failed to learn: Racism has a cost for everyone — not just for people of color. The book is available standard, adapted for Young Readers, audio and even as a podcast.

In preparation for Black History Month in February, we’ve included a month of challenges for members to consider as recognition for the month. Click <here> for the Challenge Sheet. Bring your sheet with you to the March meeting where we’ll award a prize for the most items completed.

Public Policy News

Public Policy News – from CA State AAUW

Please click HERE for the January issue of Public Policy News. Included is an article about “Why Public Policy Priorities Matter.” Also included are details for upcoming virtual events and an update regarding the ratification of the ERA.

Because the publication schedules for this newsletter and the AAUW CA Public Policy newsletter do not align, you can find the latest Public Policy news <here>.

Lobby Days 2025 – Save the Date! by Rhonda Skipper, Member AAUW California Public Policy Committee

Get ready to advance legislation that makes a difference! This spring the AAUW California 2025 Lobby Days event will be held over two days: an in-person meeting day at the State Capitol on Tuesday, April 8 and a virtual meeting day over Zoom on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. We encourage all AAUW California members to participate in this opportunity for advocacy that is essential to achieve our legislative priorities!

Starting in January, the Public Policy Committee will evaluate new bills introduced in the state legislature which are aligned with our Public Policy Priorities. In mid March, the committee will meet to select 30-35 bills to makeup AAUW California’s 2025 Legislative Agenda, including the top three bills that we will advance during Lobby Days. Training materials on these three bills will be posted on the state website by March 26, 2025, and a mandatory training webinar will be held on March 31, 2025 at 7:00pm.

A registration form will arrive in your inbox in early January 2025. If interested, please be sure to complete and return the form so that you get necessary updates about Lobby Days, including your team and meeting details.

Are Gender-Based Scholarships Problematic?

Read this thought-provoking article written by Missy Maceyko, Co-chair of the AAUW California Public Policy Committee <here>.