The Pine - November 2019
The Official Publication of AAUW MN
- A Message from our President
- Lost & Found AAUW Pin
- MN AAUW Grant Application Period - EXTENDED
- AAUW Elected Board Director Application Due 11/22
- NCCWSL Grant reminder
- AAUW Funds
- Around the State - Here is what the Grand Rapids members are reading...
- Share your AAUW Branch experiences
A message from our president, Lisa West
Dear Members,
An update about AAUW National… Many of you are aware that AAUW National has been making major changes to return the organization to a position of fiscal sustainability. The new Strategic Plan is a guiding force in focusing on AAUW activities. A significant reduction was made in annual expenses ($24M to $16M) and staff (107 to 40). AAUW leadership is increasing transparency to ensure that members know and understand the changes being made. Stronger revenue pipelines are being developed that are based on realistic goals and expectations for the organization. And, AAUW is increasing its public/external face through high-level presence at conferences, initiatives, and media, thus increasing awareness and support of AAUW and its mission. This is an exciting time of change and improvement, with Kim Churches at the helm. I encourage you to attend the Regional Convention being planned in June 2020 to hear Kim talk more about the progress being made and successes being achieved.
We can support AAUW, at the national level, through our contributions to the overall organization. In the absence of a 2020 State Convention silent auction, I encourage all branches to explore other ways to raise funds toward a national contribution. For example, the Hastings Branch will be raffling off donated items at its Holiday Party in December to raise funds for an AAUW National contribution. Hastings may do this again in April, or come up with another idea to raise funds.
Our member support works together with national sponsorships to provide opportunities to enhance economic security for women. One success story is the grant AAUW received from the Coca-Cola Foundation. The agreement was to train at least 100,000 women by the end of August. The free, online Work Smart program and in-person workshops trained over 102,700 people. And, Coca-Cola is so impressed with AAUW and its effort to reach this grant goal, it invited AAUW to submit a proposal for an additional, one-year $500,000 grant! The results: 72% of those trained reported higher levels of confidence in salary negotiation; 98% reported finding the information useful and relevant; and 60% reported putting the skills they learned into practice at work. Our Minnesota Branch contributions to AAUW National support this success story! Let’s continue our national support, and seek ways to support our local communities as well.
Take care --
Lisa
November Quote: “A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” ~ Gloria Steinem
If you attended the state convention in Grand Rapids...
Lost & Found AAUW Pin
Just after the State convention in Grand Rapids there was word that an AAUW pin had been lost. There was an exchange of emails asking if anyone had found the pin and I believe the person even asked the hotel if they had found it.
A few weeks ago as I was going through the very last of my assorted convention stuff I found this pin in a box. The only other one I have ever seen belongs to Marilyn Rossman of Grand Rapids, a lifetime member.
If this is yours or you know who owns it, I am keeping it safe and though so tempting to wear I HAVE NOT!!!
Thank you,
Deanna Ensley deannaensley@yahoo.com (360) 333 -0228
2019-2020 MN AAUW Grant Application Period EXTENDED
AAUW MINNESOTA will award several grants during 2019-2020 to support branch projects that further the AAUW mission of advancing equity for women and girls. The Branch Project Grant Evaluation Committee will consider the following criteria in rating the applications.
Click the link below to open it and print it.
This document is also on our AAUW-MN state website.
Important! Apply NOW!
AAUW Elected Board Director Application Due 11/22
The application deadline for the AAUW National Board of Directors is fast approaching, but there’s still time for interested AAUW director candidates to submit an application by 6:00 pm ET on Friday, November 22. We are looking for dedicated members to lead AAUW and our vision for the future. You can review the selection criteria and apply online directly on the AAUW website.
Now more than ever, we need to fight for an equitable future for all. Please share this message and the opportunity to serve with your state and branch board members and others who may have an interest.
Please feel free to contact me and the AAUW member-led Nominating Committee at nominations@aauw.org if you have any questions about the application or nominations process.
Thank you for your continued support of AAUW.
Sincerely,
Eileen Hartmann
Chair, AAUW Nominating Committee
NCCWSL update
AAUW of Minnesota, NCCWSL Chair
Reminder! AAUW of Minnesota is offering ten $1,000.00 scholarships! One scholarship per branch that sends a college woman to the National Conference of College Women Student Leaders, aka NCCWSL, pronounced ‘nick-whistle.’
Downloadable materials are now on the AAUW of Minnesota website.
AAUW Funds
New LAF Case Support
In September, the AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund adopted a new pay-equity lawsuit, Freyd vs University of Oregon. The case challenges the pay discrimination faced by Jennifer Freyd, a professor paid substantially less than her male colleagues who hold the same positions, are junior to her, and are no more accomplished. The disparity is primarily due to retention raises, and the case will help establish whether such raises are considered a “factor other than sex” under the Equal Pay Act. AAUW also joined an amicus or “friend of the court” brief in support of Freyd’s appeal.
Contributing to AAUW Funds
This year we won’t be having a statewide Silent Auction fund-raiser, so I’m encouraging everyone to contribute to AAUW Funds directly through the National Office, or through your Branch’s fundraising efforts. Each Branch that contributes at least $750 to one of four national AAUW Funds will be able to recognize a Named Gift Honoree and that $750 includes contributions made directly by individuals. Each quarter your Branch AAUW Funds Chair receives a print-out of all funds credited to your Branch, so she can track those direct contributions as well as those sent in by the Branch.
The four funds that meet MN AAUW’s criteria for Named Gift Honoree status are:
- Fund# 9110, AAUW’s Greatest Need (which provides much-needed flexibility and responsiveness;
- Fund# 4450 Education and Training (including Fellowships, Public Policy, Research);
- Fund# 4449 Economic Security (including LAF, Work Smart and Start Smart); and
- Fund# 4452 Leadership (including NCCWSL, Campus Action Projects, and Empower)
Thanks for all your support of AAUW Funds and the great work we achieve together.
Barb Wonson Liukkonen
AAUW-MN Funds VP
Around the state...
Here is what the Grand Rapids members are reading...
EDUCATED by Tara Westover. This is a memoir of a young woman born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, who was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom, eventually attending Harvard and obtaining a doctorate from Cambridge University.
THE TEA GIRL OF HUMMINGBIRD LANE by Lisa See. This novel is about an Amhara ethnic-minority girl in Yunnan, China who gave birth to a daughter and abandoned her, traditional tea farming, and the bonds between mothers and daughters.
THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah A young girl's life in remote Alaska.
Submitted by Cyndy Agle
Share your AAUW branch experiences
What fun idea does your Branch do to get together with your AAUW Sisters? Let Cyndy know by emailing cyndyharrison@msn.com