Tag Archives: AAUW

Greetings from our AAUW NYS Summer meeting in Cazenovia, NY

Greetings from our AAUW NYS Summer meeting in Cazenovia, NY. We had lots of fun while living our AAUW mission and preparing branches to better connect activities with community needs and planning our 2016 AAUW NYS Convention which will take place in Saratoga Springs on April 15-17, 2016.

The Empire State Virtual Branch will be hosting the AAUW NYS District V Conference scheduled for Sat. October 3, 2016 from 2-5 pm at the New York Institute of Technology.
To register for the conference click on: AAUW District V Conference Registration Form
Registration Deadline: September 21, 2015.

Empire State Virtual Branch New Member

Juliet Tarantino, Empire State Virtual Branch New Member

We are delighted to welcome, Juliet Tarantino, newest primary member of the Empire State Virtual Branch! During fiscal year 2015-2016.”

Juliet Tarantino joins the AAUW with international experience in education and academic training in anthropology (MA in Anthropology for The New School for Social Research). While an undergraduate student at the University of New Hampshire (Dual BA in Anthropology in International Affairs), she organized and led a week-long social justice awareness trip of twelve students to Nicaragua, where trip participants learned about the work of local grassroots organizations and facilitated classroom art activities. Her thesis, based on original research she conducted in Ecuador, examined the entanglement of Ecuadorian Otavaleño’s rejection of tradition alongside their utilization of distinctive traditional dress to bolster their sales of artisan-made items. After graduating from college, Juliet was selected by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education for the position of North American Culture and Language Assistant and taught English in Madrid.

Back in the U.S. and determined to maintain the level of Spanish fluency she had gained in Madrid, Juliet took on the role of Bilingual Intake Coordinator at an immigrant legal services and refugee resettlement agency in Chicago. There, she compiled a series of client stories expressing how their lives had changed after gaining residency in the U.S. She also worked as an independent translator, translating personal statements in support of VAWA cases. Inspired to engage more critically with issues of social justice, Juliet gained her master’s degree in New York City, and began teaching academic research writing to college-bound seniors from underserved high schools. She also coordinates low-cost Spanish classes in her Brooklyn neighborhood as a means of building community. She is interested in immigrant and refugee issues, scholastic achievement gaps, and using research and education to teach social justice.

EYO Conference 2015

Explore Your Opportunities:
The Sky’s the Limit!^TM13th Year Conference, April 16, 2016
College of Mount Saint Vincent, Riverdale (Bronx), New York

Congratulations to Lorrin Johnson, Wilma Gitchel and Marilee Scheuneman for another successful Explore Your Opportunities: the Sky’s the Limit Conference held on March 21, 2015 at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York. We have received great reviews from our 7th grade participants about all the 17 workshops given at this Conference. . Our key note speaker, the Australian GPS girl, Karen Jabosen received the most accolades from our students. We were all very engaged and enjoyed Karen’s “Recalculate” motivational talk!

The 7-Grade girls attended the following17 workshops for EYO 2015:

Playing Games in Alice World”: earn to create interactive games using “Alice” programming.
Brain Games: Learn about some of the mind boggling things a brain can do from making memories to controlling emotions.
Flower Hour: Observe and describe flowers and discover similarities that group them and differences that make them unique.
It’s a Sugar…It’s a Base…It’s DNA! : Discover the structure of DNA and learn how to isolate DNA from your own cells painlessly.
Acoustics & Wildlife – Sound Can Save Animals!: How do scientists track whales, recognize birds, and count tigers and frogs? They use sound!
What Color is a Rose?: Roses are red, violets are blue, ever wonder how plants get their color? See which plant pigments are hiding in your favorite plants using paper chromatography!
Datalogging-A-Bot: Learn how to program a robot to analyze sounds using a sound sensor.
Plant Superhighways: An introduction to the vascular system of plants with real-life applications in the food and florist industries.
Grrrrrrls Leading the Way in Animal Science: Learn how you can enhance animal lives and wellbeing in a hands-on enrichment workshop.
Blizzard in a Bottle!: Create a “snowflake crystal” scene in a jar using Chemistry!
Cool Web Design: Learn the basics of HTML and JavaScript by making your own “Web Page”.
Paper Engineering + Origami = (Fun)^:Use paper and geometry to build a spherical container to store jewelry and other small items.
Play Doctor: Learn the physical exam components and tools that doctors and PAs use to evaluate sick patients.
Hands-On Cosmetic Chemistry (2 sessions): Step into the laboratory and design your own cosmetic potion.
Wading Through The Web: Smarter searching on the Internet – DeeperWeb, Clusty, Carrot, website reliability checks. Oh My.
Brain on Overload?: Learn about the neuroscience of cognition while conducting tests on the effects of multitasking.
Using Leverage to get Super Powers: Learn basics about how levers can multiply force and how leverage is used in everyday items.

AAUW-NYS 2015 Convention Speakers

Nancy Mion, our Empire State Virtual Branch Public Policy Director and AAUW Islip Area Branch Long Island Suffragists Committee Chair. Nancy comes by this naturally for her grandfather, Nathaniel Schmidt, a professor at Cornell, was an active suffragist. She is a member of the statewide NYCHTN Women, Right’s Committee. Nancy is currently: Islip Area Branch Program Vice-President & Public Policy Director; L.I. Interbranch Secretary/Treasurer; NYS Legal Advocacy Fund (LAF) Director; and a National AAUW LAF Committee Member. She is a past NYS President and Public Policy Director. She has been an involved dedicated committed AAUW member for 40 years. Her other abiding interest is the Suffolk County Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Nancy was a librarian who received her BBA in Management from Hofstra University and her MS in LS from SUNY Albany.

If you would like a copy of Nancy’s Powerpoint presentation on the history of the suffrage movement especially as it applies to New York. Contact Nancy Mion at myown220@aol.com.

If you were not able to attend Joan Monk’s presentation about Eleanor Roosevelt and Leadership: “Eleanor’s Alphabet Soup”, you can e-mail Joan at ftmaven@gmail.com about interesting program(s) for your branch.

As you know, Joan is a fairy tale/happiness/play enthusiast engaging students of all ages in what has heart and meaning for her. With an e-mail moniker of ‘ftmaven’ she has been dubbed the “AAUW NYS Unofficial Director of Whimsy” because of her passion for fairy tales. As the former Education Director of the Peter Pan Children’s Fund, she has unlimited access to pixie dust, sprinkling it wherever she goes!

Her latest fairy tale endeavor is “The Wonder & Wisdom of Oz,” celebrating the 75th Anniversary of America’s favorite fairy tale with students from age 4-104. As a Master Teacher in the Yonkers Public Schools, Joan “worked her magic” lovingly there for nearly four decades. She considers herself “an inspired not retired” educator, having worked as an early childhood teacher, parent trainer, workshop leader and college professor. Now she is putting put volunteer work center stage in her encore career. Jacob Burns Film Center, Westchester Children’s Museum and The Academy for Character Education at Sage College all benefit from her energy and enthusiasm.

Inspired by the mission of AAUW, she joined as a ‘lifetime member” twenty years ago. She is a member of four branches in NYS: Westchester, Kingston, Poughkeepsie and ESVVB. At present, Joan is Special Projects Director, District V Coordinator and is chairing the NY/NJ WILD Project. She served as District Director, International Affairs Chair and Cultural Interests Director also. She lives in Yorktown with Rob the prince, Toto the dog, and Mushy the cat.

Congratulations to the AAUW NYS Convention Team!

Jane Russell

Jane Pfeiffer Russell
AAUW-NYS Program VP

Congratulations and thanks to Jane Pfeiffer Russell, AAUW-NYS Program VP and the Convention Team for an excellent AAUW NYS Convention held on April 17-19, 2015 at the Byblos Niagara Resort and Spa Grand Island, NY. Jane was the Moderator on Saturday Morning Panel of Municipal Leaders which included special guest, Kathy Hochul, NYS Lt Governor; Marjory Jaeger, Amherst Town Clerk; Julie Huntsman, Otsego Town Council; Crystal Peoples-Stokes, NYS Assembly; Lovely Warren, Mayor of Rochester. The speakers were very informative and inspirational.

As you may know, in 2011, Jane was elected Supervisor for the Town of Pulteney. When taking office the Town was in arrears financially $20,000 and upon leaving office at the end of 2013 the coffers held over $300,000. She has been a staunch advocate for antifracking in NY and held a position on the steering committee for Elected Officials to Protect NY. During that two years much time was spend in lobbying the Governor, the NYS DEC and the NYS DOH as well as local advocacy events. Jane joined AAUW in 1976 when she moved back to Steuben County and has held many local and state offices, including that of AAUW NYS Program Vice President in the early 2000’s. She was part of the then widely visible “Living the Mission” program developed by the NYS Board under Evvie Currie’s presidency.

AAUW-NYS 2015 Convention Pictures

Candidates for Election to the 2015–17 AAUW Board of Directors

The slate of candidates for election to the AAUW Board of Directors is now available. For details about each candidate, click on the following link: https://www.aauw.org/resource/candidates-for-election-to-the-aauw-board-of-directors/

AAUW President (vote for 1) Patricia Fae Ho

AAUW Vice President (vote for 1) Alicia Hetman

AAUW Directors (vote for 10 candidates of your choice)

Susan Barley Maria Ellis Malinda Gaul Sally Anne Gooson Eileen S. Hartmann

Ellie Hill Traci Jensen Melissa Johsen Dot McLane Eileen Shelley Menton

Rebecca Norlander Judith Pfeil Gleda D. Price Martha Joh Reeder Pam Thiel

Empire State Virtual NY Branch AAUW Won Many Awards!

Congrats to all the ESVB members and friends who made possible winning so many awards at the AAUW NYS Convention on April 17-19, 2015 at the Byblos Niagara Resort in Grand Island, NY.

Awards!

21st Century Silver Program Award for the Mentoring at the College of Mount Saint Vincent
Award of Distinction for our quarterly Empire Virtual Times newsletter
Public Policy Award for consistent efforts to educate members about Public Policy issues through our newsletter
Public Policy Award for STEM Impact
Public Policy Award for Voter Registration & Education Award
Award of Distinction for Social Media
Spare change 4 change Initiative
Award of Distinction for Visibility
Membership Award for recruiting and maintaining members
Award of Distinction for our Website
Legal Advocacy Fund (LAF) Star Branch
Seventh (7th) Place Per Capita Contributions. Specials thanks to our generous members including Dot McLane, Dr. Chigurupati Rani, Joan Monk!

AAUW Fellows

Lamia Bazir

Lamia Bazir is currently working for the cabinet of the head of the government of Morocco, on the development of the second compact of the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Lamia was a fellow of the American Association of University Women, and a representative at the United Nations. Her experience includes political analysis for the Arab League, consultancy with Transparency International, and field research in Niger.

Prior to this, she earned a master’s in international affairs from Columbia University and a master’s in international development from Sciences Po Paris. She was also student valedictorian at Al Akhawayn University where she completed her undergraduate studies.

Most recently, Lamia won the United Nations’ Award for Volunteering attributed by the UN and MBC group for her social venture “Empowering Women in the Atlas”. She is also known for her inspirational speeches delivered at Al Akhawayn university, Stanford University, and the UN Youth Assembly.

Samantha Majic

Samantha Majic’s research lies in gender and American politics, with specific interests in sex work, civic engagement, institutionalism, and the nonprofit sector. She is the author of Sex Work Politics: From Protest to Service Provision(University of Pennsylvania Press, December 2013), and the co-editor (with Carisa Showden) of Negotiating Sex Work: Unintended Consequences of Policy and Activism (University of Minnesota Press, Spring 2014). Her research has also appeared/is forthcoming in Perspectives on Politics, Polity, New Political Science, The Journal of Women, Politics and Policy, and Gender and Society.A Fellow of the American Association of University Women, Dr. Majic is also a member of the Perspectives on Politics editorial board.

Empire State Virtual Branch NY AAUW Emerging Leader

Congratulations to Jan Lisa Huttner!

After 35 years in Chicago, Jan Lisa Huttner and her husband Rich moved to Brooklyn in late 2012. And as soon as she had unpacked most of her boxes, Jan reached out to us and became a member of ESVB. An active member of AAUW Chicago Branch since 1983, Jan served as Membership VP, Program VP, and Historian. She also served on the AAUW-Illinois Board as Director of Leadership Development, Director of College/University Relations, and Director of International Relations.

During her tenure as Director of College/University Relations, Jan organized the WITASWAN Project (Women in the Audience Supporting Women Artists Now), which was originally created an opportunity for joint programming between Illinois branches and their local campuses. The project was such a success that AAUW-Illinois soon found itself collaborating with WomenArts—the Fund for Women Artists—to go global. Since 2008, International SWAN Day has been celebrated at over 1,200 separate events in 20 countries (plus the USA). The next International SWAN Day is March 28, 2015, so plans for an ESVB celebration will be announced soon.

“My Dad was ‘a joiner,’ so I was raised to be ‘a joiner’ too,” says Jan. “But as an adult, especially in my work with AAUW, I have organized my own life around one single principle: Invisible Women. Too many women—not only in the past but also in the present—are ‘invisible,’ that is, not given their due either by their own cultures or by the world community at large. I want to give voice to these women not only for their sake, but on behalf of the women of the future. Women need to believe in themselves more than they do now, and one way to help them do that is to give voice to all the wonderful women who have paved the way.”
To learn more about WITASWAN and International SWAN Day, read Jan’s Book: Penny’s Picks: Fifty Movies by Women Filmmakers available from Amazon on Kindle and POD.

Caption: Jan gives us her introduction to the WITASWAN Project on October 18, 2014 at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. (Photo Credit: Laura Fieber-Minogue)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Women’s Symposium / District IV Conference

Planning committee for the ECSWC Symposium/ District IV Conference
Members of others local women’s organizations collaborating to plan the event are pictured along with AGJ AAUW members -seated Sandra Maceyka and Helen Martin
Standing third from left – Bev Alves, Jennifer Garren, Jahnn Gibson and
second from right Laurie Kozakiewicz

SAVE THE DATE! March 21
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Women’s Symposium / District IV Conference
Saturday, March 21 from 8:30am-3:30pm
Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery County BOCES Center, Rt 67 Johnstown,NY
Deadline to register- March 6
Registration fee – $35 and $15 for students

The Amsterdam-Gloversville-Johnstown AAUW branch invites all to attend the 5th Elizabeth Cady Stanton Women’s Symposium at the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery County BOCES Center, Rt 67 Johnstown (next to the Fulton Montgomery Community College) on Saturday, March 21 from 8:30am-3:30pm. The event will also serve as the AAUW NYS District IV Conference.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in Johnstown, NY in 1815. A year of events have been planned by the ECSWomen’s Consortium member organizations in celebration of the women’s suffrage leader’s birth 200 years ago. The ECSWomen’s Symposium is the main event of the year.

We hope to have many AAUW members present to increase our visibility. (AAUW members will be given AAUW badges to wear at the event) The conference is open to the public. The registration fee is $35 and $15 for students and includes a light breakfast and lunch. Registration forms with 3 workshops choices and checks payable to ECSWC should be mailed by March 6. Amsterdam-Gloversville-Johnstown is the host branch and they are collaborating with other women’s organizations who are also members of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Women’s Consortium to present the Symposium. A registration form with more details is attached.
Here is a preview of the days offerings:
Session A Workshop Choices
1 Women on the Page (Greta Nettleton, Heidi Sprouse, Ruth Holland Scott)
2 Midwifery: the Second Oldest Profession (Julie Testi)
3 From Corsets to Spanx™ (“Victorian Lady” Sue McLane)

Luncheon Program: A Conversation with Coline Jenkins,
the Great-Great Granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Conducted by Stanton biographer Penny Coleman
Session B Workshop Choices
1 Johnstown’s Radical Daughter (ECStanton interpreter Melinda Grube)
2 RX for Better Health – Get Outdoors (Kelly Stang)
3 You Won’t Feel a Thing (Acupunture-Jennifer Voohees)
Session C Workshop Choices
1 A Glorious Woman – Getting to Know Elizabeth Cady Stanton (Penny Coleman)
2 Color: Then and Now ( makeup of the past and present-Sherry Wieszchowski)
3 For the Dancer Within You (Learn a new step- Carol Mattioni)

Explore Your Opportunities: The Sky’s the Limit!TM 13th Year Conference, April 16, 2016 College of Mount Saint Vincent, Riverdale (Bronx), New York

The slate of candidates for election to the AAUW Board of Directors is now available. For details about each candidate, click on the following link: https://www.aauw.org/resource/candidates-for-election-to-the-aauw-board-of-directors/

Awards!

Congratulations to Jan Lisa Huttner!

Explore Your Opportunities:
The Sky’s the Limit!^TM13th Year Conference, April 16, 2016
College of Mount Saint Vincent, Riverdale (Bronx), New York