Tag Archives: Social justice

AAUW NYS District V Conference on Diversity and Inclusion

Heide Parreño Anita Nahal
Diversity Director, ESVB D&I Consultant, ESVB

Each person picked a gem of their choice as they registered for our AAUW NYS District V Conference on “Diversity and Inclusion in Today’s Workplace” held at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City on October 15, 2016.

Diversity and Inclusion is a mosaic of gems reflecting persons from different age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnic, socio-economic, health and spiritual cultures including the culture of the Deaf, each with unique ideas and abilities. The Empire State Virtual NY Branch is committed to integrate the value of Diversity and Inclusion in the programs and activities of the branch as well as embed in leadership and organizational structure of the Branch.

The Empire State Virtual Branch have four initiatives for 2016 and 2017 as our commitment to D&I. and to continue the attempt to embed in leadership and organizational structure of AAUW the value of diversity and inclusion.

These initiatives are:

More informative and user friendly website for D&I at ESVB website.

Yearly award for Empire State Virtual NY Branch members and friends for work done on Diversity and Inclusion.

Holding D&I programs /events /lectures / representation at District Meeting, State Convention and Leadership Conference in Cazenovia

Share link of D&I survey. Do survey for ESVB, NYS, and National. Disseminate available resources at AAUW National: https://www.aauw.org/resource/diversity-and-inclusion-tool-kit/

Empire State Virtual NY Branch AAUW Diversity

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Heide Parreño, Diversity Director, ESVB Anita Nahal, D&I Consultant, ESVB

This year has seen the Empire State Virtual Branch (ESVB) launch out in a focused and targeted way in Diversity and Inclusion initiatives (D&I). Based upon an anonymous on-line survey to determine what members believed the ESVB did in D&I and what areas needed focus, the Empire State Virtual Branch now has four initiatives for 2016 and 2017 as our commitment to D&I. These are:

More informative and user friendly web presence for D&I initiatives on our ESVB website,

Yearly award for ESVB AAUW members for work done on Diversity and Inclusion. Criteria to be developed with in-put from members and the NYS VP on programs,

Holding D&I programs /events /lectures / representation at District Meeting, State Convention and Leadership Conference in Cazenovia,

Share link of D&I survey. Members to do the survey for sharing with ESVB, NYS, and National AAUW. Disseminate with ESVB members available resources from AAUW National: : https://www.aauw.org/resource/diversity-and-inclusion-tool-kit/

Our ESVB D&I team, Heide Parreño, director, and Dr. Anita Nahal, consultant will develop action items in each of the initiatives. Here’s an action for the first initiative regarding the website from Anita.

To provide links to AAUW State and National D&I initiatives
To provide general resources related to D&I, eg., conferences on D&I in NYC or a list of some useful publications and/or links to relevant D&I websites in the US and globally
Seek input from ESVB members as to what they would like to see on their website related to D&I

Diversity and Inclusion is the heart and conscience of AAUW. The value of diversity and inclusion should be embedded in the infra-structure of AAUW’s awareness, consciousness, intentionality and in all that we do. (Heide Parreño).

More quotes on diversity, inclusion and Unconscious Bias from Anita Nahal at her blog: http://diversitydiscover.blogspot.com/

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)

The Women’s Equality Agenda Once Again Has Governor Cuomo’s Support

NY Women’s Equality Coalition is in
Full Swing to work for its passage

Good News-We have another opportunity to achieve the passage of the Women’s Equality Agenda. The Governor in his State of the State Address committed himself to advancing women’s equality. Did you know that 89% of NY Voters agreed that equal pay for women should be a high priority for state leaders and 80% support updating New York’s abortion laws

The Women’s Equality Coalition, which includes the support of 860 women’s groups, one of which is the Empire State Virtual Branch, businesses, religious organizations, medical groups, and advocacy organizations from across the state, is united in its efforts to mobilize New Yorkers and push legislators to get the job done in 2014. AAUW-NYS is on the Steering Committee. The measures of the Women’s Equality Agenda reflect the complexity of women’s lives–securing equal pay, access to reproductive health care, and freedom from discrimination and violence are all essential to women’s equality. New York State needs to update and strengthen its laws to reflect the reality of women’s lives today.

The coalition formed last year almost succeeded in having the WEA passed in 2013. They have continued to be very active. This fall they developed a grassroots campaign utilizing social media to spread the word each week about various issues in the 10 point WEA, calling for an upgrade in NYS’s outmoded laws. They created a satiric two-minute video Illegal or Just Sleazy that everyone must see. View the video and share it with others http://nywomensequality.org/?utm_source=SOTS+WEA+Press+Release&utm_campaign=SOTS+Presser+WEA&utm_medium=email

NYWEC plans to build on the fall campaign and throw its full weight behind advancing women’s rights and making the Women’s Equality Agenda law. Please do all you can to raise awareness among those you know. Encourage all to contact their NYS Legislators asking them to pass this needed legislation that will make a difference for so many.

Nancy Mion, Empire State Virtual Branch Public Policy Chair Myown220@aol.com

CTAUN on Friday, January 31, 2014, 9:30am—4:30pm, UN, NY

^{Committee on Teaching About the United Nations 2014 Conference}

Promoting Peace Through Education

It is not enough to teach children how to read, write and count. Education has to cultivate mutual respect for others and the world in which we live, and help people forge more just, inclusive and peaceful societies.
~~ UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon 12 June 2013

The Committee on Teaching About the United Nations (CTAUN) is proud to announce their 15th Annual Conference at the UN, Friday, January 31, 2014. The theme is “Promoting Peace Through Education.” Educators, students, and concerned citizens are invited to join with distinguished speakers as we explore how the UN and the international community promote disarmament and confront threats to peace. By teaching about the power and potential of global peace, we can empower people to navigate the twenty first century world.
Our conference is a day-long event involving a welcome from UN representative Virginia Gamba, Director and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs; keynote speakers Cora Weiss, President of Hague Appeal for Peace; Tony Jenkins, VP for Academic Affairs at National Peace Academy; Dr. George Lopez, VP of the Academy for Conflict Management and Peacebuilding; morning and afternoon panels of experts (including a former girl-child soldier from Uganda); a Best Practices award presentation; an info-fair; and a college level Poster Contest. Our morning session will concentrate on Threats to Peace, while the afternoon panel will contemplate Solutions. Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary fame will close our day.
To learn more abut CTAUN and register for the conference,
go to: www.teachun.org. Registration deadline is 17 January 2014
For group rates of 10 or more contact lochie@optonline.net

Join AAUW at CTAUN on January 18, 2013

CTAUN Conference:

“Advancing Social Justice: The Role of Educators”

CTAUN Conference: “Advancing Social Justice: The Role of Educators”

AAUW encourages our members to attend CTAUN at the United Nations scheduled for Friday, January 18, 2013 from 9:30 to 4 in New York City.

Registration Fee: $65

Student Fee – ID required: $40

The Committee on Teaching About the United Nations (CTAUN) will examine the social justice issues of Human Trafficking and Economic Inequality.

Distinguished speakers from the United Nations and International NGOs will provide insight and information helping to empower you with increased awareness.

I believe that education is the civil rights issue of our generation. And if you care about promoting opportunity and reducing inequality, the classroom is the place to start. Great teaching is about so much more than education; it is a daily fight for social justice. — US Education Secretary Arne Duncan,, 9 October 2009

To register and obtain additional information, visit www.teachun.org