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AAUW Action Fund Launches Get-out-the-Vote Effort to Mobilize Young Women

National Campaign to Inspire Millennials to Head to the Polls

WASHINGTON — Today, on what would have been the 192nd birthday of leading suffragist Susan B. Anthony, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Action Fund launched It’s My Vote: I Will Be Heard, a nonpartisan voter education and turnout effort aimed at maximizing the electoral power of women in the 2012 election.

As the largest generation since the baby boomers, today’s 18- to 30-year-olds present the strongest opportunity to increase voter turnout among women. Millions of young women will be eligible to vote for the first time this year, and many others have yet to establish the habit of voting. As part of this national campaign, the AAUW Action Fund is providing grants to 15 target states to help them increase the influence of women in shaping public policy through grassroots outreach and voter registration.

“AAUW stands on a rich history of civic engagement and voter education,” said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE. “We recognize the power of a single vote, and we will do everything we can to encourage all citizens to cast an informed ballot. Women must get involved in the political process to ensure that the issues they care about get the attention they deserve.”

In addition to mobilizing young women, the My Vote campaign will also focus on critical issues that affect women’s everyday lives, such as jobs, college affordability, and health care, including access to birth control.

“This campaign takes an approach that is unique to AAUW,” said Seth Chase, AAUW’s national field director. “We have hundreds of branches across the country with ties to their local communities and college campuses. Our members have the opportunity to establish lasting relationships with young women, to engage them on the issues, and to encourage them to vote and be heard.”

As part of the My Vote campaign, AAUW is also sponsoring “Every Four Years: Presidential Campaigns and the Press,” an interactive exhibit at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Opening on February 17, the exhibit will include historical information about the suffrage movement, particularly how candidates’ wives became more influential in elections after women won the right to vote in 1920. The exhibit will also feature campaign ads, artifacts used by the press and candidates on the campaign trail, and an interactive voting booth where visitors can cast “ballots” for the 2012 presidential election. The exhibit will be updated throughout the 2012 campaign and will run through Inauguration Day 2013.

The AAUW Action Fund advances equity for women and girls through member activism and voter mobilization. Since 1881, AAUW has been the nation’s leading voice promoting education and equity for women and girls. Both organizations have a nationwide network of 100,000 members and donors, 1,000 branches, and 600 college and university partners.

Financial Fitness for Women | February 9, 2012 | 6:30 pm

Speaker | Millie Cress

Vice-President, First Bank

Trinity Oaks Special Events Room

Minutes from Millie’s talk will be up before next month’s meeting, but here are a couple Action items and Save the Dates for your calendar.

Here’s a list of all the Take Action items we talked about last night. You can click on each one of these links and follow the instructions to TAKE ACTION!

Take Action

  • February 18 (9:30 am)  ~ Human Trafficking (FREE)~ AAUW Charlotte is hosting a talk on the effects of Human Trafficking in Charlotte.  I will be attending if anyone wants to carpool.  3115 Providence Road, Charlotte, Trinity Presbyterian Church
  • March 8 (6:30 pm) ~ The Fabric of Hope & Resistance: NC Women Workers on Strike (in recognition of International Women’s Day) [FREE – Open to Public]. Please invite friends and family for our speaker Roxanne Newton. (Synopsis of Talk) ~ Our website now also features an EASY WAY TO SHARE this information. On the right hand side you can utilize the share buttons!
  • March 10 (10 am – 2 pm) ~ Community Day at Salisbury Mall, we’ll be setting up a table
  • March 30-31 ~ AAUW NC Annual Meeting, Burlington, NC

February 2012 Meeting Minutes

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AAUW, SALISBURY BRANCH
AAUW: Since 1881 AAUW Salisbury Branch: Since 1951
Membership Meeting,
Thursday February 6, 2012 6:30 PM
Trinity Oaks Retirement Community
Second Floor, Special Events Room
Minutes

The AAUW, Salisbury Branch met on Thursday February 6, 2012 at the Trinity Oaks Retirement Community at 6:30 PM in the Special Events Room. The following members were present: Brunetta Franklin, Eileen Hanson-Kelly, Holly Czuba, Kathy Taber, Dixie Scott, Billie Simmons, Kathy Pulliam, Harriet Murphy, Edith Alcorn, Ann Medlin, Linda Hauze, Carol Cody, Becky Hammill, Erma Scarlette, Elaine Stiller, Nicole Sherrill-Corry, Betty Fellows, and Catrelia Hunter. The following members were absent: Billie Simmons, Lori Eberly, Nancy Bilson, Greg Alcorn, Bonnie Hodges, Zebbie Bradley-Bondurant, Norma Goldman, Linda Kesler, Alyce Lanier, Renee McCachren, Lollie Streiff, Jeannie Sherrill, Judy Grissom, Carolyn Blackman, and Donna Wiseman.
Guests were: Kendall Moore and Ruby Walker.

Brunetta Franklin, President welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced new member Betty Fellows. Betty said that she was with AAUW in the 1950’s in another state and had not been active since that time. She looked forward to getting active again and being involved with the Salisbury Branch.

Eileen Hanson-Kelly introduced Millie Cress who was tonight’s guest speaker. Millie is a Vice-President at First Bank. She has spent 44 years in banking working in almost every area available. She is very active in the community serving on a variety of boards as her motto is” give back to where you live and work”. Her program was titled “Financial Fitness for Women”.

Some highlights from her program were: Five Financial Workout Tips-1. Put your spending on a diet. 2. Stretch your retirement. 3. Use a professional financial advisor to stay on track. 4. Pump up your credit scores. 5. Join an investment club. Some interesting statistics that Millie told us were that 9 out of every 10 women will be solely responsible for their financial future as their average lifespan is 81 years compared to 73 years for men. Women from ages 40-79 have already dealt with a major financial crisis and half of a woman’s income is from Social Security if she is over 65 years of age. She gave everyone a true/false quiz on your knowledge of Money Smarts and it was most enlightening to all. She ended her program with some basic techniques for sound financial advice. A couple were: spend less than you earn, buy a house, pay your mortgage first and then pay credit card debts, know your credit scores, life-long saving, and have at least a six month emergency fund. Millie gave everyone a goodie bag from First Bank and Eileen presented her a copy of Sketches of Old Rowan.

A refreshment break was then held courtesy of Catrelia Hunter and Eileen.

Kathy Pulliam, Secretary, presented the minutes from January 2012. A motion was made by Harriet Murphy and seconded by Carol Cody to accept the minutes as presented and the motion passed.

New Business: Brunetta reported that we had one application for NCCSWL and that the application period would be open until February 29th. The early registration for NCCSWL would be through April 19, 2012.

Brunetta spoke briefly about the Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood issue and while it had been resolved the Susan G. Komen program still would not be at the NCCSWL conference and AAUW would not participate in the Komen race. AAUW would decide at a later time as to what it would do regarding the issue.

Committee Reports:

Executive:

Brunetta reported on the Two Minute Activist, which is a notification to elected officials on issues that affect women and girls. She encouraged all members to participate. Military sexual assault has and still is a problem that occurs while men and women are serving in the military. “Invisible War” is a Sundance Film Festival film that deals with this issue. According to statistics, colleagues have raped 20% of the women in service and 25% of those are the person in charge. Brunetta asked us all to become aware of this issue.

Title IX is our PPPP issue and she encouraged us to be either a sender or receiver of information relating to this active issue.

The Charlotte Branch of AAUW is taking a stance on human trafficking (modern day slavery), which has become rampant in the Charlotte area. On February 18th at 9:30 am there will be a free program at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3115 Providence Rd dealing with this topic.

Community Day at the Salisbury Mall will be held March 10, 2012 from 10am -2pm. Non-profit groups may set up informational booths. Set-up will be from 8-9:30. We would need 2 volunteers for each time slot- 10-12 and 12-2. Kathy Taber will take a 10-12 slot along with Eileen and Harriet Murphy agreed to 12-2. Carol Cody was not sure if she could help but would check her schedule.

The Women of NC would have a dinner meeting and program in Raleigh, NC on Feb. 16th. Cost is $25.00 per person.

We would need to be electing new people to branch offices that come open in June – Program Vice-President and Treasurer. While we have people interested in these offices Brunetta felt we still needed to have a Nomination Committee to collect names for a ballot that would be voted on. Ann Medlin, Carol Cody, and Kathy Pulliam agreed to serve on the committee. Correspondence could be done by email.
The Goldman Scholars would be invited to the Annual Brunch in April and there are funds to cover them.

Education/LAF:

Holly Czuba did not have any LAF updates but she did have a report concerning the film showing of “Miss Representation” in January. Despite the rainy, cold weather, we had a profit of $456.00. Holly thanked all who had helped with this project.

Public Policy:

Several February issues were the contraceptive coverage mandate by President Obama’s health care reform and the effect on religious based employers and their female employees. AAUW believes that contraception is a part of basic health care for women and opposes the religious exemption. Female athletes score a Title IX victory when it was ruled that girls’ basketball games must be played on the same nights as boys’ games as this was making their program to feel inferior when their games were played on weeknights leading to fewer spectators and a challenge to homework assignments.
International Women’s Day is on March 8th and is the same date as our next meeting. It is the 101st year of International Women’s Day, which started as a result of the poor working conditions for women and the resulting fire in the garment district that killed so many young women factory workers. Roxanne Newton of Mitchell Community College will give the program dealing with working women in NC on strike.

Old Business:

The NC AAUW Annual Meeting will be held March 30-31.

International Women’s Day | March 8, 2012 | 6:30 pm

(UPCOMING LECTURE) The Fabric of Hope & Resistance: North Carolina Women On Strike

March 8, 2012 | 6:30 pm | Trinity Oaks Special Events Room

Dr. Roxanne Newton
Director, Humanities & Fine Arts, Mitchell Community College

Though they have often been silent, NC women who have been on strike have powerful stories to tell. Their voices are rarely heard in a state that has consistently maintained the lowest rate of unionism. These women worked in textiles, telecommunications, tire manufacturing, and paper production and participated in disputes that span the decades from the General Textile Strike of 1934 to strikes in 1999 and 2001. Some of their stories tell of finding strength and resilience in so-called “men’s” jobs, competing in non-traditional jobs for women. Other narratives tell of their many sacrifices as the women suppressed their own needs in order to organize and participate in unions while also taking care of their families or co-workers. A third group of stories reveals the women’s evolution from unionists to activists, demonstrating their solidarity with union sisters and brothers while advocating for economic and social justice. A fourth set of narratives centers on union feminists’ stories of leadership in promoting gender and racial equality, workplace democracy, and community justice. As a result of their participation in labor disputes, these NC women have woven powerful tapestries of protest, resistance, hope, and transcendence.

This project is made possible by funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Speaker Biography: The daughter and granddaughter of mill workers, Roxanne Newton grew up in a small NC textile town. Currently she is dean of the Humanities and Fine Arts Division at Mitchell Community College in Statesville where she teaches English and humanities courses. She earned a Ph.D. in Educational Foundations and Cultural Studies from UNC Greensboro. During the past 10 years, Roxanne has developed interdisciplinary courses including “American Women’s Studies,” “Working Lives: Multicultural Perspectives,” “The Immigrant Experience in America,” and “Race in America.” Her humanities classes have created history quilts and have collected oral histories of immigrants and workers in Iredell County. The NC Women’s History Quilt, made by Roxanne and her women’s studies students, was acquired by the NC Museum of History. Her research interests include oral histories, collaborative learning, and labor history. She is the author of Women Workers on Strike: Narratives of Southern Women Unionists, published by Routledge in 2007.

Miss Representation Screening a Success!

Last night, AAUW Salisbury hosted a screening of the award winning documentary, Miss Representation.  Aside from the rainy weather keeping some people away, the event was a huge success. Miller Davis supplied a very nice screen for us to use.  Several AAUW members pitched in to run the ticket, information and concession tables.  We sold homemade baked goods (that were wildly popular), in addition to copies of Sketches of Old Rowan and notecards.  The Family Crisis Council set up an information table.  Attendees totaled right about 50 people. Attendance broke down like this:

  • Girls under 18: 4%
  • Boys under 18: 2%
  • Women 18-34: 32%
  • Men 18-34: 6%
  • Women 35+: 36%
  • Men 35+: 20%

There was great discussion during intermission and after about many of the important topics addressed in the film.  Attendees seemed anxious to get involved and change the status quo.  Many were coming up with ideas about how to become more involved.

One thing I would like to point out about Salisbury, NC… This community does not lack strong women role models both in business and local government.  And there are several active women’s groups involved in making the community strong.  Let’s keep moving in that direction!

Profits from the event will go towards scholarships, like the Goldman Scholarship and to attend NCCWSL (the National Conference of College Women Student Leaders).