Networking
Spring 2011
NACW is committed to equality and
justice for women by increasing the
effectiveness of member commissions
and serving as their national voice.
Celebrating Indiana’s History,
Honoring its Creation
In celebration of the 15th anniversary of
Commission for Women (ICW) as a state
commission has launched Writing Her Story:
Hoosier
Women.
Women
in
Indiana
extraordinary things every day.
Writing
celebrates these accomplishments and sheds
resiliency and strength of Hoosier women.
the Indiana
agency, the
Inspirational
quietly
do
Her Story
light on the
The series of articles will showcase the women who have
helped move Indiana women forward and who inspire
others to do great things in their own lives. The first two
articles profile Senate Democrat Leader Vi Simpson and Lt.
Governor Becky Skillman, the two authors of the 1996
legislation that established the Indiana Commission for
Women.
Renewable Growth, Sustained
Purpose, Women Challenging the
Future
41st NACW Annual Conference and
Business Meeting- July 20-23
Phoenix, Arizona
Essential information Page 4
Featured Speakers:
Martha Burk Pay Equity
Mary Hughes The 2012 Project
More to come
NACW Officers
Mary Molina Mescall - President
New Mexico
Lori SchraderBachar – Vice President
Iowa
Bernice Compton Mitchell - Treasurer
Oklahoma
Cecilia Zamora, Secretary
California
Bonnie Coffey – Immediate Past President
Texas (Ex-Officio)
Read more about the project at the Indiana Commission for
Women's website (http://www.in.gov/icw/).
New Mexico Commission on the
Status of Women Offers Class for
Women in Transition
A free class, Strategies for Success: Effective Work Search
Skills, offered to women in the Albuquerque area,
workshop covers important topics such as skills
assessment,
resumé
building,
networking
for
job
opportunities and preparing for interviews. The workshop
provides time for women to ask questions, receive
personalized attention and connect with other women in
similar situations.
"Some of the women who attend this
class don't know how to look for a job online, or how to
effectively articulate their transferable skills," states
Lorraine
Bantista,
Coordinator
of
the
Displaced
Homemakers Office. "They need individualized attention in
an atmosphere that is open to the challenges they are
facing.”
Workshops like this address an immediate need for women
in the communities in which commissions for women
NACW Board of Directors
Amy Brenengen
Minnesota/Region 5
Sue Castner
Oregon/Region 10
Romona Fullman
Delaware/Region 3
Lesley Guthrie
Texas/Region 3
Judith Karandjeff
Michigan/Region 5
Roberta Mack
Arizona/Region 9
Tammy Martin
North Carolina/Region 4
Diane Mills McKay
New Jersey/Region 2
Jennifer Paustenbaugh, PhD
Oklahoma/Region 6
Sandra Moore
Louisiana/Region 6
Jackie Wilson
Maryland/Region 3
Judith Vaughan-Prather
Maryland/Region 3
Mary Wiberg
California/Region 9
Teresa Younger
Connecticut/Region 1
NACW National Office
300 San Mateo Blvd., NE, Suite 101
Albuquerque, NM 87108
Website: www.nacw.org
TIP – Belong to a commission with no
budget and still want to join NACW? Dues
for those commissions with no budget are
just $50 per year – so pass the hat! If there
are 10 commissioners, just $5 each will
entitle your commission to be a member
and enjoy the benefits of a greater
community of commissions to glean ideas,
gain insight and demonstrate strength.
Pretty good investment!
TIP: Looking for some amazing resources in
your region? Turn to the Women’s Bureau,
U.S. Department of Labor! NACW’s regions
mirror those of the Women’s Bureau – get
to know the Administrator in your region to
establish a relationship and discover the
resources that are available to you. There
is a long history of cooperation and
collaboration between the Women’s Bureau
and women’s commissions. To find your
regional administrator, log onto
www.dol.gov/wb/info_about_wb/regions/regions.htm
operate.
According to a recent study cited by many,
including the National Women’s Law Center, only one in 20
new jobs created in the recovering economy have gone to
women. For more information on how to recreate an
important public-service workshop in your area, contact the
New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women at
505.222.6600.
Vermont Commission Partners with
Women’s Film Festival
Women’s voices were center stage at a public forum hosted
by the Vermont Commission on Women as part of the
longest-running film festival in New England. The forum
offered an opportunity to women of Vermont to use the
featured films as a backdrop for discussion of contemporary
challenges occurring today.
Surfacing issues will be shared with policy leaders, elected
officials and state government who seek feedback from
Vermont’s women on economic security, health care, worklife balance, educational opportunities, women in the
military and the concerns of young women.
"The commission wants to hear from all women of
Vermont," said Karen Henry, a commissioner from
Brattleboro. "It's very nice to be able to focus on southern
Vermont this weekend." "This is the chance to have your
voice heard.”
NACW Part of VISION 2020 DecadeLong Initiative to Advance Women’s
Leadership & Equality
Vision 2020’s 116 women leaders are back in their home
states ready to begin the decade-long initiative to advance
women’s equality and leadership.
During three days of discussions and debate in Philadelphia,
the Vision 2020 delegates generated hundreds of ideas to
advance women’s leadership and achieve equality by the
year 2020.
“Vision 2020 and its delegates are now off and running
united by one goal,” said Lynn Yeakel, Co-Chair of Vision
2020, a national initiative of the Institute for Women’s
Health and Leadership at Drexel University College of
Medicine.
Equality is a measure of our democracy. Yet women, who
make up 51% of the population, represent only 18 percent
of top leaders in the United States. The national and
visionary delegates from all 50 states are committed to
gaining for more women a voice in government, media,
education, and business.
Noteworthy
● We’re looking for your news, so send it! This is
your opportunity to exercise your bragging right
– let us hear from you and help us publicize the
work your commission is doing!
It’s an
additional avenue to send a copy of the NACW
Networking Newsletter to your funding agencies
with highlights of work you’re doing in your
communities, counties and states.
● Every five years the census publishes data on
small business owners. This fall, new data was
released and the women's commissions of the
Great Lakes Region (Region V) jointly published
data in December.
The commissions put
together a fact sheet on their region and then
each state created a template for their own
state. The fact sheets (regional and each state)
can be found at the Wisconsin Women's Council
website: http://womenscouncil.wi.gov/
● Oklahoma Commission on the Status of
Women held its November meeting at the
Stillwater Public Library in conjunction with the
Dedication Ceremony of unveiling the statue of
Angie Debo, Historian and Heroine to the women
of Oklahoma.
Angie was an Indian Rights
Activist, publishing her last book “Geronimo” in
1976 at the age of 86. She was inducted into
the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame in 1984 and
in 1988, PBS made a documentary of her life
which
has
been
revised/upgraded
and
disseminated to every Oklahoma school district
library.
The December Meeting/Christmas luncheon was
held in Tulsa. In keeping with our Commission’s
priority focus of Oklahoma Incarcerated Women
– we produced a “money tree” with the proceeds
going to RESONANCE – (an organization that
trains women in transition from “prison to
personal power”).
February, the Commission will “Celebrate
Women” with the annual Kate Barnard Award
Luncheon – recognizing an Oklahoma women in
public service…more on this in the next
newsletter.
Following the model of the Continental Congress, these 21 st
Century patriots gathered in Philadelphia on Oct. 21-22.
There, just two blocks from where 56 men signed the
Declaration of Independence 234 years ago, these 116
women signed the Declaration of Equality. They pledged to
return to their home states and work to realize the goal of
greater women’s leadership. Kathleen Hall Jamieson,
director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the
University of Pennsylvania, presided over the signing at
the National Constitution Center.
The extraordinary women leaders from across the United
States will be creating action projects and breaking down
barriers to leadership in their home states. They will gather
again in 2011 to share ideas and successes in their
advocacy.
“Like any movement, Vision 2020 will not be neat and it
won’t be tidy,” Vision 2020 Co-Chair Rosemarie B. Greco
told an auditorium of 116 women leaders. “But it will
change the way women see themselves and the way the
world sees them.”
The National and Visionary Delegates will serve for the next
three years. There are two National Delegates from each of
the 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. Visionary Delegates
are women with national influence. For more information,
visit www.drexel.edu/vision2020.
NACW
was
represented
by
Vice
President
Lori
SchraderBachar, who served as a Visionary Delegate. Two
other NACW Board Members were also in attendance.
Teresa Younger was an Ambassador and was part of two
discussions. Sue Castner served as one of Oregon’s
National Delegates.
About Vision 2020 – Vision 2020 is a national project of
the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership at Drexel
University College of Medicine. Its goal is to ensure equality
by energizing a dialogue about women and leadership. With
the 2010 launch, Lynn H. Yeakel, Director of the Institute
and Co-Chair of Vision 2020, began a decade-long action
agenda to move America towards equality. Building on
women achieving the right to vote, the women leaders seek
to inspire and engage new generations of women and men
to finish the work of the suffragists, who saw women’s right
to vote as fundamental to social and economic justice. The
centennial of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution will
be celebrated in 2020.
About Vision 2020’s Sponsors – Penn Mutual Life
insurance is the Presenting Sponsor of Vision 2020. The
Exelon Foundation is a Forger of the Future and Wachovia,
a Wells Fargo Company, Siemens, The Philadelphia
Foundation, Phoebe W. Haas Charitable Trust, Bloomberg
LP, Ernst & Young and Keystone Mercy Health Plan are also
sponsors.
About The National Constitution Center – The National
Constitution Center, located at 525 Arch St. on
Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, is an independent,
nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing
public understanding of the U.S. Constitution and the ideas
and values it represents. The Center serves as a museum,
an education center, and a forum for debate on
constitutional issues.
Link for the Declaration of Equality:
http://www.drexel.edu/vision2020/get_involved/declaration/
If you are Facebook users, here is the page on Vision 2020:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/Vision2020EqualityinSight
Message from Mary
Quotables
Mary Molina Mescall, President
● Old age is like a plane flying through a storm.
Once you’re aboard, there’s nothing you can do.
Golda Meir
● Age is not a handicap. Age is nothing but a
number. It is how you use it.
Ethel Payne
● I shall not grow more conservative with age.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
● I postpone death by living, by suffering, by
error, by risking, by giving, by loving.
Anais Nin
● Old folks are the nation.
Toni Cade Bambara
Depending on where each of us is in
this land, the picture our women project
may take on a different hue. While the
tone
may
be
different,
the
fundamentals are much the same.
These differences are part of what make
each of us valuable to not only our
national
association,
but
to
our
communities as well.
Appreciating not only our common bonds of dedication to
the issues that impact women but those differences that
provide us with valuable perspective is part of what makes
NACW a unique and needed organization.
This rich
tapestry of women is ideally suited to pursue the
improvement of life for women and girls across the country,
and you are not only needed, you are welcomed with open
arms.
Please resolve to add your voice and thoughts to NACW in
the coming year. Let me hear from you – your voice is
important and I look forward to working with you!
Mary
Important Deadlines for 2011 NACW National
Important Deadlines for 2011 NACW National
Meeting and Conference, July 20-23, Phoenix
Meeting and Conference, July 20-23, Phoenix
NACW Networking newsletter produced by
Bonnie Coffey. Articles & news welcome.
Send to bcoffey123@gmail.com
 Early registration by May 31
 Early registration by May 31
 Hotel room rate guarantee until June 30
 Hotel room rate guarantee until June 30
 Resolutions proposals by May 9
 Resolutions proposals by May 9
 Nominations for officers and Board-June 1
 Nominations for officers and Board-June 1
 Achievement Award Nominations-June 1
 Achievement Award Nominations-June 1
Forms and developing plans available on NACW
Forms and developing plans available on NACW
website NACW.org.
website NACW.org.
Join us in Phoenix for Networking, Information,
Join us in Phoenix for Networking, Information,
Strategy, Personal Development, and Fun
Strategy, Personal Development, and Fun
Info call 1-505-222-6613
Info call 1-505-222-6613