Attendees at the National Convention in Phoenix on July 1st voted unanimously to change the organizational charter of AAUW on the Association level. Read your current Mission in Action for some of the details and then two members who were present, Laura Wimmer, AAUW State co-president, and I will present a program about the changes and everything else that happened at the convention. A tremendous amount of work and strategic planning was done to present the proposal for the bylaws change and everyone is anxious to move forward. The convention was a wonderful experience and I can’t wait to share it with you. Feel free to bring a guest. After dinner we will have a brief business meeting and then the program will start with a short video called AAUW: Because Equity is Still an Issue after which we will do our presentation.

We also need volunteers to help set up for the potluck supper betwen 5 and 5:30. Please call Kathy Kelley if interested at 330-5588.
-Kathy Kelley

Staying connected with AAUW…something we all want to do and this newsletter is one way that we can – on line or in hand. Welcome back as we start a year that promises to be interesting and engaging and informative – and fun.

And what an important time to stay connected – changes are coming! Positive, exciting changes for the organization. Join us at the September program meeting to hear first hand what did happen at the national convention with reports from our branch member Kathy Kelley and Laura Wimmer, our state Co-President and President of the Richmond branch.

And…check out the fall issue of the Virginia Vision for a nutshell view of what the restructuring of AAUW means for us, and the new Mission Statement: “AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research”. Look in the Outlook for ways to have input. Check out the web sites (http://www.aauw.org or http://aauwofva.org); register on the Member Services Data Base – I have and it is a wonderful resource.

Your branch board is hard at work putting the 07- 08 year in order – preparing an operating budget, organizing the programs for the year, enhancing membership, and filling board positions. You can help – if you have ideas for programs, can help coordinate a program, can serve on the board or assist any board member as a member of a committee, do let a board member know. As you will see from the following list, there are opportunities!!!

2007-08 Board Members

• President: Mary Farrell
• Program Vice President: vacant
• Membership Vice president: Pat Mallahan
• Finance Vice President: Susana Hernandez-Kurtulus
• Communications: Carol Mazur
• Public Policy Chair: Katharine Gallagher
• Publicity: Katharine Gallagher
• Educational Foundation (EF) Chair: vacant
• Legal Advocacy Fund Liaison: vacant
• Newsletter Editor: Cheryl Kapec
• Webmaster: Maggie King
• Hospitality: Kathy Kelley

Mary Farrell
Branch President

A group of AAUW members and their guests toured the "Britannia" exhibit at the Virginia Museum of File Arts on July 21. Among other lovely pictures was the famous "Armada" portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, on loan from Her Majesty the Queen. Many of us then stayed for a delightful luncheon.

We will be reading biographies of Willa Cather for our meeting on Sept. 20, primarily "The Emerging Voice" by Sharon O'Brien. We still need a hostess. Anyone interested in volunteering, please call DeAnn at 233-5352.

For more information about the Bon Air Book Group’s selections, click here: http://aauwbonairva.org/book selections 2007.html, or go to the Bon Air web site at http://aauwbonairva.org, click on the Interest Groups link on the left column, then click on the link for 2007 Book Group Selections.

AAUW has set up a free email list, called Action Network, which anyone can join. If you sign up you will receive occasional email messages urging you to click on a link to send a form message to your congresspersons regarding a given piece of legislation. To sign up, go to http://www.aauw.org/issue_advocacy/actionnetwork/join.cfm

SCIENCE + MATH = EQUITY

AAUW supports promoting and strengthening science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, especially for girls and other underrepresented populations in the fields. By 2010, one in four new jobs will be “technically oriented,” or involve computers. However, women still lag far behind in earning STEM degrees. AAUW believes efforts like the National STEM Scholarship Database Act (H.R. 1051) will encourage more women to choose careers in STEM fields.
AAUW OF VIRGINIA PUBLIC POLICY CHAIR APPOINTED TO NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Lisa Schaefer, AAUW of Virginia’s Public Policy Co-Chair for federal policy, has been offered a seat on the national AAUW Public Policy Committee. Lisa Schaefer is a senior engineer at BAE Systems and is working on a novel about a female engineer who speaks out through the media when she finds out her bosses are carrying out a terrorist plot.

Dr. Schaefer believes AAUW needs to be involved in getting more female STEM leaders, business leaders, and political leaders out in the media as role models, and that AAUW members themselves shall serve as role models, especially to women under 35. In addition to our grassroots efforts in typical political arenas, we need to implement grassroots campaigns for putting role models in the media.

Dr. Schaefer would like to encourage AAUW branches to hold what she calls “Grassroots Hollywood” events where members bring a young woman - co-worker, neighbor, or daughter – to put together short video clips about how AAUW members are role models and to upload the videos to You Tube.

Dr. Schaefer also encourages AAUW branches to form alliances with their local media outlets, such as public access cable and radio. Branches could also form writers groups to create stories about female role models and disseminate them to various print media outlets.
-Katharine Gallagher, Public Policy chair

That afternoon I attended a bylaws, strategic process and resolution briefing. Virginian Caroline Pickens made the explanation of the strategic changes and the ramifications if it didn’t pass very clear. This was followed by the first Business Session. There were introductions and speeches for contested association and EF offices. I had to leave that session early in order to attend a workshop on “Imagining and Creating a Just World”. That was the only workshop that disappointed me. I was sorry I missed the speeches. The other workshop I attended that day was on increasing membership and participation.

After dinner I attended “Dare to Lead: Women-to Women Dialogue”. It featured four women panelists from diverse backgrounds who discussed a variety of topics including leadership, finance and education. A Phoenix journalist Fay Fredericks moderated it. There was also a special ceremony for 17 AAUW Founding Leaders who have made significant contributions to AAUW’s future, i.e. at least $12,500

Saturday morning started with a plenary called “Change and AAUW’s Strategic Process”. Sherry Shiller was hired as a consultant by AAUW to help frame the strategic process. Her speech was meant to inspire us to continue our focus and mission for another 125 years. I attended workshops on the new AAUW website, another on helping our branch make critical fundraising-programmatic links and a third on immigration. We had a regional caucus and I met our new regional director, L. Carol Newnam, (not Newman) who is from Florida as is our past director Leslie Henderson.

Sunday morning we started off with our second business session. We heard reports from the credentials committee and the elections committee and a presentation by the Presidents of AAUW and EF, Ruth Sweetser and Barbara O’Connor, and the Executive Director Michele Witherald.

Next came the vote on the bylaws changes. The first vote was for the restructuring; combining The Association and The Education Foundation. After the vote, with no prior discussion pros or cons, the delegates erupted into an applause as members celebrated the unprecedented unanimous vote in favor of the restructuring. I was honored to be a part of such an historical event! After lunch I attended another membership workshop that was geared for branches with fewer than 150 members.

One of the highlights of the convention was a plenary entitled “Global Perspectives on Women and Girls’ with speaker Greg Mortenson. He is the author of the book "Three Cups of Tea", which describes his efforts to build schools in remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is especially important for girls since there were not able to get an education when the Taliban were in power.

Monday morning there was a plenary which unveiled the new video AAUW: Because Equity Is Still an Issue. It introduced a panel discussion about effective recruitment and retention techniques, the generational divide and why it is vital for AAUW to continue to talk about equity. Next, the third business session of the convention convened. After the reports we voted on resolutions and the Public Policy Program. The Public Policy Program was passed unanimously after a lively debate and an amendment

This is just a small overview of my activities. I will talk more about it when Laura Wimmer from the Richmond branch and I present our program in September. It was a privilege to attend and I especially want to thank the Bon Air board and the State board for their financial support for this tremendous opportunity. I could not have gone without it.

Above is a picture of the Virginia representatives. The man in the back row is Anthony J. Hill. He is a member of the Mt. Vernon branch and was elected as a Director-at-Large.

Whatever the source, that phrase barely begins to describe our Bon Air branch members -- smart, vital women who want to share their commitment to striving for equity for women and girls.

All of us in the BonAir branch benefit from our contact with each other. So, it follows...invite a friend or colleague to a branch meeting or Book Group or our Wine Tasting (November 9) to share that Bon Air connection.

If each of you "finds" one new member this year, the Bon Air branch will be enhanced greatly...our efforts for equity made even stronger. So, let's see you and a guest at our pot luck kickoff meeting on September 13.
-Pat Mallahan, Membership V.P.

This has been an extremely profitable project for the Branch in the past. We have excellent Branch participation and have cleared over a thousand dollars for the past 5 years. To continue this great run, we need every branch member to sell tickets to friends, family, co-workers and themselves. We need volunteers to bring a variety of succulent and delectable hors d’oeuvres. We will need help decorating in advance of the evening, we will need clean up and hosting volunteers during and after the event.

That being said, this has always been a great evening, a wonderful party that everyone who attends has enjoyed. It is the most successful fundraiser, and the easiest, the Branch has undertaken. Please be thinking for folks to ask, food to make, and be ready to sign up for whatever volunteer task suits you.

You’ll be hearing more in the coming months!!

Marcia Phillips