AAUW is encouraging AAUW of Georgia members to attend UNITE Women’s March and Rally in Atlanta on Saturday, April 28, 2012. Marchers will gather at Centennial Olympic Park and be ready to march to the state capitol at 9:30 AM. The rally will continue until 12:30 PM at the capitol. Please join in this multi-city national event and let your voice be heard fighting to preserve rights for women and for girls.
Our GA AAUW State Convention was successfully held in Savannah at the Hilton Garden Inn Midtown. Our guest, Linda Hallman, AAUW Executive Director, was a great asset to our event and we all enjoyed getting to know her and collaborating with her on Georgia successes and challenges. During Friday evening’s Southern Banquet, Branch Membership Awards and AAUW Funds Awards were announced, followed by a presentation by Linda Hallman, with an opportunity for Q&A afterwards. Gifts of appreciation were awarded to Marcia Capriotti and Debbie Karvey, in recognition of service to GA AAUW as Co-Presidents. Our Hospitality Suite saw many participants kick back and share memories and time together.
On Saturday, our convention business meeting was convened and several important issues were addressed, and without a quorum present, no major changes were implemented. A motion was approved to appoint an ad hoc committee to review and evaluate reduction in state dues. The committee will consist of 2 current state board members and 3 branch members. The committee will report back findings to the state and to the branches.
In the afternoon there were two interactive and productive programs which focused on Membership appeal to potential new members and focused on AAUW’s Woman to Woman Voter Turnout collaboration with League of Women Voters and other organizations. Look for more information to participate in this project. Several branches reported on great projects including Atlanta Branch’s Elect Her program at Georgia State University, Houston-Peach Branch’s GRITS STEM program and Cobb County’s SPSU-Teach STEM program. Our branches continue to make great strides in bringing AAUW initiatives to local communities.
GA AAUW 2012 State Convention was ‘dismissed’ mid-afternoon, and several attendees stayed on in Savannah to enjoy the beautiful spring weekend and local events and cuisine. It was great to have Linda Hallman with us and we greatly appreciated her contributions to our convention. Once photos are made available, we will post those as well.
Mark your calendars for Tuesday, April 17th. Whew – we work hard! This year, on average, women have to work until 4-17-2012 to earn the same salary that men earn in the 2011 calendar year. What are you going to do as individuals and/or as a branch to bring attention to this inequity? Wear red? Host an event? Put together a flash mob (check out the video of AAUW flash mob 2011 to a medley of tunes, including, “Nine to Five,” “Respect” and “She Works Hard for the Money” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.) And remember, you can connect with your congressmen and legislators, who are available year round to hear their constituents’ concerns about pay equity and other issues of concern to AAUW members.
Check out the AAUW Pay Equity Resource Kit available on the website at www.aauw.org …. there’s still time to bring attention to this inequity. Be part of the awareness that will keep our drive towards pay equity in the forefront.