Please join us for our 100th anniversary celebration on Friday evening, April 29th at the H Hotel in Midland. Being an organization for 100 years is quite an accomplishment and deserves a celebration. We will celebrate those that have belonged to AAUW of Michigan for 50 years or more as recipients of the newly established Golden Recognition Awards. During the convention and annual meeting on Saturday, April 30th, the celebration will include the presentation of the Liz Kummer, Young Leader, and Martha Griffiths Equity awards. Our last biennial convention was held on April 27-28, 2018 in Canton. Having an in-person convention this year after so long is definitely a reason for celebration!

It is very exciting to see the belief in community that many of our branches have demonstrated by sharing their programs via Zoom with all branches and members. Thank you to Birmingham, Iron Mountain/Kingsford, Northville-Novi, Marquette, Midland, and Traverse City for sharing your recent Zoom programs with us all. The programs have been of interest to all and have been mission-focused. Our belief in our mission of equity for women and girls through research, education, and advocacy is what makes us one community.

I believe that as leaders we need to think about connection. Do the people around you know that you are for them? Do they know whether you care about them, want them to be able to do their individual best, and will advocate for them? Having this assurance promotes a feeling of connection. It goes a long way in establishing trust and an environment of psychological safety. If the people around you don’t know with certainty that you are for them, they may feel you are indifferent to them or assume, rightly or wrongly, that you are against them. For a whole host of reasons, now is an important time for leaders who care about people to be sure that the message of connection is being received loud and clear. I am trying to take more time to demonstrate that I care about people as individuals and want them to be engaged and fully contributing members of AAUW of Michigan. I believe that this will help members feel more connection to our organization.  I am so looking forward to connecting with members at our upcoming convention and annual meeting!

It is important to embrace change with an open mind. There is no magic formula for being adaptive to change. Intentional but flexible strategic planning, robust communication, and making the daily decision to choose joy have worked best for me as a leader. It is not easy to walk away from outdated beliefs and practices. Old habits can die hard. Regardless of our good intentions, we’re all susceptible to flawed thinking that eventually leads to flawed results. But if we dump this data from our memory banks, we free up space for more productive alternatives.

An example of change would be the economic insecurity faced by many women today. The pandemic and the economic shock of prolonged lockdowns revealed just how fragile the working lives of Americans, and especially women, really are. Without reliable child care and paid sick leave, millions of American women were pushed out of the workforce; there are still over 1 million fewer women in the labor force than there were before the pandemic.

On a personal level, I have had to deal with change quite often in the past year. My physical health has deteriorated considerably and I am having the first of three surgeries at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota on March 25th. As I am adapting to this change, I am focusing on the things that I still can do and trying to find joy in each day. I am still able to do mental work and function as your AAUW of Michigan President. However, I do need to be honest with myself and others. At times I need help and it’s okay to ask for that help. I am not in control of those things that are happening to me, but I can accept help. This is difficult for someone like me as I am rather private and am used to being independent and in control. The AAUW of Michigan Board has been wonderful in offering help, as have been my AAUW sisters. I am hoping that you will understand my physical limitations when we get together in Midland.

I am so proud of our organization and the change that we have embraced in the past two years. Thank you to each of you for your support and membership.

We are excited to celebrate 100 years of AAUW of Michigan with you! We have an exciting weekend planned as we look back on the work of the great women before us and plan for what comes next.

The fun starts Friday afternoon with an outing to Dow Gardens. You can add this event as part of your Convention registration and proceeds go to our hosts, the Midland Branch!

Friday evening features an optional 100th Anniversary Reception from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. We will mark 100 years with the AAUW women who make us great today.

Saturday will be an inspiring day of AAUW conversations, panels, speakers, and our Annual Meeting. Spend the day with AAUW women as we discuss branch matters, national issues, and how we can all work together to achieve equity for women in Michigan. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. While it will be a full day, we are committed to wrapping up by 4 p.m. so most members will be able to travel home with plenty of daylight.

We hope to see many of you there, in person once again, to bring AAUWMI members together to do what we do best- empower women and have a good time!

Supported were the initiated statute petition sponsored by Raise the Wage Michigan, and the proposed constitutional amendment ballot proposals by Promote the Vote 2022, and MI Reproductive Freedom for All. Opposed was the petition sponsored by Audit Michigan.

Were you unable to attend the March 10 webinar hosted by the Birmingham branch featuring Mary reviewing the 16 current petition drives currently in process here in Michigan? We recorded it for you! Find out how these proposals could potentially become law with a sufficient number of signatures and approval of the legislature. The current proposals could transform such issues as voting rights, school funding, emergency public health orders, reproductive rights, and the minimum wage. Be informed before signing any of these petitions!

Join us in-person at the H Hotel in Midland, Michigan as we hold our Annual Meeting to vote on resolutions and elect AAUWMI officers. The annual meeting will be part of our 2022 Centennial Convention.

Each branch is entitled to a vote at the annual meeting on April 30th from the President or President’s designee and each branch is also entitled to one voting delegate per 25 members or major fraction thereof. The total number of approved branch delegates is based on February 1, 2022 membership records of the State Finance Vice President. Student Affiliate Members and Community partners/members of branches are not eligible to be voting delegates.

Please appoint your voting delegates at an upcoming board or branch meeting. Watch for a delegate form with return envelope mailed to Branch Presidents. Please return the delegate forms to the AAUWMI Secretary, Kay Calley-Martin, by April 1, 2022. Please email Kay at aauwmi.calleymartin@gmail.com, or text/call 269-209-7992 with any questions.

In addition to branch delegates, the voting body is also composed of state representatives, which includes past presidents of AAUWMI and representatives of college-university members. Past Presidents will receive a letter and a delegate form in the mail. Representatives of college-university members will be receiving an email soon.

See you there!

Kay Calley-Martin

AAUWMI State Secretary

Aauwmi.calleymartin@gmail.com

269-209-7992

AAUW recently launched the Community Hub, which replaces the Membership Services Database (MSD). Community Hub Webinar 1 was held on March 3 and will be available for viewing on the AAUW website soon. The information covered included the following:

• All members should log into the Community Hub by going to https://my.aauw.org/NC__Login

• If you are an existing user of the MSD and have not logged in yet to the Community Hub, click “Forgot Your Password” at the bottom of the screen

• You will receive an email to reset your password, which must be at least 8 characters long and include of mixture of characters and numbers and cannot contain your user name.

• If you had a user name, it is important not to change it as this will also change your email address on file with AAUW

• If you have not used the MSD, you can create an account by clicking the link at the bottom of the page

• Once you create a password and log in, you can update your profile by clicking “Edit Profile” in the menu on the left side of the screen

• Once you are registered, you can see the information on the Personal Snapshot page, which includes members of your branch under “My Affiliations”

• Until March 31, please do not enroll members or manage the lists.

A tutorial on the above information can be found at: https://www.aauw.org/new-systems-update/

AAUW is having Office Hours every week on Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. ET. The link for registration is:

Community Hub Webinar 2 is on March 31 at 3:30 p.m. ET

The Nominating Committee is pleased to present the slate of officers for AAUW of Michigan’s 2022 Annual Meeting election on April 30th. The open positions and slate of candidates to date are:

Two-year term:

Co-VP of Programs – Barb Duran, Wyandotte-Downriver branch

Funds Director – Ruth Briggs, Wyandotte-Downriver branch

Secretary – Shannon Clements, Dearborn branch

We would invite members interested in serving as Co-VP of Programs. Please contact Ruth Brown at 517-398-0116 (cell/text) or via email at travelgirl4@comcast.net for consideration by the Nominating Committee.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ruth Brown, Nominating Committee Chairman, Jackson branch

Sheila Blair, Wyandotte-Downriver branch

Kay Calley-Martin, Battle Creek branch

Susan Hampton, Escanaba branch

Mary Mostaghim, Ann Arbor branch

It's also time to be thinking of your Shape the Future memberships. If you participated in this program, you are entitled to one free national membership for every two new members recruited under this program with a maximum of three new memberships annually. These memberships must be used by June 30, 2022.  If the membership is redeemed after Match 15, 2022, it will be applied to the next fiscal year. I do know from experience that if you have already sent in a membership for someone or they have submitted their dues online, national will not convert that membership to a free membership. In other words, no transfers or refunds will be processed, so if you are planning on using these, be strategic. Some branches have had drawings of participants at an event or of those who send in their dues to the treasurer by a certain date. 

The AAUWMI is responsible for reviewing and recommending proposed resolutions and reviewing adopted resolutions of their 5-year anniversary to determine whether they are current or historic. No new resolutions were received for member consideration this year. Two adopted resolutions were reviewed by the committee for their 5-year anniversary.

In recommending whether to deem a resolution current or historic the committee considered the following:

• Is the resolutions mission-focused? If the topic does not directly relate to advancing gender equity and economic security it would be considered historic

• Was the resolution time sensitive? A resolution that called for action by a specific date which has passed would be considered historic.

• Have cultural norms or AAUWMI sensibilities changed since the resolution was adopted? For example, we proposed deeming historic a 1970 resolution calling AAUWMI members to oppose legalization of marijuana.

• Has the goal been achieved? For example, we proposed deeming historic a resolution promoting the 3-state strategy for ratification of ERA. That goal was achieved in 202.

• Does the resolution specify legislation that has been repealed or replaced? We recommended deeming historic one clause of a 1976 resolution that calls for members to monitor federal and state legislation for programs directed at educating the gifted because we were not sure if there is still specific gifted education legislation at the state or federal level.

The Resolutions Committee recommends declaring the following resolution historic.

Resolved, that AAUW become more actively involved in implementing the policy about the United Nations, specifically, “We support a strengthened UN and its affiliated agencies.”

The Resolutions Committee recommends declaring the following resolution current.

Resolved, that the American Association of Women (AAUW) of Michigan urges the governor, The legislature to create a permanent statewide Michigan Patient Safety ‘Center’, and that this ‘center’ provide a simple, direct way for consumers of health care services (patients, families And/or their survivors) to report to it firsthand information pertaining to medical mishaps.

We will be voting on these resolutions at the annual meeting on April 30th.

No bylaws amendments were submitted for member vote at the annual meeting.

In a letter and email message last fall from the national office we were asked to make a year-end donation in honor of the 140^th anniversary. All donations made before December 31, 2021 were to be matched up to $75,000 which was gifted by AAUW’s Board of Directors, committee leaders and friends of AAUW, for the purpose of doubling donations. It is with great pleasure that we can say the donations to the 140^th Anniversary came in over $200,000. When I last heard from Tremayne Parquett they were still getting results from their vendor and the amount will increase. Their vendor was experiencing backups due to Covid 19…not too surprising. If you are still waiting for confirmation let me know and I’ll check in with Tremayne or you can by emailing him at: parquett@aauw.org

Another milestone is approaching, the 50^th Anniversary of Title IX is June 23, 2022. Please consider donating $50 in honor of this wonderful event. Just look at what’s happened in women’s sports since 1972. And this year we can all celebrate that the women’s national soccer team will earn the same amount as the men’s soccer team. That would not have even been dreamed of without Title IX in place.

All branches are tasked with raising and donating $30 per member, per year. If you can, branch leaders would appreciate those who can cover donations for those who cannot. Many branches sponsor fundraisers just for the purpose of raising the $30 per member. The AAUWMI website https://www.aauwmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Fundraising-Ideas-10-19.pdf lists many ideas for fundraisers that have been successful. Feel free to “borrow” any of those ideas to raise funds for your branch.

When making those precious donations, just go to www.aauw.org and click the DONATE button. Your donation will go directly to the Greatest Needs Fund and it will be MUCH appreciated.

I look forward to seeing many of you April 29^th and April 30^th at the AAUWMI convention in Midland at the H Hotel. Be sure and register NOW!

The new year has started off with a bang from a Public Policy perspective. There are a multitude of petition drives underway across the state of Michigan, or waiting for approval. Regardless, beware of what you sign. Watch Mary Pollock’s column for details or check out our website for more details.

At the last State Public Policy Chair’s Meeting we finally had a decision on the general Equal Pay Day which is officially March 15 this year. AAUW is again pushing for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and addressing student debt will be at the top of the AAUW agenda this year.

Since it looks like Build Back Better has died in the U. S. Senate, some of our issues will likely be bundled with other legislation in the budget. Things like the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and Title IX will hopefully find their way into the legislative process.

On February 24 we hosted a meeting sharing ideas for activities related to Equal Pay Day. I passed along the information to PP Chairs across the state. Wishing you all a successful EPD!

We are pleased to announce that Barb Duran has agreed to complete Deb Kennedy's unfinished term as co-VP for Programs. Amy is particularly glad to have Barb join the board to help with the planning for this year's convention! Barb is an active member of the Wyandotte-Downriver branch where she is currently serving as president. Welcome, Barb!

Don't forget that AAUW of Michigan is selling note cards featuring the work of American artist Meneese Wall. We feature a line of her notecards depicting icons of the women's and civil rights movements. The 5" x 7" notecards are printed on high-quality stock and can be purchased individually or in sets. Each card includes a colorful print of Wall's original artwork on the front and a detailed description of the depicted individual or event on the back. We also have Wall's new, award winning book, We Demand the Right to Vote. Proceeds support AAUW of Michigan programs.  Support AAUW of Michigan by making a purchase either for yourself or as gifts!

Tuesday, March 15 – Equal Pay Day

Thursday, March 17, 7:00 p.m. ET – Lobby Corps Meeting

Wednesday, March 30, 6:30-8:00 p.m. ET – Branch Presidents’ Quarterly Zoom Meeting

Thursday, April 1 – Deadline to receive names of Annual Meeting delegates

Thursday, April 21, 7:00 p.m. ET – Lobby Corps

Friday, April 22 – Annual Report goes out

Friday, April 29, 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. – Board Meeting, H Hotel, Midland (Lunch at 12 noon)

Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30 – Convention and Annual Meeting, H Hotel, Midland

Thursday, May 19, 7:00 p.m. ET – Lobby Corps

Monday, June 6 – Spring/Summer Newsletter goes out

Wednesday, June 15 – Branch Annual Reports Due

Thursday, June 16, 7:00 p.m. ET – Lobby Corps Meeting

Wednesday, June 29, 6:30-8:00 p.m. ET - Branch Presidents’ Quarterly Zoom Meeting

Friday, July 15-Sunday, July 17 – Summer Board Retreat – Ramada Inn, Grayling

Note: Any member of AAUW of Michigan is welcome to attend our Board meetings. Please send an email to Jan Van Gasse, President, janicevangasse@gmail.com if you would like to attend any meeting and she will send you the details.