AAUW San Antonio January Newsletter

Volume 113 Issue 5

2021-2022 Theme:

Economic Security Through Pay Equity

Message from the President

Happy New Year!

Another New Year and an opportunity to better our world – amongst ourselves, our families, the community, and our country. Especially recently, we’ve been made aware that if we don’t take care of the world (whether we’re talking climate change, availability of vaccine against Covid especially in poorer countries, food and shelter for all) we are all impacted. We remain focused on promoting the advancement of women and girls. In word and deed we strive to make the world more equitable for everyone! We’ve made progress and more is needed.

We have the ability to stand up for equity and we can make change possible with our donations and advocacy. With your year-end gift to the special 140th Anniversary Year-End Giving Drive – matched by AAUW’s board, leaders, and staff through December 31st – your gift will grow in value and impact. AAUW makes sure that policymakers will be stronger in their support of our common causes in economic security, civil rights, education, and gender equity. In economic terms, our act of giving, coupled with this matching offer, truly means a redoubling of effort to help the economic security of American women and families.

Congratulations to our winner of the $300 gift card in the Raffle fundraiser, Barbara Bird. Special thanks to Ruth Lyle for an even bigger year than last, amounting to $2,915 in this effort to raise funding for our textbook scholarships.

There will be no January monthly meeting, but Wine, Women, and Wisdom will meet in January. Look for the email and in this newsletter for the date, time, and venue.

Joy and Peace for the New Year!

Cheryl Fuller, AAUW SA President

NO MEETING IN JANUARY

National Expert on Childcare Addressed Our December Meeting

M.-A. Lucas, recently retired Executive Director of Lucas & Associates Early Childhood Systems Consulting, spoke to us on the importance of third-party supported childcare in order to maintain workforce productivity and increase retention. In the face of the current pandemic, this has proved to be the case. And childcare is a vital component of pay equity and women’s economic security, our theme for 2021-2022.

The program was recorded and posted on our website, so do not miss the opportunity to hear this description of a ground-breaking program and how it came to receive the support of the U.S. Congress.

Ms. Lucas was the Founding Director of the US Army’s Child, Youth and School Division. Her experience in establishing a childcare program that is a model for the nation has given her insight into how to frame the issue in order to achieve acceptance by a conservative culture. She had to convince the military that it was literally “necessary to trade guns for butter.”

In her talk, she outlined the most effective strategies, including emphasizing that the the program is not an entitlement, but a benefit. She advised speaking of a program that “prioritizes the well-being of children,” since referring to “quality childcare” suggests unnecessary expense to budget-minded legislators.

One aspect of the strategy that most of us would not consider is the attitude of co-workers who do not have children. She was able to prove that these soldiers considered the childcare program a benefit to them. When their coworkers who were parents had to miss work or leave early, the were left having to pickup the slack. The military was an early-adopter of the team approach to projects, and missing team members affect everyone’s productivity.

New Members

Please welcome our new members to AAUW SA: Judy Branch, Nancy Campbell, Ashlee Martinez and Kathleen Vurpillat. We look forward to getting to know you.

Ruth Lyle

AAUW-SA, VP Membership

Textbook Scholarship Drawing

Thank you to all of our wonderful and generous Members. We raised $2,915 and, after expenses, we have $2,522 to award Textbook Scholarships to students attending a Bexar County college/university.

Congratulations to Barbara Bird, winner of the Textbook Scholarship Drawing. She will receive a $300 VISA gift card.

Ruth Lyle

Nominating Committee for 2022-2023

Slate for AAUW - SA Officers

The Nominating Committee is tasked with developing a slate of nominees for our 2022-2023 board of officers. The Committee will present a slate of nominees to the membership at the March General Meeting. The names of the nominees will be sent to every member in the Newsletter. The membership will vote for the officers at the Annual Meeting in April.

The open officer positions are:

President Elect - 1-year term

Vice President for Program - 1-year term

Vice President for Membership - 1-year term

Secretary - 1-year term

Members interested in any of the positions should contact any member of the Nominating Committee. Officer duties are described in the AAUW-San Antonio 2022-2023 Directory and Bylaws mailed to each member in September. Job descriptions for each position are located on our website.

Nominating Committee Members:

Diane Claiborne-Carr, Chairman

Ruth Lyle

Kathy Dicke

Janet Black

Wondra Chang

Pearl Eng

Equal Rights Advocates: A Student Survivor Toolkit

The North Harris County Branch has shared a resource which was created in conjunction with Title IX and distributed by Equal Rights Advocates.

Schools are legally required to protect the student's education and well-being. Included are five common ways rights can be violated and what to do if it happens to you. This link includes advice from student survivors of the Title IX process, self-care practices, a sense of the process, tips, and more. Please share as appropriate.

DONATE!

You can donate to the AAUW San Antonio Branch for Scholarships by making a check out to AAUW SA and sending it to Treasurer Adrien Frank, 140 Patterson, #104, San Antonio, TX 78209.

You can donate to AAUW Greatest Needs by clicking HERE.

The Two-Minute Activist

The Two-Minute Activist is a source of information on topics relating to women’s issues. It also enhances our ability to send emails and texts to legislators to fight for equal pay, family leave, stopping sexual harassment, equality in education and more. Sign up on the AAUW webpage to get regular alerts to be able to take timely action.

You can also text “AAUW” to 21333 to get AAUW action alerts via text.

2021-2022 Officers

President Cheryl Fuller

President-Elect Diane Claiborne-Carr

VP Membership Ruth Lyle

VP Programs Martha Steele

Secretary Kate Vetters

Treasurer Adrien Frank

Click Here for the AAUW Texas Newsletter - University Woman Texas

For more information visit the AAUW websites:

AAUW NATIONAL

AAUW TEXAS

AAUW SAN ANTONIO

Culinary Adventures

I’ve arranged a private cooking class for our January 13, 2022 adventure. Prepaid $55 per person for this demo class includes a wonderful meal, loads of tips and recipe cards to take home.

10:55 am to 1 pm

Castle Hills/Alon area in our chef’s home.

Exact address and gate info supplied with reservation.

Menu is:

Mushroom-Farro Soup

Pork Chops with Brown Butter-Garlic Sauce

Creamy Orzo and Spinach

Baked Pears with Walnuts and Honey

Space is limited. Your email “yes” RSVP and check or Venmo (@Ali-Heller-1) payment to me is your reservation. No need to respond if you cannot attend.

Please mail check to:

1726 Brush Creek Drive

SA, TX 78248

Note: Our chef requires all attendees be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. You may wear a mask if you wish. The chef will not be as she is instructing the class.

Class starts promptly at 11 am so please be ready to go, seated at the chef’s house at 10:55 am.

RSVP with your check to me by Thursday, January 6.

“I’m not an amazing cook. But I can follow a recipe.” Rachel McAdams