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Volume 63, issue 3!
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November 1, 2014! !
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www.aauw-seattle.org
AAUW Seattle Branch Presents
Margaret Willson, AAUW Award Recipient
on
“Fisher Women of Iceland”
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Margaret
Willson
Saturday, November 15, 2014 - 9:30 AM
Best Western Executive Inn
200 Taylor Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
Join us for a fascinating presentation on the culture of the Fisher
Women of Iceland. Our speaker Dr. Margaret Willson has worked extensively in
international development, designing models and working in partnership with local
people to create effective international programs in a variety of countries. Her
current research interests focus on issues relating to Arctic and Northern concerns,
including fisheries, gender and small-scale communities. Specific ethnographic
research includes work with Icelandic fisher women, a critique of practices and
policy related to resilience in coastal communities, and a comparative analysis of the
roles and concerns of rural and coastal communities of the North, particularly in
Canada and Iceland. She is currently completing a book on the sea women of Iceland
to be published by University of Washington Press in 2015.
!LOCATION: Best Western Executive Inn, 200 Taylor Ave. North
Menu - $15 inclusive - $10 Students with ID
Mushroom and Swiss Omelet, Bacon, Roasted Breakfast Potatoes
Assorted Breakfast Breads
Chilled Fruit Juice, Freshly-brewed Coffee, Decaf Coffee, and Tea
!Parking: Free in hotel garage. Members who park in the garage or BW lot can sign the book at the front desk
and give their name and license plate number. 10-hour curbside pay stations on Taylor and on Thomas at $1
per hour; nearby lots $5-10/day. Bus: #8 on Denny.
!Reservations required by Tuesday, November 11
Contact Pauline Barrett membership@aauw-seattle.org
or check our web site at www.aauw-seattle.org to pay in advance via PayPal.
Volume 63, issue 3!
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Leadership Corner
This is such a lovely time of year in
Seattle with the leaves changing
from green to yellow, orange, red
and brown and everyone hurrying
Pat Dubrow
about with holiday plans. This will be
a fun time for our branch with an
exciting program planned for November at Best
Western with Margaret Willson and December with
the Women’s Norwegian Choir at the Seattle Yacht
Club. I enjoy sharing all of this with you. I was a
member of AAUW in the San Francisco Bay Area for
35 years and enjoyed many activities there, but no
fall colors!
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This newsletter is a publication of the
Seattle Branch of the AAUW
Mission Statement
The Seattle Branch American Association
of University Women advances equity for
women and girls through
advocacy, education, philanthropy, and
research.
Value Promise
By joining AAUW, we belong to a
community that breaks through
educational and economic barriers so
that all women have a fair chance.
Diversity Statement
In principle and in practice, AAUW values
and seeks a diverse membership.
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There shall be no barriers to full
participation in this organization on the
basis of
gender, race, creed, age, sexual
orientation, national origin or disability.
I am impressed with how focused this branch is with
following their mission of advancing equity for
women and girls. We do this through the speakers
we have and the great projects we support like Tech Trek, Scholar Recognition, Expanding
your Horizons Conference for middle school and high school girls, and the UW Women's
Center programs. We have funded many Research and Projects Grants that support women
and girls here in Washington State.
For me two of the most enjoyable things about AAUW is the opportunity to meet such
interesting women in our branch, to become exposed to new ideas and people and hear
about the amazing work being done by our women speakers who organize their efforts and
advance our mission on an international scale.
Incidentally, one of the ways we can make our voice heard is through voting. Our next
election is November 4. AAUW in Washington has a public policy blog that covers election
issues. It is http://www.aauw-wa.blogspot.com/
AAUW’s get out the vote campaign is “It’s My Vote: I Will Be Heard”. AAUW advocacy issues
can be found at http://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/public-policy/aauw-issues/. Please vote
and vote early!
Pat Dubrow
AAUW-Seattle
Treasurer finance@aauw-seattle.org
The Catalyst!
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McCloskey
Inspired
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Megan McCloskey, the speaker at our October branch meeting, is a woman who
walks the talk when it comes to making gender equality issues real. Through the
Seattle-based nonprofit she founded, Lotus Circle, Megan just returned from
escorting a delegation of women leaders to Viet Nam, the third such group she has
taken since 2010 in hopes of engaging them in the ongoing struggle for women’s
rights in that Asian nation. Despite the fact that “any discrimination against
women and violation of women’s dignity is prohibited,” is codified in the
Vietnamese constitution, sex trafficking and domestic violence are horrific
problems. There is a lot of work yet to be done.
It was timely that Ngoc Nguyen from Viet Nam attended our
meeting. Ngoc is living in Lake Stevens with her 8 year old son
and will be returning to Viet Nam after she completes her
schooling and gets some work experience in the U.S. She
Megan
traveled
by bus to our meeting—what a journey—and we hope
McCloskey
she’ll be back to attend future AAUW meetings. Member and UW
grad student Renee Agatsuma, who also attended the meeting,
walked back downtown with Ngoc after the meeting where she departed on the Ngoc Nguyen
bus back to Lake Stevens. During their walk they had a chance to visit about
careers, social justice issues, and education.
_________________________________________________________________________
Board Minutes from October 13 Meeting
!The Seattle Branch Board of Directors met on October 13th at the home of Judy Waring.
!A date of Wednesday, April 22nd was selected for our 2015 Scholar Recognition reception. Branch and Board
member Renee Agatsuma will be our speaker for the event to be held at the Best Western. To further
strengthen our UW partnership, the Board also decided to consider the "Making Connections" program at the
UW Women's Center as one of our schools for Scholar Recognition this year.
!The Board discussed instituting a policy to fully subsidize Branch meeting fees for all students. A draft policy
will be provided for review and approval at the next Board meeting. !The Weter Bequest committee has finalized a summary package of information that will be provided to
attorneys for their review and to obtain their guidance on some specific questions regarding the binding
nonjudicial agreement we have in place with the residual beneficiaries of the Weter estate.
!The next meeting of the Board will be on November 10th. Agenda items for that meeting will include
planning for the 2015 Tech Trek activities -- which schools we will work with and how many students we plan
to sponsor, and detailed planning for the December Holiday Program meeting, including a fundraiser for the
Mary Lou Hughes R&P Grant fund. Board Meetings are open for all Branch members to attend. The Board
generally convenes on the second Monday of the month at various members' homes for a potluck dinner and
meeting. Dates and contact information are listed in the "Upcoming..." section of the Catalyst.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Time to Take Nominations for our 2015 Officers
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The Board is actively seeking two Seattle Branch members to serve on the nominating committee,
chaired by Cynthia Sheridan. Three positions are open for nominations: President, Vice President of
Programs and Secretary. Nominations are announced in the spring; election and installation of
officers is held in May. We urge members to participate in this process by serving on the nominating
committee or by serving on the board as an elected officer. Please respond by email to Pam Forsha
president@aauw-seattle.org
Volume 63, issue 3!
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Public Policy
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As our November 4th General Election approaches, many of you will already have voted via mail
by the time you read this. I just opened my ballot and looked through it and the voter’s
pamphlets for the State of Washington and for King County. AAUW WA has taken a stance
supporting I-594 and opposing I-591, the two gun control initiatives. From looking at our State
web site, I see that our state board has not taken a position on Initiative 1351 regarding classroom
size. For several years we have been concentrating on supporting implementation of the
McCleary Decision on school funding. Likewise our Seattle Branch Board did not take a stance on
the Pre-School initiatives. Not all of our members live in Seattle, plus it takes more than a casual
vote at a board meeting. We must study and become informed, communicate with our members,
and publicize our decision—it all takes time plus passion to select and pursue. !
On October 22nd, Mollie Lam, Senior Manager of the Legal Advocacy Fund, led a members only
Supreme Court Preview Conference Call about the cases on its docket this year will significantly
impact the rights of women and girls across the country. The call began with an informative
review of how the Supreme Court works, ruling on only about 70 of the 10,000 requests it receives
each year. The first case discussed was the fallout from the earlier Hobby Lobby decision with
religious non-profits testing the limits of the decision. Next discussed was TRAP Laws (Targeted
Regulation of Abortion Providers) designed to prevent doctors from performing abortions—(such as
requiring surgical facilities for clinics and for doctors to have hospital admitting privileges). Then
came Pregnancy Discrimination in UPS vs. Young, a case of a UPS driver who was denied temporary
light duty work she requested because of complications during her pregnancy, even though UPS
allowed several other categories of workers to be assigned light duty work when they were
temporarily disabled. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed in 1978 in order to prevent
employees from discriminating against women simply because they were pregnant. If the Court
rules against Young, it could leave pregnant workers vulnerable to discrimination on the job.
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Other areas being watched include voters rights which are at risk. In November, voters in nearly
half the country are expected to face new voting restrictions at the polls that weren't there
during the last midterm election four years ago. The exact number of voters who will be impacted
depends on the outcomes of pending court challenges, but one thing is clear: These voting
restrictions will hurt women, minorities, young voters, and the elderly the most. The final topic
was the best news: marriage equality is increasing across the county as one same-sex marriage
ban after another is struck down—but much is still to be decided. Members could ask questions at
the end of the call or could e-mail questions to LAF@AAUW.org at a later time. Participating in
the Supreme Court Preview Call definitely makes me better informed to understand as decisions
come down from the court.
Save the Date!
December Annual Holiday Meeting
featuring
Norwegian Women’s Choir
Seattle Yacht Club 1807 E Hamlin St, Seattle, WA 98112
December 20, 2014 9:30 AM
The Catalyst!
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The UW Women’s Center: A Great AAUW Partnership
by Renée Agatsuma, AAUW College/University Chair
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The Women’s Center, at the University of Washington, is one of our great institutional partners.
We wanted to highlight what the Women’s Center has done this past school year.
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The Women’s Center runs a leadership program, the Alene Moris National Education for Women’s
Leadership Institute, for women undergraduate and graduate students. The program aims on
increasing women’s representation in leadership in non-profit, private, and the political sectors.
I participated 2013, and not only made some great friends, but also learned more about my
communication style and how I think about projects and work (which helped me know to get
going when working on my thesis), and got better at advocating for myself in work and by seeking
out mentorship opportunities. One of my fellow graduates from 2013, Christine Xiao, is now the
Associated Students Of University of Washington President!
In 2014, the institute had 32
participants from a diverse range of majors (see “Area of Study” below), with students between
ages 19 and 35.
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The Women’s Center
also focuses on
leadership and
mentoring, as well as
involvement in
Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math
(STEM) in girls in
middle and high school
from around the city,
focusing on schools
with
underr e p r e s e n t e d
populations. The first
program, Making
Connections, is a
mentorship program
for high school aged
students that connects
students with mentors who help them with their academics and leadership. In this school year, it
has 100 students. All the 2014 graduates of the program went to college, 88% are attending four
institutions, while 12% are attending community college. Graduates from Making Connections
received over $600,000 in scholarships and grants. This year, the Women’s Center will be
welcoming a new program that focuses on computer science and engineering, “Girls Who Code.”
The program at the Women’s Center is the first program in the Pacific Northwest. It will host 15
middle school age students this year.
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The Seattle Branch looks forward to a continuing partnership with the Women’s Center in the
2014/2015 school year, and all of the ways we can collaborate together to improve
representation of women, help women excel in leadership, and encourage participating in STEM.
Volume 63, issue 3!
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AAUW FUNDS - Planning
Ahead
Our Mary Lou Hughes Research
and Projects Grant Fund keeps
climbing!
We have reached
$53,005, or 70.7% funded - less
than $2000 to go to meet our goal for June,
2015.
Gift baskets, donated by Branch
members, will again be auctioned to attendees
of our Holiday meeting, Saturday December 20,
at the Seattle Yacht Club. Receipts from the
silent auction will be dedicated to the Mary
Lou Hughes Research and Programs Grant.
Over the years our creative members have
fashioned an array of enticing and appealing
creations. YOU have the opportunity to share your passions! In the past we’ve had baskets
dedicated to travel, wine tasting, mystery books, gardening, anything green, cook books, CDs,
movies, or small antiques (I could go on).
The Yacht Club is the perfect setting for displaying our baskets. If you want to participate but
need some guidance or help (or another member with which to join forces) please email
paulinef@comcast.net.
Giving to AAUW: Now and Future
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Ginnie DeForest, Member AAUW Legacy Circle Team
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As the season of giving approaches I hope AAUW is high on your list, and you will be joining many of
us in giving an annual gift to AAUW Funds. That is for now.
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For the future, please consider becoming a Legacy Circle member. How? Simply by including AAUW
in your will. There is no minimum amount, and the gift can take many forms: cash, stocks and
more. There is a brochure that has all the details. Each branch got one at the State Leadership
Meeting, and those not there will receive one in the mail. !
Why join Legacy Circle? To ensure that AAUW and its mission of education and equity for all women
and girls will stay strong long into the future. Of course, there’s also a beautiful Swarovski
designed Legacy Circle pin you’ll receive and invitations to parties at national and state meetings. It is my hope that there will be at least one new Legacy Circle member from each branch at our
spring State Annual Meeting. For more information contact me at ginniedeforest@yahoo.com or
Catherine Heffernan in the AAUW Planned Giving Office at heffernanc@aauw.org.
Don’t Miss It - GambiaHelp Fundraiser
A Celebration of West African
Arts and Culture
Auction, food tastings, dancing, singing
Friday, November 21, 2014
(www.townhallseattle.org)
The Catalyst!
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Member News
page 7
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Lynn Dissinger traveled to Eastern Europe in
September on an AMA Waterways River Cruise from AAUW-Seattle Branch Officers 2013-2014
Elected
Budapest, Hungary to Bucharest, Romania. The trip
President:
provided an excellent opportunity to gain a better
Pam
Forsha
president@aauw-seattle.org
understanding of recent history in a region that is still
recovering from the war in the former Yugoslavia and
Finance VP:
Pat Dubrow finance@aauw-seattle.org
the fall of Communism in Bulgaria and Romania. The
most memorable leg of the trip was in Vukovar, Croatia
Programs VP:
where the tour included stops that emotionally
Penny Tetter - programs@aauw-seattle.org
illustrated the high cost the city paid during the 1991
Membership VP:
eighty-seven day siege by Serbian rebels and the Pauline Barrett membership@aauw-seattle.org
Yugoslav army – the memorial cemetery for soldiers
Communications and Secretary:
who fought and civilians who died during the siege, as
Barbara Sando - secretary@aauw-seattle.org
well as a the memorial to the almost 200 victims of a
mass killing and burial. Hats off to AMA Waterways for
Appointed
including this in their tour (other river cruise lines do
Web Site: Heather Dohan
not) and providing masterful local guides in both
communications@aauw-seattle.org
Croatia and Serbia who gave meaningful perspective
Catalyst Newsletter Editor:
from both sides of the conflict. The serious subject
Maureen Kremers - catalyst@aauw-seattle.org
matter was nicely balanced with good food, cultural
Public Policy:
entertainment and interesting fellow travelers.
Judy Waring - publicpolicy@aauw-seattle.org
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Eva Kammel is pleased to announce her October 1st
appointment as Honorary Consul of Austria in Seattle.
She continues to teach at Cascadia Community
College. She’s busy but promises to try to get back to
an AAUW meeting in the future. Eva is proud of her 2
daughters: Julia finished her 3rd year med school at
Georgetown U. and taking a year off to do research in
ophthalmology in Japan. Laura is a grad student
working on an MS in Physiology at UCLA.
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AAUW Funds:
Pauline Barrett -aauw-funds@aauw-seattle.org
College/University Relations:
Renee Agatsuma - c-u@aauw-seattle.org
Scholars Recognition:
Ann Dennis - scholars@aauw-seattle.org
Past President:
Tonna Kutner – pastpres@aauw-seattle.org
Publicity
Cynthia Sheridan - publicity@aauw-seattle.org
Tonna Kutner went on a hiking journey in Madagascar
which she called a fabulous and incredible journey. She reported that “I learned a lot about the culture, the stunning landscapes and the many
animals. We hiked up to see a lot of lemurs (they only live in Madagascar) and chameleons as well. There is a lot of habitat destruction going on, but we also visited some outposts where some hopeful
changes are taking place.” Tonna will be speaking about her trip at our May 2015 meeting.
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Thersea McCormick has published her memoir, A Far Cry From Here, Growing Up and Out of
Fundamentalism. Congratulations, Theresa! We hope to be reading it soon.
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Tracy Sherman returned to Seattle four years ago where she has served as Policy Analyst for League
of Women Voters. During her 10 year residence in Washington, DC she worked as Associate Director
of Government Relations in AAUW’s headquarters as well as earning her MA in Political Management.
We recently learned that she has just joined the Gates Foundation as a Program Officer of
Postsecondary Communications and Engagement. She expects to continue advocating her love of
politics, passion for making the world a better place, and facilitating her strong conviction that
improved education will enhance and improve tomorrow’s society.
Seattle Branch AAUW
2020 E Lynn St
Seattle, WA 98112-2620
Address Service Requested
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Upcoming…
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Monday, November 10, 2014 - 6:30 PM - Board Meeting and Potluck - Members Welcome - Contact
secretary@aauw-seattle.org for location
!Saturday, November 15, 2014 - 9:30-Noon -200 Taylor Ave - Seattle, WA - AAUW Seattle Branch Meeting
- Margaret Willson - AAUW Award Recipient at UW - “Fisher Women of Iceland”
!Friday, November 21, 2014 - 1119 8th Avenue, Seattle, WA - Town Hall -GambiaHelp Fundraiser - WEST
AFRICA LIVE2 - Auction, food tastings, dancing - (www.townhallseattle.org)
!Saturday, December 20, 2014 - Seattle Yacht Club - Annual Holiday Program - 9:30 - Norwegian Women’s
Choir
!Saturday, January 17, 2015 - 9:30-Noon - 200 Taylor Ave N - Seattle, WA - Best Western Executive Inn AAUW Seattle Branch Meeting - Hyeok Kim, Deputy Mayor, City of Seattle “Condition of Seattle and
What’s Ahead in 2015.”
!Saturday, February 21, 2015 - 9:30-Noon - 200 Taylor Ave N - Seattle, WA - Best Western Executive Inn AAUW Seattle Branch Meeting - Black history Month - Eva Abram, Storyteller - “Slavery in Washington.”
!Saturday, March 7, 2015 - Seattle Sheraton Hotel - UW Women’s Center Gala
!Saturday, March 14, 2015 - Seattle University - Expanding Your Horizons
!Saturday, March 21 , 2015 - 9:30 - 200 Taylor Ave - Best Western Executive Inn - AAUW Seattle Branch
Meeting - Christine Torrison Mackay - Co-founder and Executive Director of Crooked Trails
!Wednesday April 22, 2015 - 7:00 PM - 200 Taylor Ave - Best Western Executive Inn - Scholar Recognition
with Renee Agatsuma
!Saturday, May 2, 2015 - AAUW Washington State Annual Meeting at UW-Bothell
!Saturday, May 16, 2015 - 9:30 - 200 Taylor Ave - Best Western Executive Inn - AAUW Seattle Branch
Meeting - Annual Meeting and Elections - “Trip to Madagascar” - Tonna Kutner, Speaker