Category Archives: Public Policy

The Younger Women’s Task Force of New York City Relaunch Event – You’re Invited!

Join the Younger Women’s Task Force of New York City (YWTF NYC) for “Cocktails and Conversations”

Thursday, July 24th, starting at 5:30 pm at the Loreley Restaurant and Biergarten in Lower Manhattan (map)

Learn about YWTF NYC and our mission – State your mission – Find out about open board positions and ways to get involved your own way!

YWTF NYC is back, but not without you! At the first official event of the summer, we want to know, what YOU want out of your membership? Networking? Career advice? Mentorship? Work/life balance tips? Do you want to lobby our representatives to advocate for women’s issues? If you answered “yes” to one or all of the above, we can’t wait to meet you!

Originally founded in 2005, YWTF NYC is an organization devoted to younger social justice and women’s rights activists. YWTF chapters in cities around the country work on a variety of issues in different ways as an arm of the Association of American University Women (AAUW), an organization with well over 100 years of experience in advocacy, philanthropy, education, and research. For more information about YWTF, please visit aauw.org/YWTF.

Please join us for “Cocktails & Conversation” to learn more about us, talk about the issues that matter most to you, and find out about ways to take action with YWTF. We will be serving light appetizers and encourage you to bring your friends along! Please help us spread the word and share this information with other activists in the region.

For more information and to RSVP, please visit: “Younger Women’s Task Force NYC – Cocktails & Convos” or email YWTF.NYC@gmail.com

Women’s Economic Agenda Bus Tour

The momentum behind the Women’s Equality Agenda just got a new set of wheels. Led by House Leader Pelosi, women members of Congress are on a bus tour promoting policy changes that would benefit women and working families. Lisa M. Maatz, AAUW’s VP for Government Relations, is along for the ride!

You can follow the bus’ progress by following Lisa Maatz on Twitter at @LisaMaatz (you don’t have to join Twitter to read her Tweets). You can also check out @WomenSucceed or the Women Succeed hashtag (#WomenSucceed). To follow the bus on Facebook, visit www.facebook.com/WomenSucceed.

Click through to learn more about AAUW’s advocacy for working families and pay equity.

Tomorrow, February 4th, Google Hangout Event on Addressing Sexual Assaults on Campus

Tomorrow at 3:00 pm, join Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14, D) and student advocates and leaders from Know Your IX, the National Women Law Center, and AAUW in an online conversation about what actions the Department of Education should take to protect students from sexual violence on campus.

Please click Google Hangouts on the Air to learn more, RSVP, and listen in.

Human Rights Day Event December 10th

On Tuesday, December 10th, the United Nations Association Southern New York State Division and the Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Center at Val-Kill will observe International Human Rights Day with an event titled, “Human Rights: The World We Want.”

The event will feature Ryan Kaminsky, a UNA-USA Leo Nevas Human Rights Fellow, as keynote speaker. After the keynote address, the audience is invited to participate in roundtable conversations focused on topics of interest including Climate, Education, Energy, Food & Agriculture, Gender & Protection, Good Governance, Health, Jobs, and Water & Sanitation. Notes, concerns, and suggestions from the discussions will be compiled in a report submitted to the UN Secretary General by UNA-USA.

The event runs on Tuesday, December 10, from 11 am to 2:30 pm at the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home at 4079 Albany Post Rd, Hyde Park, NY 12538 (map). Participants are invited to visit the FDR Presidential Library and Museum free of charge after the event.

The program is free and open to the public, there are $10 box lunches available, but they must be ordered in advance. To RSVP, order lunch, or get more information please email mbenedict@erleadership.org or jbs@stratdev.com or call 914-478-3450 or 845-229-5302.

Petition for a Special UN Resolution to End Child Marriage

The World YWCA is sponsoring a petition calling on the UN Commission on the Status of Women to issue a special resolution to end child marriage.

Worldwide, 1 in 3 women ages 20 to 24 were married before the age of 18. In developing countries, 1 in 7 girls are married before the age of 15. If present trends continue, the UNFPA estimates that over the next decade, 14.2 million girls will be married before they turn 18 every year. Without meaningful and aggressive intervention, by 2021 the average number of girls married each year will raise to 15.1 million girls– a figure nearly equal to the population of New England.

Early marriage limits girls’ economic and social opportunities, decreases their access to education, and seriously impacts their health. Worldwide, complications from pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of death for adolescent girls. Furthermore, young brides are more likely to become victims of domestic violence. Early marriage helps to perpetuate unequal gender roles, poverty, and lack of education. Allowing girls to have a childhood, education, and make their own choices helps strengthen communities in the long-run, advance development, and stabilize societies.

On March 7, the World YWCA will deliver its petition to the CSW57 session. You can support the rights of women and girls around the world by adding your name here and then sharing the petition with your family and friends.

Registration Deadline Extended for the 2013 CTAUN Conference

The registration deadline for the Committee on Teaching about the United Nations (CTAUN) conference has been extended from December 28 to January 7. The conference, titled “Advancing Social Justice: The Role of Educators,” will be held on Friday, 18 January 2013 from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm at the UN Headquarters in Midtown Manhattan (map). The admission fee is $65.00, CTAUN encourages all educators and other interested citizens to attend. Click here to register.

One of the keys to achieving lasting positive change in the world is reaching the youngest generations and to empower a new class of well-informed citizens. The problems facing the world community are incredibly complex and resolving them requires leaders with intelligence and a depth of awareness. Education is paramount to the creation of activists with the knowledge, skills, and empathy needed to tackle the world’s issues.

Accordingly, this year’s conference looks at the role of educators in advancing understanding of social justice issues. CTAUN believes that promoting social justice will foster greater “economic equality and political stability for the world’s citizens,” which is one of the UN’s most central goals. The conference will explore issues of social justice and human security, including human trafficking, forced labor, environmental justice, food security, and immigration/forced migration.

The keynote speakers are Thomas Pogge, author, Director of the Global Justice Program, and Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs at Yale University, and Rachel Lloyd, founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), author, and advocate for trafficked youths. Panel presentations will include representatives from the International Labor Organization (ILO), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), UNICEF (Child Protection), and the US State Department, and other organizations.

For those interested in staying in Manhattan for the weekend, discounted hotel rates are available at ONE UN New York (formerly the Millennium Plaza) for $199 per night for a room with 2 people or $239 per night with 3 occupants. The special rates for conference participants are valid from Wednesday (16th) to Sunday (20th).

If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Mayfield at jennifer.a.mayfield@gmail.com or 914-388-2937

Symposium on racial profiling and ‘stop and frisk’ policing

The New York City Police Department’s controversial ‘stop and frisk’ policy has brought national attention to policing practices which disproportionately affect people of color. The Sociology Department at SUNY New Paltz would like to invite faculty members, students, and community members to a:

Symposium on racial profiling and ‘stop and frisk’ policing

December 5^th, 2012, 4.30pm, SUNY-New Paltz, CSB Auditorium

Reception to follow in CSB 54

Many AAUW members have joined the community read of the New Jim Crow. This symposium covers an important aspect of the Jim Crow policies. Speakers at the symposium

will include:

Gabriel Sayegh, the State Director of Drug Policy Alliance, a national organization devoted to ending the War on Drugs.
Chino Hardin, a community organizer from the Institute for Juvenile Justice Reform and Alternatives, based in Brooklyn, who have been active in fighting New York’s stop and frisk laws.
Alfredo Carrasquillo, an organizer from VOCAL-NY, a statewide grassroots organization which builds power among low-income people affected by HIV/AIDS, the drug war and mass incarceration to create healthy and just communities.
Andrew Kossover, the head of the Ulster County Public Defender’s Office, has also agreed to come to the event to speak about the local implications of stop and frisk.

This event is co-sponsored by the Black Studies department, the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Department, the Student Association, the Black Student Union, the SUNY New Paltz Amnesty International chapter, and Students for a Sensible Drug Policy.

10/20: Hear about Clean Elections & Move to Amend at Kingston Library

Saturday, October 20
1 PM
Kingston Library
2nd Floor, Community Room
55 Franklin Street, Kingston

Irene Miller will talk to us about Clean Money, Clean Elections and Maggie Williams will speak about the fast-growing Move to Amend initiative to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision.

Bring a friend or two and join us!

http://www.facebook.com/events/443688779001181

Susan H., 845-389-3961
susan-holland@usa.net

Learn about Planned Parenthood, Regionally and Nationally, Oct. 16

Ruth Ellen Blodgett

Ruth-Ellen Blodgett is President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Mid-Hudson Valley, which extends from Albany to Rockland County.She is familiar with the issues specific to health care in New York State, having worked in health care administration in upstate New York . She is known for her clarity as a speaker and her knowledge of the issues affecting Planned Parenthood.

Ruth-Ellen Blodgett’s talk on “Planned Parenthood, Locally and Nationally” is scheduled for Tuesday, October 16 at 5 PM in the Kingston Library Community Room, 55 Franklin Street.

The talk and discussion is part of the Kingston Branch of AAUW’s Public Policy Committee meeting and is open to the public, with special invitation to members of the Ulster County Activist Council of the Planned Parenthood Mid-Hudson Valley Action Fund.

After the discussion with the audience, all are invited to Keegan Ales, located around the corner from the library at 20 Saint James Street. All are welcome.— Doris Goldberg

10/2: Common Council to vote on Climate Action Plan at 7:30 tonight – please come out!

The Climate Action Plan will be discussed at the Common Council Meeting tonight (10/2) at City Hall, 420 Broadway, Kingston. The meeting starts at 7:30 PM, with public comment 8th on the agenda. Please come out to give support!

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Kingston Common Council to vote on Climate Action Plan Tuesday

KINGSTON, N.Y. – A Common Council committee has unanimously recommended the adoption of a 268-page report outlining ways in which the city’s government and residents can save energy costs and “become a more sustainable” community.

Alderman Thomas Hoffay, D-Ward 2, the council’s majority leader, said the so-called “City of Kingston Climate Action Plan” was endorsed by the Public Safety/General Government Committee Thursday night.

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Kingston aldermen debate ‘Climate Action Plan’ on eve of vote (video)

KINGSTON, N.Y. – Debate turned feisty Monday night between two Democratic members of the Common Council over a so-called “Climate Action Plan” for Kingston.

Alderman Robert Senor, D-Ward 8, questioned the wisdom of adopting the plan, which has earned the endorsement of the Public Safety/General Government Committee.