“... empowering women through education, advocacy, friendship and mutual respect"
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Happy 2019 New Year and thank you for being a WG-USA member. Whether you are an active board, committee, or interested member who supports our mission, you're the life blood of the organization and we need more of you. Please ask your family members and friends to become part of the WG-USA family. We have big and small jobs for all interested in becoming more involved.
Mark your calendar to participate in the WG-USA webinar on Saturday, January 26, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. EST. The webinar will bring new understanding of our relationship with Graduate Women International and how we can work together on global issues.
January is "Trafficking Prevention Month" and we have good news regarding the passage of S.B.1862, the "Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act". Major provisions of the bill are included below under WG-USA Advocacy Action. Special thanks to Jeannette Westbrook and Camille MacDonald-Polski for their ongoing WG anti-trafficking advocacy and leadership.
Doors have opened with WG's new UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Consultative Status as 18 WG members, serving as UN delegates, will participate in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York City, March 9-22, 2019. CSW brings together women from all over the world and is open to all NGO members. And more good news, the WG-USA written statement is now being listed as an official UN CSW document on the UN CSW website. Special thanks to Louise McLeod and Kathryn Horvat for their wonderful UN ECOSOC leadership.
Board, committee and interested members are invited to attend the WG-USA Retreat March 8-9,2019 at the Newark Hilton Hotel in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The retreat will start Friday at 1:00p.m. and from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Hilton provides free bus transportation from the Newark Airport to the hotel. This important retreat will help us develop our future goals and direction for 2019-2021. Please register here, if you plan to attend (include registration information).
Bored and want to add zest to your life? We have several interesting WG positions open and would love to utilize your expertise. Please contact me at faycweber@bresnan.net and let me know your interest or any questions about events above.
Fay Weber
Mark Your Calendar: The morning of Saturday, January 26, 2019“Advancing Our Mission: Building Relationships With GWI and ECOSOC”The first webinar of 2019 for Women Graduates-USA will be held on January 26. All members are encouraged to attend. The times are: 11 am EST / 10 am CST / 9 am MST / 8 am PST. This webinar is designed to increase understanding of the international activities available for WG-USA members through our relationships with GWI and ECOSOC.The presentation is divided into four sectors.
President Dr. Fay Weber will welcome presenters and reaffirm WG-USA’s mission to view issues related to women and girls through a global lens.
Co-Coordinators for International Relations, Kathleen Laurila and Dr. Jackie Shahzadi will present an overview of the roles and relationships between WG and our international organization, GWI.
GWI President and WG-USA Member Geeta Desai will enthusiastically invite all to attend the 33rd Triennial Centenary Celebration and Conference, “Peace Through Education”, on July 25-28, 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Louise McLeod, VP of Marketing for GWI and WG member and former President will present on overview of ECOSOC at the UN and what ECOSOC status means for WG along with ways for members to get involved with its work. There will be an opportunity following the presentations for members to call-in with comments and questions. To register to attend the webinar on January 26, 2019 follow this link.
WG-USA Advocacy Action: Tornillo Federal Detention Center for Immigrant Youth In early December, 2018, Women Graduates signed a Move On petition to shut down the Tornillo Federal Detention Center inTornillo, Texas. The 'tent city' held 1,800 children who were either separated from their families or who had been traveling alone. While the facility was to remain
open for only 30 days, the grantee of the Unaccompanied Alien Children Program benefited from a $368 million budget and was approved to expand bed capacity to 3,800 beds through the end of the 2018 year. Women Graduates research revealed the following U.S. Inspector General findings:Deficient background checks for Facility's staff i.e., no FBI fingerprints checks were conducted to minimize criminals access to children. The facility was deficient in conducting Child Abuse/Neglect Checks (CA/N) for staff. These checks would determine whether an individual has a substantiated record of abuse of a child. Additionally, the Inspector General discovered an insufficient number of clinicians to meet clinician-to-child ratio. Hence, the facility had failed to hire sufficient clinicians to provide adequate level of care for the children.Because of the unsubstantiated delay in reuniting children with families and the emotional and physical risk to these children, Women Graduates joined with other like-minded NGOs in signing the petition for the closure of this facility. ** Recent updates reveal that the Tornillo 'tent city' for immigrant youth was closed on January 11, 2019, and the last children are gone and most released to love ones.Dolores Gonzales Hayes, Advocacy Committee Trafficking Victims Protection Act Reauthorized On January 9, 2019, S.B.1862 was passed with the following provisions.: The bill amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 as follows: 1. Determine whether countries are meeting the minimum standards for elimination of human trafficking and actions against countries that fail to meet such standards. 2. U.S. Agency for International Development will incorporate child protection and anti-trafficking strategies into the development strategies for each country on the special watch list and 3. The U.S. Executive Director of each multilateral development bank shall initiate discussion to develop anti-trafficking provisions in project development procurement and evaluation policies. Thanks to WG members who emailed/called their senators to pass this bill.
FOCUS ON THE UNITED NATIONS UNCSW ACTIVITIES PLANNED
Women Graduates is planning two major events during the meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, being held in New York March 11-22. The first is a Parallel Session being led by Nancy Vang and Fay Kittelson:
Three women from different cultures directed by a moderator will collaboratively discuss the facts and fiction of women’s relationship with money. The Second Event, on the following day is a luncheon for members of Women Graduates,Graduate Women International and their guests:
Follow this link to register for the luncheon.
TWO GRANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WG-USA MEMBERS PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF SUBMISSION DEADLINES FOR BOTH!
The following grant opportunities are two separate and distinct applications and are open to all WG-USA members who meet the specific criteria/guidelines stipulated by each. WG-USA is eager to support and showcase all members who are passionate about the mission of our organization and are involved in creative ways to help support women, whether it be through research, publications, training modules or similar endeavors.
If you are interested PLEASE NOTE THE NEW DATES: the deadline for submission is March 1st for the Esther Scher Travel Grant and April 1st for the WG-USA Small Research Grant Initiative. Please review both applications and the details connected to each to determine your degree of interest and suitability. This is the first year that these specific initiatives are being offered and we heartily encourage members to consider one or both of these opportunities.If you have any questions, please contact Fay Kittelson at faydkittelson@gmail.com with regard to the Esther Scher GWI Triennial Travel Grant or Elise Russo at marusso@aol.com with regard to the WG-USA Small Grant Initiative.
Women Graduates-USA Announces the Institution of a Travel Grant for the GWI Triennial Honoring Generous WG-USA Benefactor Esther Scher
A Travel Grant has been established to fund the expenses for a qualified young member of Women Graduates-USA to attend the GWI Triennial to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, July 25 -28, 2019. Funds may be used for transportation, GWI conference registration, hotel accommodations for five nights, and/or other related expenses not to exceed $4,500. Criteria include the following:·
Is a member of WG-USA using GWI young member caucus age guidelines (42 or younger) currently living in the US·
Has been, or is currently, an active participant on a board, committee, working group, task force, webinar, research project, presentation or activity that benefits WG- USA·
Has visited the GWI website to become familiar with the tabs “Who We Are” and “What We Do” and the Conference pages·
Is willing to provide a full written report on the GWI experience to the board and submit abbreviated highlights to the Flame·
Submission of a GWI Travel Grant application·
Applicant can win the award only once.
If you are interested in applying and fit the above stated criteria, please send your request to Fay Kittelson at faydkittelson@gmail.com; Applications will be available on January 1; deadline for submission is March 1, 2019.
Small Research Grants Available Now
The WG-USA Board has approved an exciting pilot project which offers funding for activities that further the mission and vision of WG-USA. For 2019, the Board will provide a small grant (up to$1,000) for individual members who would like to undertake a project or augment an existing project that focuses on areas of particular importance to WG-USA’s goals for the coming year. The total amount of funding for this pilot is $5,000 for this first year. Upon review of the success of the project at year’s end, the Board will vote whether to continue this opportunity.
The application form asks for a description of the project, its goals, and how it connects to WG-USA’s mission. Since WG-USA is focused on strengthening its work locally and globally, the application also asks for ideas on how this project or activity will help the organization meet that goal. If you decide to apply, please also include the method(s) by which you will determine the success of the project as well as the ways in which your success will be shared with the general membership.
In an effort to award successful candidates with support before the GWI Triennial in July 2019, should their project be connected to that conference, the deadline for applications will be April 1,2019. Awardees will be notified by April 15, 2019. All projects should be completed by October31, 2019.
For questions or further information, contact Dr. Elise Russo. Please send the completed applications to Elise at marusso@aol.com.
GRADUATE WOMEN INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Apply to Involve Yourself in a Graduate Women International Role
Women Graduates-USA is one of 55 national affiliates of Graduate Women International which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2019. (Originally called International Federation of University Women.) Many opportunities exist for any individual member – and many of your colleagues in WG-USA have been involved or are currently in roles that advocate at the global level for equality for women and access to education and can attest to the great satisfaction that results in contributing your time and talents to this global effort.
Nominations are currently open for the Board of Officers and for seven Committees. The Officers to be elected are the President, Treasurer, and five Vice-Presidents with specific portfolios: Education and Advocacy, Marketing, Fundraising, Legal and Governance, Membership.
The seven address these areas: Education, Finance, Hegg-Hoffit, International Fellowship,Project Development, Membership, Resolutions.
Although it is not required that a nominee for a committee position to attend the Triennial Conference in Geneva July 25-28, it is encouraged, especially if one has not attended a Triennial Conference before. The ongoing work of the Committees does take place electronically so travel is not required. The Board of Officers do travel to Geneva and occasionally New York in conjunction with the UN Commission on the Status of Women Committee meetings.
All of the job descriptions and application forms can be found here.
If you would like to be nominated by the WG-USA Board please send your Nomination Application form to klaurila@mac.com by February 9. The WG-USA Co-Coordinator for International Relations, Kathleen Laurila and Jackie Shahzadi will present the applications to the WG-USA Board for approval.
Full membership in GWI is included in your WG-USA membership. GWI is a global organization dedicated to the empowerment of women and girls globally. Currently GWI has national affiliates (WG-USA is the US affiliate) in 57 countries and individual members in other countries where there is no affiliate. GWI also works through its connections with the UnitedNations in all 4 UN centers, is an ECOSOC accredited organization and hasa partnership with UNESCO.
Subscribe to the GWI Update. You can also take part in discussions of interest to our members globally by subscribing to the Discussions Group
What Are YOU Reading and Watching? Have you read a book or watched a film or TV series lately that you feel other WG-USA members would enjoy or learn from? Send your book, TV series, and movie suggestions and reviews to books@wg-usa.org.
Call for Articles: The Flame is always open to article submissions from members. If you have an article idea or an article you'd like to contribute, please contact communications@wg-usa.org.
