Welcome to AAUW of New York State

WHAT’S HAPPENING!

The 2024-2026 AAUW-NYS President-Elect and Public Policy VP will be elected this coming spring. 
   –  The position descriptions may be accessed HERE.
   –  The nomination form may be accessed HERE.
   –  The application form may be accessed HERE.

  • Note that the current president-elect (Suzanne Young-Mercer) will become the president while the secretary (Susan Cichetti) and treasurer (Latasha Elder) will continue the second year of their terms.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

It’s almost time to VOTE on AAUW OPEN membership. Members will be voting this spring on a proposal to open membership to anyone who supports the mission of AAUW. AAUW-NYS Branch presidents and branch membership chairs discussed the pros and cons of the question in January and in February the NYS Board adopted a resolution in favor of the proposal.  There is also a website devoted to the arguments for this changehttps://openupaauw.org

Membership voting will be from April 3 through May 15. Members without an email address will receive a paper ballot in the mail.

 

PUBLIC POLICY NEWS!

   ERA-NY!!!

 

 

 


SAVE THE DATE!

So many AAUW members across the country state that they miss gatherings for conferences that some states have arranged Regional Conferences.
 
The Atlantic States (NYS to Florida) are getting together September 27-29, 2024 at the beautiful Virginia Crossings Hotel & Conference Center 1000 Virginia Center Pkwy, Glen Allen, VA 23059 All are invited to Virginia, the host state for 2024.
 
NYS will be participating, and we hope to have as many AAUW NYS members as possible attend this event. More information will be shared as plans continue to develop.
 
Topics: ERA, Pay Equity, Public Policy, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, sharing branch and state successes. Branch and State Structures, Roundtable to discuss AAUW moving.
 
An invitation to AAUW National CEO Gloria Blackwell has been completed, and we hope she join us to provide Welcome and Opening Remarks on Friday night. NYS Staten Island branch member Edwina Martin (Past NYS President, our NYS liaison to National and a National Board Member in her second year) will also be a Friday night speaker.

Click HERE for the flyer with more info!


Interesting Presentation!

Poughkeepsie member Erica Salzman-Talbi has brought to our attention this video you’ll want to watch.  SXSW (South by Southwest) produced this on International Women’s Day. Now available on YouTube:

Full SXSW Keynote Panel with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex


Our NYS Board met the weekend of Sep 9-10 to plan for the coming year. Part of the joy of a good board is the pleasure of meeting other smart, dedicated people joined in supporting our mission.

BRANCH SPOTLIGHTS! 

The Adirondack Branch promoted ERA NY AND celebrated Susan B. Anthony’s 118th birthday! Note the yellow knitted rose, symbol of the suffrage movement. The knitting pattern is available HERE, courtesy of Janet Forbes of the Jamestown Branch.
Susan B - Birthday - 3 Suffrange.jpg      Susan B - Nan.jpg


The Ithaca Branch of AAUW Hosted Early Winter NYS-AAUW Regional Meeting Saturday, December 9, 2023
The Ithaca Branch hosted “Open Books Open Minds” NYS-AAUW Regional Meeting on Saturday, December 9th.  The day was broken into three separate parts and attendees decided how much of the day to participate in.
The Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL) co-sponsored our first public panel discussion on book banning, including a book display of some banned books and refreshments provided from two locally owned businesses, including AAUW Member Via Carpenter’s Cookies.  The panel featured four librarians sharing their expertise and firsthand experiences on the crisis impacting many public and school libraries across the country.  The discussion also included NYS Assembly member Anna Kelles talking about a bill that she has sponsored on trying to control book bans and its corresponding bill being sponsored by NYS Senator Rachel May.   The public that attended the discussion did not engage with the panelists, so no conclusions can be made on how successful we were with engaging the public’s awareness on this issue.
Our legislative luncheon featured talks from NYS-AAUW President Carol Griffith, NYS-AAUW President-Elect Suzanne Mercer-Young, 2022-2023 AAUW Selected Professions Fellow  Neha Gerg (new MS in Architecture from Cornell), and the City of Ithaca Mayor Laura Lewis.  We held table discussions over lunch on NYS -AAUW Public Policy Initiatives on Book Banning, Human Trafficking, Social Security Crisis, ERA, and CEDAW and table report outs.  Plus, we added in a food and personal supplies donation collection for Ithaca Loaves and Fishes and AAUW Funds Fundraisers with wine from Carol Griffith and crafts work from Barbara Stewart.  The luncheon also included time to socialize with each other after years of Zoom Meetings.
The final portion of the program was a guided or self-guided tour of Cornell University Johnson Museum which featured the fall semester’s exhibitions that are used in some of the courses on campus.  It was an informative way to learn more about the uniqueness of the exhibits.
Thank you to NYS-AAUW Board for providing the Ithaca Branch with a grant to subsidize the program costs.  Also, thanks to the NYS-AAUW Members and branch members who participated in our current issues program.
More pictures from the event are available HERE!