Hello! We are delighted to present the first edition of our AWC-SB e-newsletter,Connections. Thanks so much to Lois Phillips, Nancy Marriott, Teri Breier, and Lisa Angle for doing all that they did to make this first edition a reality. Since we have gone to an every-other-month meeting schedule, we are aware that it is critical to remain connected with each of you. We believe a newsletter is a first step towards accomplishing that goal.
Our vision of Connections is to do just that … to provide a link between and among chapter members, and keep us connected regarding our chapter events and our members’ accomplishments. We also want to provide a place for members to submit articles about their latest projects and advertise their various services. The newsletter is for YOU. Please let us know what you think of the format and do offer suggestions that you think might help us improve it.
By now you have received notification about our April 6 panel – Think Like A Woman, Get Paid Like A Man. You can read more about the program in this edition of the newsletter and on our website at www.awcsb.org. Please sign up today – you save money by pre-registering -and consider bringing a friend!
The planning committee for this year’s Women of Achievement Luncheon is busy putting the structure in place. Please mark your calendar for Wednesday June 1, 2011 from 11:30-1:30 at the Hotel Mar Monte when we honor Starshine Roshell and Lynda Weinman for their outstanding contributions to the field of communications. Many thanks to the planning committee members for giving their time and energy to ensure that the event is a success: Cassidy Kjeldsen, Frances Goodrow, Loretta Redd, Lisa Angle, Jamie Powell, Austin Cazort, and Patricia Diorio.
To share what is exciting and new for me, I have just returned from Philadelphia where I presented at the 36th Annual Association for Women in Psychology conference. My presentation, entitled What Can 8 Former Catholic Nuns Over the Age of 70 Tell 21st Century Audiences About Women, Power, and Authority? identified the ways the former nuns challenged the sanctioned authority of the Catholic Church and how these acts of questioning transformed the personal and communal relationships they had to authority, power, and obedience.
I noted in my presentation the value of contemporary women looking back and reinvestigating moments in the past when women challenged the cultural, legal, political, and social contexts that succeeded in perpetuating gender inequality. Through a passionate rethinking of history rather than a passive memorizing of historical facts frozen in time, I believe past resistances to gender oppression can serve as viable conduits to open better futures for women.
It is from my commitment to the betterment of all women and people that I choose to serve as your president of the Santa Barbara chapter of AWC. It is a privilege and honor to be associated with you, our members, who hold the same values!