Orbit Volume 97 No. 2 What’s Inside President’s Message, Pg. 2 New State Policy Analyst, Pg. 2 Legislative Update, Pg. 3 Equity Day & Convention 2015 Coverage, Pg. 4-5 Branch Awards, Pg. 5 Around Our Branches, Pg. 5 Around Ohio, Pg. 6 AAUW News, Pg. 7 AAUW Ohio Leadership Workshop 2015 Aug. 8 Rough Hall Otterbein University AAUW National Convention June 18-21 Women’s Equality Day Aug. 26 Visit AAUW Ohio on the Web, Twitter and Facebook. Spring 2015 Leadership Workshop 2015: Branch Counterpart Focus Day Date: Saturday, Aug. 8 Times: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Location: Roush Hall at Otterbein University, 1 South Grove St., Westerville, OH 43081 Cost: $30 per person Theme: Branch Counterpart Focus Day with special sessions for branch leaders — presidents and vice presidents of programming, finance, public policy and membership -- with their counterpart at the state level. Registration: To register or for more information, email Kaylee Pavel, AAUW Ohio administrator, at [email protected] or complete the form below. Right: State leaders such as Jo Dye, Marilyn Kornowski, JoAnn Benseler and Christine Siebeneck will be on hand to work with branch leaders at this year’s Leadership Workshop held Aug. 8 at Otterbein University. Leadership Workshop 2015 Registration To register for the full day’s program and luncheon, mail this completed registration form with your $30 check made out to: AAUW Ohio with “Leadership Conference” on the memo line by Thursday, July 31. Mail to: AAUW Ohio, P.O. Box 593, Kalida, OH 45853, Attention: Kaylee Pavel. Please note special needs on back. Email confirmations will be sent for all registrations. Yes! I will attend the 2015 AAUW Ohio Leadership Workshop on Aug. 8. My $30 check is enclosed. Name: ________________________________________Branch and Position________________________________ Address_______________________________________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip _________________________________________________________________________________ Phone __________________________________ E-mail _______________________________________________ AAUW Ohio www.aauwoh.org President Christine Siebeneck aauw.christine@ gmail.com Admin. Coordinator Kaylee Pavel kaylee.pavel@gmail. com Fundraising VP Gillian Holzhauser Graber gholzhausergrab@ woh.rr.com Get going, get involved a message from Christine Siebeneck President, AAUW Ohio As AAUW members, we must have each other’s backs On the Saturday morning of AAUW Ohio’s Equity Day and Convention, we had the opportunity to listen to the inspiring words of Julie Graber, Gender EQA, Interim Director, ION (ionProgram VP Jo Dye Livewire. women.org). Her presentation titled [email protected] “Women at the Table: Now More than Ever” focused on the power Membership VP Betty Ellworth women can hold by simply supbjelworth@yahoo. porting each other and patting each com other on the back. As AAUW Ohio members, Finance Officers Patricia Elliott we have a responsibility to have Williams not only each other’s backs, but we [email protected] MUST have the backs of all those Melissa Marino women and girls who struggle with melissa.marino@ outlook.com equity every day. These are the girls who are the victims of cyber bullying in their schools Public Policy Chair and their homes. These are the young women who are Karen Rainey [email protected] victims of sexual assault on their college campuses. These are the women who are the victims of not Diversity Chair earning a fair wage. These are the women and girls we Sally Dye MUST educate for, advocate for, research for, act for. sally.dye@ cardingtonschools. org College/University Relations Chair Nicole Ward aauwohiocollegerep@ gmail.com Great seeing you at Convention; now let me know if I can see you at your branch meeting Thank you so much for attending Convention 2015 in Dublin, Ohio! We had a super fantabulous time! I was so excited to hear how many of you are supporting each other and supporting the women and girls in your community through your branch programming. I also enjoyed visiting your branches this past year. Please let me know if I can visit your branch this year. Let’s continue to advocate for equality. And, in case you weren’t able to attend this year’s state convention, this issue of AAUW Ohio Orbit is filled will all the details. See you at Leadership Workshop Aug. 8 I’m also excited to share details about the AAUW Ohio Leadership Workshop. This event will feature day-long counterpart training. I encourage branches to send counterparts and would-be leaders to learn the nittygritty aspects of AAUW leadership. AAUW has new State Policy Analyst The new State Policy Analyst from AAUW National is Kate Nielsen. Here is a message she sent to AAUW members: I’m excited to join the AAUW team and be part of a great legacy of inspiring women. As a child, a poster made famous by this ad campaign, hung on my wall. The messages from that poster about self-confidence and strength, along with my feminist parents and supportive friends, helped shape the person I am today. Through their examples and encouragement, I learned about feminism, the importance of education, and reproductive freedom. I also became a political junkie and found social activism. After spending time on the front lines working in a clinic and then organizing young women on campuses, I shifted gears into Recording Secretary Isabel Seavey the legal and policy world. For the past several years I’ve honed my state policy chops working with the National Governors [email protected] tion on education policy. Now, I am thrilled to bring those skills to AAUW and return to my passion of fighting for the rights of girls, women, and families. Public Info Officer The State Policy Analyst position is new for AAUW, so I hope you will help me craft it. I have big plans, including re-envisionPaula Maggio akronpm@sbcglobal. ing how we track legislation, providing analysis and vetting services on state bills, and creating model legislation. Just recently, I assisted California with recommendations for SB358 which addresses equal pay. I look forward to working with many of you on similar net bills as we fight to ensure that all women earn a fair wage. Look out for more introductory emails, phone briefings, and trainings in the coming weeks as we roll out the new state policy program. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at 202.728.7617 or nielsonk@aauw. org. Page 2 - AAUW of Ohio Orbit • Spring 2015 AAUW Ohio Legislative Update By Karen Rainey AAUW Public Policy Chair Download Public Policy Resources for Branch Programming Here is legislation relating to AAUW priorities, including bills we are following and others that may be of interest. The bills are listed by topic. Education - Charter School Reform: House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 148. HB 2 deals primarily with tightening sponsorship requirements. This bill passed the House by a vote of 70-25 on March 26, and had sponsor (Reps. Roegner and Dovilla) testimony in the Senate Finance- Education subcommittee on April 15. Also on April 15, Sen. Peggy Lehner, chair of the Senate Education Committee, introduced her own charter reform bill, SB 148. Ohio has been the poster child for bad charter school law, and HB 2 is a step toward more accountability and transparency, although it’s not as strong as advocates for reform would like. AAUW advocate Jennifer Dillard testified on HB 2 and AAUW also signed on to the Coalition for Public Education testimony—both can be read on our web site. Sen. Lehner’s bill follows the recommendations of Auditor Dave Yost for increasing accountability, and has attracted bipartisan support. It also includes provisions that correct truancy policies and require that charter schools adopt annual budgets. It’s likely the two bills will eventually have to be reconciled. Charter schools have received significant state financial support, and the governor’s budget proposal would add nearly $1 billion for the next biennium. Education--Testing: House Bill 74, relating to primary and secondary school testing, was amended by the House Education Committee and would now bar the state from purchasing tests from PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers), the organization whose tests are currently being used in conjunction with the implementation of common core standards. The amendments would also limit testing to one end of the year assessment rather than two, with one assessment earlier in the year. Testing has been very controversial this year, with complaints about the hours involved and the disruption in classroom learning. Already, the governor has signed HB 7, that allows the disregard of this year’s testing results, and the amendments could extend this another year. HB 74 does not address teacher evaluations This bill has passed out of committee but has not yet been voted on by the House. Note that there is also a Senate Advisory Committee on Testing, which will shortly present recommendations for what to include in state assessments. Education—Funding: House Bill 64, the biennial budget bill, has passed the House and is now in the Senate Finance Committee. It increases spending for schools by $179 million, primarily benefiting poorer districts, and ensures that no district receives less than it did in the foundation formula in FY 15. The governor’s formula had left many local school superintendents scratching their heads. In addition, it creates a Joint Education Oversight Committee that will examine school funding and other issues, so that work on these issues continues after the budget is enacted. As noted above, the bill includes nearly $1 billion for charter schools—specifically, Page 3 - AAUW of Ohio Orbit • Spring 2015 for e-schools for facilities, although they do not house students. It also expands the Cleveland scholarship program to offer vouchers to a larger geographic area. In total, almost $200 million is projected to go to private school vouchers. Redistricting Reform: House Joint Resolution 2, sponsored by Reps. Clyde and Curtin, would align with HJR 12, the state redistricting constitutional amendment, to change how the lines are drawn for Karen Rainey congressional redistricting. As it is now, only state redistricting reform will be on the ballot this November. No hearings have been held to date. Health Care and Reproductive Health: House Bill 64, the biennial budget bill, contains several provisions affecting health care. Although it leaves Medicaid expansion as a part of the budget bill (there had been concern that it would be stripped out and made a separate bill) there is a movement to change the eligibility criteria for participants. Coverage for pregnant low-income women and women with breast or cervical cancer would be cut. Instead of eligibility at 200% of the federal poverty level ($23,340) eligibility would be limited to those making less than 138% of the poverty level ($16,105). The intent is to ask these consumers to purchase private healthcare on the open market at a higher cost. However, advocates have pointed out that pregnancy doesn’t necessarily coincide with open enrollment times. It is more likely that women will go uninsured. On a positive note, the proposed budget would increase funding for rape crisis centers by $500,000 per year. But the budget would also add funding for crisis pregnancy centers, which have been shown to provide erroneous information to clients. House Bill 69, the so-called “heartbeat bill,” passed the House by a vote of 55-40. This bill, back again after the Senate ignored it in last year’s lame duck session, would ban all abortions as soon as a heartbeat is detected, with no exceptions for rape, incest, severe mental illness or fetal abnormalities. Rep. Teresa Fedor, whom we know best as the champion of human trafficking legislation, made an impassioned speech on the House floor in opposition to the bill, telling for the first time her own story of rape and abortion while she was in the military. The bill is now in the Senate Health Committee but no hearings have been scheduled to date. AAUW testimony on this bill is also on the web site. Another House bill, HB 117, would ban all abortions after 20 weeks but has not yet been scheduled for hearings. It is in the House Community and Family Advancement Committee. A similar bill, SB 127, has been referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, but has not been heard to date. Voting Rights. Money is being requested in HB 64 (budget bill) to finance the mailing of absentee ballot applications to every voter in Ohio, which can only be done if the Secretary of State receives the funding to do so. AAUW Ohio is now a part of the Ohio Voter Rights Coalition to address this and other voting issues. At Equity Day & Convention 2015 Women and Girls Got Real! A special sort of energy surrounded this year’s AAUW Ohio Equity Day and Convention. Perhaps that was because of Patricia Fae Ho, AAUW president, whose charismatic presence seemed to give off sparks, as she engaged with members young and old, gave a keynote speech about the importance of AAUW members -- without referring to a note -- and posted about the weekend via social media. (See screenshot at right that pictures Ho with Jane Aparecido, AAUW Interntional Fellow, and members of the Ohio State Branch, including Taylor Price who co-presented a breakout session.) The pace was fast, the topics -- from engaging student members to women and economics to charter schools -- were compelling, and members from around the state left feeling energized. We share some of that energy through the photos included here. Above left: Past presidents of AAUW Ohio with AAUW President Patricia Fae Ho. Right: NCCWSL scholarship winner Briana Coleman with AAUW Ohio President Christine Siebeneck. Left: Presenters Taylor Price with Nicole Ward. Bottom left: Jane Wilson and JoAnn Benseler staff the registration desk. Bottom right: Tremayne Parquet and Jennifer Barton, AAUW National staff members. Page 4 - AAUW of Ohio Orbit • Spring 2015 Branches win honors at our spring Convention Branch Award Winners Branches that excelled in membership recruitment, mission-based programming, diversity, philanthropy, communications and overall engagement in AAUW efforts received awards at AAUW Ohio Equity Day and Convention 2015. NCCWSL Scholarship Winner Briana Collins, Bowling Green State University Membership Awards Branches that had at least a ten percent increase in overall membership: Middletown, Sidney-Shelby County, Worthington, Mansfield Branches that had at least 10 percent new member increase: Bowling Green, Findley, Defiance, Delaware, Columbus, Ironton, Logan County, Medina, Middletown, Northeast Ohio, Springfield, Toledo, Worthington, Zanesville Daffodil Awards Bowling Green, Chillicothe, Circleville, Delaware, Elyria, Heights-Hillcrest-Lyndhurst, Medina County, Middletown, Sandusky, Toledo, Youngstown and Zanesville Starz Awards Teal Award: Bowling Green, Circleville, Columbus, Defiance, Delaware, Medina County, Middletown, Northeast, Sandusky, Springfield, Toledo, Worthington, Zanesville Honors Award: Cleveland, Lancaster, SidneyShelby, Tiffin, Warren-Trumbull, Youngstown Ninth-Year Teal Award: Bowling Green, Medina Cty., Worthington, Zanesville First-Year Teal Award: Columbus, Defiance First-Year Honors Award: Sidney-Shelby Zanesville Branch Best Website: More than 50 members: Middletown Branch Mission-Based Programming Awards Large Branch category: Public Policy: Bowling Green Advocacy: Toledo, Medina County, Warren-Trumbull County Local Issues: Middletown Medium Branch category: Public Policy: Zanesville Advocacy: Heights-HillcrestLyndhurst Local Issues: Findlay Small Branch category: Public Policy: Defiance, Worthington Advocacy: Springfield, Circleville Local Issues: Sandusky Representatives from three of the branches that won Daffodil Awards for branch diversity with Diversity Chair Sally Dye. Members wave their star magic wands after awards were announced. Around our branches: From North to South Communication Star Awards Overall Excellence in Communications: Middletown Branch Best Newsletter: Fewer than 50 members: Medina County Branch Best Newsletter: More than 50 members: Heights-Hillcrest-Lyndhurst Branch Best Website: Fewer than 50 members: AAUW members from Ohio State University who attended the National Conference of College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL) met Amanda Simpson, executive director of the U.S. Army Office of Energy Initiatives. Medina County Branch members visited the International Women’s Air and Space Museum during Women’s History Month. Zanesville Branch was on the same track, with a program on women pilots of WWII. The Toledo Branch co-sponsored an Equal Pay Day event and Worthington Branch discussed charter schools. Page 5- AAUW of Ohio Orbit • Spring 2015 Around Ohio: News via Twitter @AAUW tweets from the April 25 Tech Saavy Workshop at Stark State College that attracted 100+ President @aauwchristine’s tweets from Washington, D.C. on lobbying for #ESEA reauthorization Page 6 - AAUW of Ohio Orbit • Spring 2015 News and resources from AAUW Prepare for new year with tools, tips for branch leaders Prepare for Upcoming Year with Board Member Transition Tools Set next year’s board up for success by using AAUW’s board member transition tools. These guides for conducting an end-of-year member survey, facilitating a board debrief, writing a transition memo for your successor, and planning recognition for your board will help you reflect on the past year and strategically align your branch to have a successful upcoming year. Connect with Local AAUW Fellowship and Grant Recipients Have you connected with the 2014–15 AAUW fellowship and grant recipients? Many recipients are eager to engage with AAUW locally and are great women to recruit to your branch! Use AAUW’s guide to inviting a local fellow or grantee to your branch to congratulate them on the end of their fellowship and invite them to speak. The 2014–15 fellowship year ends June 30, so don’t wait! Start thinking now about how you can work with alumnae or the 2015–16 recipients next year. E-mail [email protected] with questions. Branch Member Survey Surveying your members will help you collect valuable information about what worked well and what could be improved regarding your branch’s work for the year. Tips for creating a successful survey and suggested survey questions can be found in the Branch Member Survey How-To Guide. Board Debrief A debrief meeting will help you dig into the feedback you collected through your survey and explore additional areas of branch processes and systems. Group debriefs often help participants think of new points of feedback and can be a great space for coming up with ideas for improvement. Tips for conducting a debrief meeting and suggested debrief questions can be found in the Board Debrief How-To Guide. Transition Memo A transition memo is one of the best ways to ensure a smooth transition to the next person in your role. It will help orient your successor to her role and share what you have accomplished and where the work is headed. It will also allow you to share best practices and recommendations for how to manage responsibilities successfully. Guidance for creating a transition memo can be found in the Transition Memo How- To Guide. Rewards and Recognition It’s important to let your board know how much you appreciate the time and energy that they have given to the branch. Learn about ways that you can thank and recognize them for their contributions in the Rewards and Recognition How-To Guide. Shout-outs from the Field Through their Women in Leadership Development (WILD) project, AAUW of New York and AAUW of New Jersey members connect each month to discuss one chapter of Robin Gerber’s book Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way. Your branch can call into their discussions about values, beliefs, and actions that build strong leadership with branches the third Tuesday of each month beginning July 21. Contact Joan Monk, AAUW of New York special projects director, at [email protected] or 914.245.7704. Share Your Successes in Lead On Do you have a story about an innovative program you are running? How about a successful recruitment effort or steps you have taken to increase diversity and inclusion? These are just some of the types of stories AAUW national loves to share in its electronic newsletter Lead On. Please e-mail memberleaders@aauw. org for a chance to be featured. Details on the gender pay gap in Ohio The gender wage gap exists in almost every congressional district, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau. Not only do some districts in the 113th Congress lag especially far behind, but some states also have large disparities between districts. Ohio ranks 34th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Median earnings for men in Ohio were $47,323 compared to women’s median earnings of $36,569 — an earnings ratio of just 77 percent. Get the Ohio Pay Gap handout with full details, including a breakdown by congressional district and a “Road Map to the Fight for Equal Pay.” Make your voice heard: Become a Two-minute Activist and speak out on the issues! Page 7 - AAUW of Ohio Orbit • Spring 2015
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