The American Association of University Women (AAUW) advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. Since 1881, AAUW has been one of the nation’s leading voices promoting education and equity for women and girls. AAUW has a nationwide network of more than 100,000 members and donors, 1,000 branches, and 500 college/university institutional partners. Since AAUW’s founding 130 years ago, members have examined and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day—educational, social, economic, and political. AAUW’s commitment to educational equity is reflected in our public policy advocacy, community programs, leadership development, conventions and conferences, national partnerships, and international connections.
Our Thousand Oaks branch, organized in 1966, works toward this mission via several ongoing committees and special projects, as follows:
Brighter Horizons:
Under the leadership of
Betty Nordahl, this committee works with other local AAUW branches to plan a bi-annual event. The next conference will be held on March 10, 2012.
Brighter Horizons Math, Science and Technology Conference is scheduled for Saturday, March 10th, 2012 at California Lutheran University, 60 West Olsen Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Brighter Horizons Conference nurtures students’ interests in math and science related subjects to encourage them to consider careers in technological fields. Students in 5th to 9th grades are invited to choose 3 different workshops each led by a woman who is a professional working in the subject field. Workshops include hands-on activities that demonstrate tasks related to the subject and that, hopefully, spark an interest in the student.
Tech Trek:
The Tech Trek Committee works toward the goal of annually sending 10 girls who have just completed 7
th grade to a one-week summer seminar at UC Santa Barbara consisting of many courses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) all taught by women. This AAUW program began fourteen years ago and help girls continue their interests in STEM exploration and learning through the tricky years when new distractions enter their lives. Statistics have shown that girls’ interests can be sustained if they are exposed to the careers available to women in science today. Tech Trek provides some of that exposure. For more information about working toward the AAUW Tech Trek goals, contact
Mangala Holt-Patel , the Director of this project for the Thousand Oaks Branch.
For more information about the Tech Trek program in general, visit
www.aauw-techtrek.org. And, of course, donations for scholarship money for Tech Trek is always appreciated.
Public Policy:
Under the helm of
Sally Hibbitts, this committee recently completed a Title IX Compliance Report and as a result of the Committee’s recommendations, they will be creating small teams of members to visit the field offices of area politicians. This is a vital job in order to raise awareness for our Public Policy initiatives, not only nationally but also here in California. Locally, in the Conejo Valley, branch members have been and continue to attend games of some of the schools’ female sports teams to show our support for these terrific athletes who work so hard and often get very little public notice. Let’s cheer them on to victory, not only for their team, but also for Title IX! Other pending legislation is being reviewed to see if we can ensure equity for women and girls in every aspect of their lives.
Women in History:
Twenty years ago, Sandy Hindy, a former AAUW-Thousand Oaks member, had a conversation with her daughter in which it became clear her daughter believed that girls became nurses and only boys could become doctors. Determined to show her daughter girls could become whatever they set their minds to, Sandy sat down and wrote five monologues which told the stories of five notable women. One of them was Elizabeth Blackwell, America’s first woman doctor. Sandy went on to portray the five women at her daughter’s school, one each day of the week, during Women’s History Month in March.
Thus began our Branch’s Women’s History Project. Every year our committee meets in July to choose five notable women to be presented the following March. After the monologues have been researched and written, they are combined into a packet and sent out, in November, to elementary and middle schools in our district and other districts when requested. The monologues are presented in schools during Women’s History Month in March either by students or adult volunteers.We have written 92 monologues to date, 45 of which have been published in 3 volumes of Profiles of Women: Past and Present (15 monologues/volume). scholarships. Proceeds from the sale of these books go toward AAUW Funds.
See Shopping to the right for ordering. And, look at the Event section of this website to see more about the 2012 Women’s History Project. Or, contact Marianne Escaron or Donna Langley for more information about this committee.
By the way, Sandy Hindy’s daughter did become a doctor.
For more information about the National or California State AAUW, check out the AAUW or AAUW-CA website.
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