Let the Conversation begin -- What does the Shriver Report mean to us?

The Shriver Report has received a lot of media coverage, but now it's up to us to move the conversations forward.

Next steps?

in reference to:

"Among the findings, is what often happens in the face of sweeping change: Some of our institutions lag behind and don’t yet reflect this new dynamic. Government, business, the media and our faith communities, in many cases, still cling to outdated models of who works and who cares for our families.

For example, men now agree with women that government and business need to provide flexible work schedules, better childcare, family and medical leave and equal pay.

And over 80 percent of men and women agree businesses that fail to adapt to the needs of modern families risk losing good workers.
Only by examining this fundamental shift in how Americans live and do business -- and acknowledging the profound changes it has wrought -- can we grow and flourish.

Let the conversation begin."
- The Shriver Report || A Study by Maria Shriver and the Center For American Progress on How We Work and Live Today (view on Google Sidewiki)

AAUW Member Wins Nobel Prize

AAUW Member Wins Nobel Prize

Carol Greider Shares Prestigious Award for Physiology or Medicine

WASHINGTON, D.C. – AAUW celebrates Carol Greider, AAUW member-at-large and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with her two colleagues, Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak. Greider has been a member of AAUW since 2002.

Greider, Blackburn, and Szostak “discovered that telomeres are made up of simple, repeating blocks of DNA building blocks and are found in all organisms,” according to a Johns Hopkins University announcement. Understanding this biological process has paved the way to deeper knowledge of cancer and cellular aging.

“AAUW has a long history of supporting women in the sciences, and we are thrilled to count another Nobel Prize winner among our ranks,” said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE. In 1920, AAUW awarded two-time Nobel Prize recipient Marie Curie a grant to assist with her groundbreaking research on radium. AAUW member Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, was nominated for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his work supporting education for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Greider, who holds a doctorate in molecular biology from the University of California, Berkeley, currently works as the Daniel Nathans Professor and Director of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences. She, Blackburn, and Szostak will attend the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 10.

“Greider and Blackburn have shown that women can break through barriers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,” said AAUW President Carolyn H. Garfein. “Their accomplishment serves as an excellent example of women making valuable contributions and the need that exists for supporting and encouraging great female minds, as AAUW does with our fellowships, grants, and community of successful women.”

In 2009 a record five women were awarded Nobel Prizes. Prior to this year, only 35 women had ever received the honor. Greider and Blackburn were the first two women to simultaneously win the prize in medicine.

The three other 2009 female laureates include Ada Yonath, who is sharing the Nobel Prize in chemistry; Herta Mueller, who won the prize in literature; and Elinor Ostrom, who is sharing the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Ostrom is the first woman to win the economics prize.

To read what AAUW said on our blog about this year’s Nobel Prize winning women, please visit http://blog-aauw.org/2009/10/12/aauw-member-awarded-nobel-prize/

To view Marie Curie’s page in AAUW’s online museum, please visit https://svc.aauw.org/museum/history/1920_1929/index.cfm

NYTimes Mag Special Issue on Women

This issue, Saving the World's Women, August 23, 2009, keeps coming up in discussions at our AAUW meetings. For those who missed the issue, here's a gateway to the articles and resources on-line.

There's plenty of discussion material here.

in reference to: The Women’s Crusade - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

AAUW ED Attends VAWA Event with Vice President

Image via Wikipedia

AAUW Executive Director Linda Hallman attended an event at Number One Observatory Circle, the residence of the vice president, on Tuesday to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the landmark Violence Against Women Act.

Vice President Biden wrote the act, which provides funding for victim services and stronger enforcement efforts, while serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1994, and AAUW's advocacy was instrumental in the enactment of the law. Although much progress has been made, AAUW and our coalition partners are working to support the International Violence Against Women Act, as well as the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2011.

President Nominates Head of Women's Bureau

This week, President Obama announced Sara Manzano-Diaz as his nominee for director of the Women's Bureau in the Department of Labor.

Manzano-Diaz has served as Deputy Secretary for Regulatory Programs at the Pennsylvania Department of State and as Deputy General Counsel for Civil Rights and Litigation at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Latifa Lyles, who recently ran for president of the National Organization of Women, is expected to become the deputy director of the bureau.

For those unfamiliar with the Women's Bureau, it was created by law in 1920 to formulate standards and policies to promote the welfare of wage-earning women, improve their working conditions, increase their efficiency, and advance their opportunities for profitable employment.

AAUW looks forward to working with Ms. Manzano-Diaz and the Women's Bureau to continue to break through barriers for women and girls.