AAUW in the 21st Century
by Ruth Z. Sweetser and Barbara L. O’Connor
Will 2009 be the year of AAUW’s transformation? If so, each of us needs to be reminded that policies and procedures by themselves don’t change an organization. Rather, it is YOU, the members, who have the opportunity to move AAUW from a 20th- to a 21st-century organization. Since transformation depends on the human factor, how does this happen?
First, we have to work together and think together as an entire community to ensure that we keep our AAUW Value Promise at all times. When planning branch activities or even personal activities, ask “How does this project or program or activity help keep AAUW’s Value Promise?” In other words, how am I helping to break through educational and economic barriers for women and girls? Diligence in keeping AAUW’s promise will make an enormous difference both in getting results for our mission and in branding our organization.
Whenever you read with your granddaughter, play in a bridge tournament that benefits the AAUW Educational Foundation, host a guest speaker on pay equity at a branch meeting, or write your member of Congress through our Two-Minute Activist portal, you’re taking a step to break through barriers. Just asking yourself that question brings a new awareness to and appreciation of our work that is vital to making it succeed—and will help you focus as your branch plans its mission-based programming. When you take that planning up a notch—asking how can my branch join with as many other branches and members as possible to apply our collective influence to a breakthrough—barriers, watch out! With nationwide engagement by members, our results, if documentable, will prove to be powerful and persuasive.
Second, plan to attend the 2009 AAUW National Convention: Breaking through Barriers, June 26–28, in St. Louis. There you’ll have the chance to experience the new AAUW firsthand, to see with your own eyes what the future holds for our organization. You’ll make AAUW history by participating in the bylaws votes, and, of course, you’ll reconnect with old friends and make valuable and enjoyable new connections. But, please, come to convention well versed in the proposed bylaws and rationales; the briefings provide extensive information on these new approaches.
Third, adopt innovative tools and future-oriented thinking about what will make AAUW viable, attractive, and competitive. Yes, organizations compete for the attention and participation of current and potential members. If we are unable or unwilling to see the big picture of AAUW and its needs in 2009 and beyond, we risk the future of the entire organization. So to finalize the corporate restructuring from three separate entities to one tax-exempt umbrella organization (501(c)(3) with a very small 501(c)(4) subsidiary, the Action Fund), we will need to adopt bylaws that support the respective legalities and functions. We also need new ways of operating that recognize updated ways to lead, technology that facilitates administrative work so volunteers can devote themselves to breaking through barriers, 21st-century ways of engaging with each other, and other practices.
A number of these innovative tools have been introduced through the series of briefings that AAUW has provided since early fall 2008. These tools include the Programs in a Box, which provide how-to’s for mission-based programming; the Membership Pilot Program, which will allow leaders to manage their membership records online; and the Branch and State Local Scholarship Clearinghouse Pilot Program, which will help branches market their scholarships and select their recipients from a pool of prescreened applicants. Our new method of submitting a leadership position application will allow members to express general and specific areas for service, along with an inventory of skill sets they can bring to these positions. The type of work expected of the regional director is so valuable that we are revamping and strengthening that role to ensure grassroots engagement for the new AAUW.
At the AAUW state spring meetings, board members and other leaders—champions—will present and facilitate discussion on all these transitions. Be sure to take advantage of this personalized learning opportunity, especially in preparation for the convention in St. Louis.
Each of these changes marks a departure from our business as usual, yet they are all designed to address our organizational shortcomings. It is up to us to take hold of what organizational development teaches us, leave behind AAUW practices and thinking that don’t work, and build on AAUW’s unmatched legacy to reshape its potential for the future. We need to be smart, as well as educated!
The critical question is, How will you help AAUW move into the 21st century? As noted, the forward-looking framework and policies/procedures are being developed for your consideration and decision. How you think about AAUW, its future and its promise, will determine both how you receive proposed changes and, more important, what you do with the new AAUW once it is in place. You—both individually and collectively as the AAUW community—are the agent on which AAUW’s success rests!
The new AAUW is going to be a force to be reckoned with. With a community of nearly 100,000 determined women and men, focused on a single objective—to break through barriers for women and girls—we will be unstoppable.
##############################
Calling All Leaders!
AAUW Announces New Leadership Development DVD Series
AAUW is pleased to announce a new series of leadership-focused DVDs created for distribution during the 2008 state convention season and other leadership events. As we work to strengthen and revitalize AAUW, all members must connect together as a community of active and effective participants. To fulfill our mission of advancing equity for women and girls, AAUW continues to need strong leaders who will make sure the AAUW legacy continues. In the past, only two members per state participated in national level leadership training. This new series of DVDs will provide leadership skills and strategies for all members.
Each state’s leadership exercised their scheduling option to present the DVDs. States will make the DVD series available to branches after their state event. A representative of the national leadership, including AAUW or Educational Foundation board members and regional directors, will attend one event for each state to listen and hear from members across the country.
The DVDs are divided into modules which focus on leadership development as it relates to particular aspects of AAUW’s mission. Each module includes a discussion guide for participants. It’s vital that all of us can easily discuss AAUW’s mission… with a consistent message which will enable us to retain our current members and recruit the new and diverse membership of tomorrow.
The leaders’ introduction module features a conversation with AAUW President Ruth Sweetser, AAUW Educational Foundation President Barbara O’Connor, and new AAUW Executive Director
Linda Hallman. They chart an inspiring course for AAUW’s future, with a mission-focused message that members will share with their local branches. Together, these three leaders provide a “state of AAUW” message;
- summarize the strategic process journey for AAUW’s future;
- explain AAUW’s mission and how it relate to members, branches, the future of our organization; and
- discuss the impact of AAUW mission-focused branch activities on their communities.
The remainder of the DVD modules focus on specific areas of AAUW programming and business, as well as other topics. These modules describe how you can become involved in—or strengthen your current involvement with—vital areas of AAUW’s mission.
To advance equity through advocacy, AAUW staff leaders describe
how you can become an effective advocate for AAUW priority issues;
- how you can help mobilize women voters at the grassroots level in the upcoming elections;
- how you can stay current with issues that impact the higher education of women, and the subtleties of the politics involved, through AAUW public policy resources and updates; and
- how you can help eliminate sex discrimination on campus through the AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund.
To advance equity through education and research, AAUW staff leaders
introduce AAUW’s latest research report—its findings and recommendations, media and
promotional outreach tools, and how you can share this information with your branch;
- provide an overview on the National Girls Collaborative Project and how you can promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) initiatives in your community;
-
- describe how you can encourage women’s leadership development through AAUW’s National Conference for College Women Student Leaders and Campus Action Projects; and
- report on AAUW’s fellowships and grants, tell how you can meet local recipients, and hear their stories to motivate involvement and investment in AAUW philanthropy.
To build a stronger community, AAUW staff leaders in the membership, fundraising, communications, and marketing DVD modules discuss
· why it is so important to tell the AAUW story and marketing (it’s not a bad word!) is every member’s responsibility;
· why effective communication and information sharing are important to building a community as AAUW moves into the future;
· how branch and individual contributions make a difference;
· how you can use AAUW’s website, videos, DVDs, and other materials to advance our mission in your branch; and
At this critical stage in our history, AAUW needs the active engagement of all members delivering the mission to advance equity for women. With leadership training through the DVD series, all AAUW members will be better prepared to focus their mission-based efforts, recruit new members, and further develop their leadership potential ….. because equity is still an issue!
