Reflections on the Conference : Oct 19 – 21, 2023
Claudia L. Walker, Ed.D – president-elect of AAUW San Antonio
Where to begin? My first conference as a member of AAUW was more than I expected in a very positive manner. The sessions were fantastic and the Infusion/Inclusion will definitely be adopted/adapted in the San Antonio Branch effective July 2024. The best part of the conference for me was meeting and making connections with women who are phenomenal. When I met Gloria Blackwell I knew I belonged! I met Melissa LaDuke and I immediately felt a kindred spirit because she is serving this country as an Air Force member as I did. A very special thank you to SHARE Committee for providing the grant for me to attend. I must say thank you to Malinda Gaul, we belong to the same branch, but she has been a wonderful mentor since the day I met her. Ultimately, I must thank Martha Steele for inviting me to become a member of AAUW. Had I not sat next to her at a Can We Talk breakout session at Texas A&M San Antonio I would have never been exposed to AAUW. Thank you again to SHARE committee members for granting me the access and opportunity.
Poupette Farnell – president of AAUW West Harris County
Thank you and the Texas Board, for providing us with the grant to attend the AAUW Western Regional Conference. The conference was extremely informative and it was great to meet and be in a room with so many dedicated, motivated and passionate women!
The speakers were inspiring and I learned a lot about AAUW and how the National and State Board can support the branches. I plan on sharing what I found out with the Board of Directors as well as the general membership. The Swap Shop Session provided me with a lot of ideas which I am eager to implement, specifically the CU Relation. With so many universities and colleges in the Houston area I am eager to have the WHCB expand our CU Relation. I also found AAUW Counter Sessions was very useful, providing me with a blueprint on how to run a board meeting, etc.
I came back motivated and inspired with ample information and ideas to present to our branch. I hope to implement what I learned and inform our memberships of all that AAUW does.
Dr. Faye Beaulieu – president of AAUW Northeast Tarrant County
On this Monday morning, I’m finding it hard to realize it’s been only a week since we returned from St. Louis! I dropped immediately back into a busy campaign to pass a November 7 local school district bond referendum of $997,300,000 to rebuild six existing schools in dire need of attention. It is, however, a joy to share my experiences from the conference with you.
Other than our AAUW Texas virtual convening in April of 2022, the Regional Conference in St. Louis was my first real experience with a gathering of AAUW members outside our local branch. And what a grand experience it was! The planning committee brilliantly chose a venue that afforded attendees the opportunity to be together during both structured and serendipitous parts of our day. Meeting friends for breakfast before the day’s agenda started and gathering after meetings for happy hour and dinner allowed for interaction with conference speakers in a casual context to continue conversations that sprang from presentations [Getting to have a few minutes with AAUW President Gloria Blackwell was an unexpected joy!]. It also gave us the opportunity to widen our circle of friends to include members from different geographies still focused on the same mission and issues. And – and this was truly impactful – it saved attendees the time and money we would have otherwise needed to pour into efforts to go outside the hotel to find food!
In reviewing my notes from the conference, I’m struck by the strong focus on DEI, which has been a focal point for us as a local branch as well. Topics addressed in St. Louis ran the gamut from a discussion about how Native American tribes were forced off their ancestral lands to a personal testimony about a mother’s experience supporting her transgender son. N’Kenge Gonzalez from Michigan shared the acronym ABIDE: Access, Belonging, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity. Another mentioned that diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance, and equity is getting to help choose the music. All of these conversations provided great food for thought as we move back into our local environments with the ability to see things differently. Several from our branch just saw “Killers of the Flower Moon” together, and my experience was heightened by what I’d learned at the regional conference.
For me, the other major conference theme was advocacy. The HERstory presentation brought to life the efforts of historical activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, and Susan B. Anthony. Then AAUW Senior Public Policy Director Meghan Kissell reviewed the status of the ERA – ratified but languishing on the archivist’s desk, waiting to be published; that conversation created a ready-made advocacy opportunity for all attendees to use in approaching their own congressmen/women about getting this across the finish line. Our local branch Public Policy Officer, Jerrilyn Woodard-Entrekin, and I had the great good fortune to wait for a flight home with Meghan, during which time we learned that AAUW national leadership is very much aware of Texas legislation and political landscape.
I retired from a fulfilling career with United Way of Tarrant County last December, so I am especially grateful to AAUW Texas for making it possible for me to attend the Central States Regional Conference in St. Louis on a “tried and true” member SHARE grant. Listening to presidents from other local branches during the Counterpart Presidents’ Session, along with the Key Issues Panel’s advice to “get rid of some stuff” and “do something impactful” will help me do a better job in my final months as a local branch president and will help me work with incoming leadership as they plan their own governance strategies. The conversations at the conference as a whole will help me frame my ongoing perspective as a local branch member of 30+ years.
Many thanks for your kind support.