Toyosi Olola, UND Student, Named AAUW International Fellow
Toyosi Olala
Toyosi Olala, a doctoral candidate at the University of North Dakota, has been named a 2023 American Association of University Women (AAUW) International Fellow. Olala is the first UND student to achieve that honor. Olala was awarded $25,000 to assist with her research during the 2023/2024 academic year. Olala’s research examines using telepsychology as a culturally appropriate communicative approach as a mental health intervention for women in Nigeria.
The AAUW International Fellowships are awarded for full time study or research in the U.S. to women who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Both graduate and postgraduate studies at accredited U.S. Institutions are supported. Recipients are selected for their academic achievement and demonstrated commitment to women and girls. Recipients return to their home countries to become leaders in business, government, academia, community activism, the arts or scientific fields.
Olala in studying in the Department of Communication at UND.
AAUW Jamestown Hosts Sarah Vogel Author of “The Farmers Lawyer”
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UPCOMING WEBINAR FROM AAUW National
In Conversation with Dr. Keisha N. Blain
Tuesday, October 18, 2 p.m. ET
For this special webinar in our 140th anniversary series, AAUW CEO Gloria Blackwell speaks with 2016-17 AAUW American Fellow and award-winning author, historian and professor Dr. Keisha N. Blain.
Dr. Blain will discuss her most recent book Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America, a riveting biography and intellectual history of Black activist Fannie Lou Hamer. Dr. Blain establishes Hamer as a crucial political thinker for the civil rights movement and demonstrates the modern-day relevance of Hamer’s ideas. Until I Am Free has been described as a must-read for anyone committed to social justice.
All AAUW Members Encouraged to Attend AAUW North Dakota Rally
Join your AAUW State Board as we rally in 2022 at Woodland Resort in Devils Lake. Visit the annual meeting page for details and a link to register.
Equal Pay Day March 15, 2022
This date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. Equal Pay Day involves thousands of local advocates in programs and activities focused on eradicating wage discrimination against women and people of color. Local Equal Pay Day activists organize rallies, lobby days, speak-outs, letter-writing campaigns, workshops, and meetings with employers, policy-makers, and enforcement agencies to promote effective solutions for closing the wage gap. Red is worn on this day as a symbol of how far women and minorities are “in the red” with their pay. For additional information see the Equal Pay Day Tool kit for sample letters, sample city proclamations and other equal pay day tools.
Norma Nosek, Wahpeton awarded “Women of Distinction.”
Equal Pay Day – March 24, 2021
Jamestown Mayor Dwaine Heinrich signed a proclamation declaring March 24, 2021 as Equal Pay Day in Jamestown, ND according to AAUW Jamestown.
82 cents: that’s how much women in the U.S. who work full time, year round are paid for every dollar paid to men. Join the nation in building awareness of Women’s Day Inequity by celebrating Equal Pay Day and March Madness: The Pay Gap is Madness. #EqualPayDay
Women’s Equal Pay Day marks the day into the year on which it takes for all women on average to earn what men did in 2020. That’s 15 months. Or, if you look at a typical 9:00-5:00 work day, women start working for free at 2:40 p.m.
City of Jamestown Equal Pay Day Proclamation
Wahpeton Declares March 24 as Equal Pay Day
Wahpeton AAUW met with the city council and gets proclamation signed for Equal Pay Day for Women.
Women in Agriculture-Bridging Cultures & Education
AAUW-Devils Lake invited all members and other interested persons to a ZOOM program featuring guest presenter, Dr. Songul Senturkly. Dr. Senturkly spoke about the education of women in Turkey, and shared general culture and geography of her native country. IT was a wonderful program and a special thank you to the Devils Lake Branch for sharing her story.
Dr. Songul Senturklu is a native of Canakkale,Turkey.She is currently on a short-term research project as a visiting scholar at the Dickinson-based NDSU Research Extension Center in Dickinson, ND. Dr. Songul is conducting research on integrated livestock systems within the scope of sustainable agriculture. She explains, “We have a comprehensive research chain, extending from Soil to Fork”.
Dr. Songul graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture, with her doctorate in Feed Technology & Animal Nutrition.She has been working as an Associate Professor at Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Department of Animal Science.
WE Rise – Date Change
Due to a variety of circumstances, WE Rise has been moved to a new date. This free event will be held Monday, March 22 and will include a lobbyist panel along with hosted live streams of committee hearings and floor sessions. The live streams will be moderated, which will allow for questions and discussion. The education sessions that are normally held on Sunday, will be prerecorded and released prior to the event for attendees to watch at their convenience. You can register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/we-rise-2021-virtual-tickets-142951617135
National Election 2021
It’s your AAUW, and your voice counts.
This spring, AAUW members will be asked to vote on amendments to the Public Policy Priorities and bylaws, in addition to electing members to the national board of directors. This year the AAUW ND membership supports the bylaw change to open membership to all and remove the degree requirement. Voting will begin on April 7. All voting will take placeonline in April and May 2021 unless a member sends a specific request to AAUW for a paper ballot. All members without an email address on file with AAUW national will receive notification of the vote by mail. Your vote is important.
Below are links to information on voting.
AAUW State Board Meeting – Saturday, March 6
ND AAUW held their annual meeting on Saturday, March 6 via zoom. Members are encouraged to attend the “We Rise” event listed above.
AAUW Legislative Update Branch Meeting
Kristie Wolff
Jamestown AAUW members and other interested women attended our Saturday, January 23 meeting. Many issues were discussed including the breast feeding bill HB1105, (pass) Paid Family Leave Bill HB1441 (pass). The Women’s Network is needing your stories how Family Medical Leave has helped your family in support of this bill, HB 1313 Abortion Bill (harsh penalties) (do not pass) and HB 1413 Funding for Free School Nutrition (pass), and others. Kristie Wolff, Executive Director of the ND Women’s Network, shared information about upcoming legislative bills as well as information on how to testify for or against a bill during the pandemic. You can watch a video to see how to submit testimony or to testify. Wolff will also share information about the WE RISE (Women Empowered Lobby Day) virtual event coming up in March and how we can be a partner.
CALL TO ACTION HB 1105 Breastfeeding Bill
North Dakota Women’s Network is asking for your support for the breastfeeding bill! The bill, which updates an antiquated law to help protect moms nursing their babies in public, was defeated in 2019. Thanks to Rep. Gretchen Dobervich, the bill has been reintroduced as HB 1105 in the 2021 session.
Currently, it is legal under the indecent exposure law to breastfeed in public if the women is “discreet and modest,” but those words are subjective, leaving room for interpretation and discrimination. The bill aims to fix that language.
NDWN testified in favor of HB 1105 today. The House is expected to vote on the bill later this week. Please contact your representatives in the House and ask them to vote YES on HB 1105.
Breastfeeding is natural, not indecent. It’s time to stop shaming moms and let babies eat when they are hungry. Find my Legislator
Jamestown AAUW Awards UJ Scholarship
AAUW National Unveils New Website
AAUW is pleased to announce the launch of our new national website. The site is the result of many months of hard work and close collaboration with design experts, staff at all levels and AAUW members. AAUW is thrilled to showcase member and staff work together towards advancing gender equity.
Members Gear Up involvement in AAUW Strategic Plan
Work Smart – Free Online Salary Negotiation Seminar
Visit Salary Negotiation and take this free online course in salary negotiation techniques.
Learn how to research your target salary, highlight your accomplishments and find the right words — and the confidence — to negotiate for better benefits and pay. You can sign up for a free in-person workshop or online course, which takes less than two hours to complete and can be done at your own pace. AAUW’s goal is to mobilize a million women to learn salary negotiation skills.
BrainSTEM Event
Fargo-Moorhead AAUW held their 3rd Annual BrainSTEM event that took place on Concordia College’s campus on October 24. They had 18 hands on workshops led by professionals, professors, and students from underrepresented groups in STEM. The even focuses on promoting diversity in STEM and reducing prejudice and bias. The day began with discussing famous scientists and engineer who students know as well as a discussion about implicit bias. The 7th grade class from Ben Franklin Middle School attended three workshops during the day where they built robots, dissected brains, broke secret codes, created Rube Goldberg machines and competed to build slender towers and bridges out of paper.
Work Smart Salary Negotiation Workshop
Jamestown AAUW is interested in hosting either a Work Smart or Start Smart (college students) workshops. Three members, Mary Craft, (left), Louise Williams (middle), and Kelly Krein (right), were able to observe a Work Smart workshop that was held in Fergus Falls, MN in October. They brought back lots of ideas and suggestions for our members.
Fargo-Moorhead AAUW Get Out The Vote
Branch members Alexa Ducioame and Evelyn Quigley worked to get out the vote at the farmers market in Fargo during October. They helped market-goers find their polling place, know more about measures, and offered stickers and buttons reading “I will vote” and “It’s my vote; I will be heard”.
Trick Or Treat with the Jamestown AAUW Bookstore
Jamestown AAUW members gave away books from the AAUW Bookstore to children at the Buffalo Mall Halloween night “Trick or Treating” event. Lot’s of fun for all!
Fargo-Moorhead holds Book Sale October 26-28, 2018
Co-chairs, Roberta Harnisch and Sara Lindberg, as well
as the committee, did a wonderful job organizing the event this year. In addition to books, we celebrated another special anniversary. When Jo Lee and Dan were 14 years old, they went on their first date on October 26, 1973 in Dillon, MT to an AAUW book sale. They bought 78 records, a copy of Rubaiyat, and many other classics. They live in Helena, MT now and came to our book sale on Friday to celebrate the 45th anniversary of their first date. In addition to our book sale, they attended a movie at the Fargo Theatre, visited the Hjemkomst, and enjoyed dinner at Mezzaluna.
Apply for AAUW’s Fellowships and Grants Today!
Fellowship and grant recipients perform research in a wide range of disciplines and work to improve their schools and communities. Their intellect, dedication, imagination, and effort promise to forge new paths in scholarship, improve the quality of life for all, and tackle the educational and social barriers facing women worldwide. AAUW seeks a diverse applicant pool.
Read More(NOTE: The 2018 application period closes between November 1 and December 1 this year dependent upon program. Be sure to check each individual fellowship or grant program for complete availability and deadline information.)
Strategic Plan
The AAUW Strategic Plan is created through an inclusive process involving the AAUW Board of Directors and staff. The goals, indicators of success, and strategies reflect an integrated approach to fulfilling our mission, vision, and value promise. As AAUW continues to move forward in a changing world, so have our Strategic Plan and our Vision Statement.
Career Development Grants
Career Development Grants provide funding to women who hold a bachelor’s degree and are preparing to advance or change careers or reenter the workforce. Primary consideration is given to women of color and women pursuing their first advanced degree or credentials in nontraditional fields.
Fargo-Moorhead AAUW Plan “Get Out The Vote”
Do you want to see a higher turnout in November?Help Fargo-Moorhead AAUW plan our Get Out the Vote efforts and sign up for tabling and volunteer events on Monday, October 8, 2018, 7-8:30 PM.All are welcome!Barry Hall Room 120, Please do not park in the Sons of Norway lotThose interested can gather for an informal meal beforehand at The Boiler Room 5:00-6:45 PM
Jamestown AAUW Get’s Out The Vote
Jamestown Branch members promoted informed voting at their booth at the annual University of Jamestown Block party on Main Street in Jamestown on August 30. Information on ND Voter ID Laws and “It’s My Vote – I will be Heard” stickers.
Jamestown AAUW #ToastToTenacity
Jamestown AAUW branch members recently celebrated the anniversary of the signing into law of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution with a #ToastToTenacity. The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution became law in August 1920, granting American women the right to vote. Ninety-eight years later, Vision 2020’s Toast to Tenacity honors the suffragists who fought for this right, and urges women to shape the future by exercising their right to vote.
Jamestown AAUW Garden Tour
Jamestown AAUW members held their 29th Annual AAUW Garden Tour in Jamestown on July 18. The event was attended by over 250 visitors to four featured yards. Funds from this event support AAUW’s mission to improve equity for women and girls through programming efforts and some of the monies also support the Jamestown’s AAUW Scholarship Endowment at the University of Jamestown.
Congratulations to AAUW’s 2018-19 Fellowship and Grants Awardees!
2018-2019 AAUW Fellows Grantees Collage
The 2018–19 award year kicked off with the release of our updated online Fellowships and Grants directory in which you can find out more about the remarkable women and organizations from your area! To learn more about AAUW’s fellowships and grants programs and past awardees, visit our fellowships and grants web page and read our Following the Fellows blog series.
AAUW Issues: Federal Judicial Nominations
Statue of Lady Justice in the Romerplatz of Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany.
AAUW’s Public Policy Priorities supports “a fair, balanced, and independent judiciary” to ensure constitutional protection for the civil rights of all individuals. Federal courts up to and including the Supreme Court are often also the last, best hope for women who have experienced discrimination in education, employment, health care, and other aspects of their lives.
2018 AAUW National Bylaws Amendment Vote Results
Thank you for participating in the 2018 AAUW National Bylaws Amendment vote. We had a great turnout this year with over 17 percent of eligible members participating in the vote, more than three times the 5 percent required by our bylaws. In North Dakota we had 175 eligible voters and 24 voted for a total of 13.7 percent.Thank you for making your voice matter on these important issues.
AAUW members Minnie Miles (front row, fourth from right) and Reps. Edith Green (left of president, in white suit), Martha Griffiths (second from right), and Julia Hansen (far right) with President John F. Kennedy as he signs the Equal Pay Act into law on June 10, 1963. CREDIT: Abbie Rowe, White House Photographs. Courtesy of John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston
Know Your Rights: The Equal Pay Act
Despite the passage of the EPA 55 years ago, women still do not take home wages equal to those of their male peers. If you’re concerned that you may be a victim of sex-based pay discrimination, or if you just want to know more about how the EPA works, this resource covers the basic information to get you started.
Take the Pledge to Protect Title IX
Fillable “I Live Title IX Because” signs at an event for Senator Harry Reid
June 23rd marks the 46th anniversary of Title IX. Help fight back against attacks on the Title IX by pledging to take part in AAUW’s upcoming campaign to protect Title IX.
Still Separate, Still Unequal: The Role of Black Women and Girls in the Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education
Washington, D.C. Reading lesson in a Negro elementary school. Public Domain. Library of Congress.
More than sixty years after Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, in which the Supreme Court ruled that state laws segregating schools were unconstitutional, schools are more segregated than they were in 1968 (approximately 75 percent of black students attend racially segregated schools), and black girls have suffered greatly as a result.
Broken Ladders: Barriers to Women’s Representation in Non-Profit Leadership
Women’s equity in the workplace has been a focus of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) since our founding in 1881. And while great strides have been made, women are still largely excluded from the most powerful corporate positions in our economy. For Instance, the Fortune 500 list of the largest American corporations recently reached a historic high representation of women CEOs at just 6.4 percent, or about 1 in 15. Women in these companies fill only about one in five senior management positions. AAUW’s latest report on women in leadership at nonprofits is now available online.
Gender Equity in CEO Representation, by Organization budget
AAUW ND Celebrates 2018 “Women of Distinction”
This year’s “Women of Distinction” are honored for promoting women’s and girls issues and for their leadership both in their affiliates and their communities.
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- Renelle Bertsch, AAUW Wahpeton
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- Alexa Ducioame, AAUW Fargo-Moorhead
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- Luanne Stromme, AAUW Devils Lake, Honorable Mention
AAUW ND Elects Three to State Board
Theresa Leiphon, AAUW Devils Lake, was elected to her second term as AAUW North Dakota’s State President. Connie Lillijord, AAUW Jamestown was reelected as our state secretary and Kathy Ashe, AAUW Grand Forks was also elected to her second term as By-Laws and Parliamentarian Chair.
The 2018 North Dakota AAUW Annual Meeting was held in Jamestown on April 13-14. Read all about meeting highlights here: https://aauw-nd.aauw.net/2018-annual-meeting/
FARGO-MOORHEAD AAUW Celebrate National Equal Pay Day
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- Mayors signing Equal Pay Proclaimation
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- Signing Proclaimation
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- Equal Pay Proclaimation
Fargo-Moorhead AAUW members celebrated National Equal Pay day by having area Mayors sign a proclaimation declaring April 10 as Equal Pay Day in the area vowing to improve Pay Equity issues in the Metro Area. Read the full story here Equal Pay Day.
AAUW State Meeting – April 13-14, 2018 in Jamestown
Please register for the State AAUW Meeting by April 6, 2018 to get the registration discount. Members can register online at: AAUW ND State Meeting Registration
For more information about the annual meeting or for a printable registration form please visit our Annual Meeting page
Jamestown AAUW Member Recognized for Art Work
Mary Craft, a member of Jamestown AAUW, was recognized at Unison Bank, located on Main Street in Jamestown, as Artist of the Month. Her thirty-one pieces of mixed media collages are on display at the bank for the entire month. One of Mary’s art pieces was also selected in 2017 for the AAUW Notecards as part of the AAUW National Member Art Contest. Congratulations Mary.
The 2018 Tech Savvy and Stem Tastic was held on March 15 on the University of Jamestown Campus
The AAUW Jamestown (ND) Branch has joined forces with the Jamestown
Public Schools, University of Jamestown, and the ND STEM Network to host Tech Savvy, a local, one-day program at the University of Jamestown that was held on Thursday, March 15, 2018 to help over 220 seventh and eighth-grade girls from Stutsman County explore science, technology, engineering and math. Tech Savvy by AAUW, is a national program designed for girls to experience firsthand how STEM fields can lead to exciting careers. Read all about this Tech Savvy event.