Marilyn Shankar & Heather Abushanab

Spring is truly here and very welcome! The branch has had two successful fundraisers for our Mission Fund in the last two months, our Bridge Scramble and FilmFest. When we select fundraisers, we are looking for things that are both fun and can raise money. These two events certainly delivered on both fronts this spring.

The Mission Fund is our bucket of money used to advance our mission here in the Inland Empire. A few months ago, the Board adopted the following statement to describe the mission of our branch:

The Redlands Branch of AAUW is dedicated to advancing equity for women and girls through education, empowerment, and advocacy.

When you talk to people about AAUW, be sure to lead with our mission! Yes, we do a lot of fun stuff and yes, our STEM Conferences are amazing. But these are things we do, not who we ARE! Once you hook someone’s interest because of our mission, then you can describe all the great ways our branch carries out our mission. For example, we send college women from our partner schools to the NCCWSL Conference at the University of Maryland each year. These young women come away from the experience with new knowledge about how to accomplish their personal goals and a network of new colleagues who can empower and support them in the future. The mission fund also supports our high school scholarships and our Speech Trek competition. Students who receive a scholarship or award get not only money but also the confidence to tackle new challenges as they prepare for adulthood. Our longest-running mission is the Nancy Yowell Memorial Scholarship. It has had different names over the years, but the goal has remained the same, supporting women who have had an interruption in their education to complete their degrees. Many of the recipients have acknowledged that the money eases the challenges they face staying in school, and also that the recognition and support from other women boost their confidence that they can achieve their goals and further commit them to the process. Our holiday boutique directly supports the NYM scholarships, but our other fundraising can be used to support these scholarships when needed.

The Mission Fund can also support new missions. One idea I am intrigued by is supporting a woman from our branch to enroll in the Leadership Redlands program run by the Redlands Chamber of Commerce. The board will be discussing this idea in the next few months. If the program seems of interest to you, please let us know. That would certainly influence our discussion.

If you have additional ideas about how AAUW Redlands Branch can carry out its mission in the future, or about ways to raise money for this mission, please reach out and let us know! We can’t do everything, but we are open to doing more!

Heather Abushanab, Co-President
AAUW Redlands Branch