A Message from the President of AAUW

Heather Abushanab

A Message from the President

Two special things happened at our branch meeting on March 1. We heard from an AAUW fellowship recipient about her research on birthright citizenship, and we honored one member of our branch with an AAUW Redlands branch Named Gift Honoree award. We will honor another member in April.

Each year, AAUW provides more than $6 million in funding to about 300 fellows and grantees to pursue academic work and lead innovative community projects to empower women and girls. Our own Keita Wangari was the recipient of a Career Development Grant earlier in her career, which helped her gain new skills and reinvigorate her career path.

Our branch worked over many years to endow the Redlands (CA) Branch American Fellowship, the Redlands (CA) Branch International Fellowship, and the Bernice Black Johndrew Research and Projects Grant. These endowments produce funds every year for AAUW to use for today’s award recipients.  Applications for AAUW funding happen in the fall with several different programs.      https://www.aauw.org/resources/programs/fellowships-grants/

AAUW’s Legal Case Support grants fund cases in state or federal court that address sex discrimination in employment or education and have the potential to set or reinforce precedent for future cases. These grants help balance the scales of justice for people working toward gender equity through the legal system.           https://www.aauw.org/resources/legal/laf/legal-case-support-grant/

When members of our branch donate to one of AAUW’s funds, the branch receives credit for those donations toward the Named Gift Honoree program. As a branch we strive to earn the right to honor three branch members each year with this prestigious award. To do that, we must collectively donate $750 per award, equal to $2,250 per year. Currently AAUW asks that the majority of those donations come into their Greatest Needs Fund, which allows them to direct the funds to the programs most in need of support. You can make a donation toward this effort at the March branch meeting by placing a check or cash in the envelope on the table, but you can also contribute on the AAUW California website: https://www.aauw-ca.org/how-to-donate/  The Redlands Branch Named Gift Honoree is awarded to members who have participated in the branch for at least five years and have made extraordinary gifts of time and hard work to the branch and to AAUW. Past awardees are listed in our branch yearbook. Each January, prior awardees gather to consider who will be awarded this honor. It will be a delight to honor our new Named Gift Honoree at our March meeting.

Heather Abushanab
President, AAUW Redlands Branch