It’s Official!  AAUW-WHC is a Five Star Branch!

The Program Star required the branch to host 2 to 4 programs that aligned with both WHC and National’s Strategic Plans.  Sincere thanks to our President, Carolyn Morris, for coordinating and rolling out the Work Smart/Start Smart Program with Texas Southern University.  Working with Dr. Michele Taylor, Assistant Dean of TSU’s Graduate School, and a new branch member, a seminar was conducted in the spring at the University. The seminar coached students on how to prepare for interviews and negotiate salaries.  Several WHC members attended and role played with the students at this event.

Our VP of Programs, Cindy Hickok, undaunted by the pandemic, worked tirelessly to set up several outstanding programs using Zoom so that the membership could access the monthly meetings without interruption.  These outstanding programs supported AAUW objectives and were key in helping us to attain the Program Star.

Ann Amador, our Student Chapter Liaison, has done an excellent job working with several Rice University students.  The AAUW-Rice University Student Affiliate is a dynamic group.  They produced a standing room only program with a panel of notable women discussing their roles in bringing about meaningful change in the community.  While the group has not been able to meet face-to-face this semester due to the virus, Anne has continued to mentor the group so that it can remain a vital part of the Rice experience. Anne’s continued support of the group was invaluable in helping us to achieve the Program Star.

The Advancement Star was achieved by retaining our membership at 90% from the previous year, and we actually increased our membership to the 93% level.  Many thanks to Carolyn Stoffel for keeping up with all our members and welcoming our new members.  Kudos to Diane Roberts because she successfully submitted the dues to National by the required September 30th deadline.  Also, a shout out to Mary Andersen for keeping all the data on the membership up to date.  It is a weekly task! There were some tight deadlines to meet to reach our 5 Star goal, and their hard work paid off and is appreciated.

A final requirement of the Advancement Star was to increase our annual giving to the Greatest Needs Program by 25%. Please refer to the article Greatest Needs Needed You and You Responded in this newsletter to read about the outstanding response to our plea for additional funds.

Our branch continues to go way beyond in its outreach to contribute to the advancement of women and girls by involving all of us in so many valuable community programs.

Mary Peterson and Rose Ennis