Our Special Guest Speaker

Lena Epps Brooker was born in Lumberton and grew up in the rural community of Saddletree in Robeson County in eastern NC.   She attended Magnolia School, a public school for American Indians, and was the first American Indian (and first person of color) to graduate from Meredith College, Raleigh.  She lived in Raleigh for 26 years, taught school, and worked for NC State Government, including the Commission of Indian Affairs, the Department of Employment and Training, and The Women’s Center.  She was the corporate diversity consultant for a multi-state financial institution.  Brooker’s volunteer activities in Raleigh included board member of the city’s Human Relations Council, the Arts Council, and the Triangle Native American Society.  She served on the boards of NC Council of Women, NC American Civil Liberties Union, and the administrative board of Hayes Barton United Methodist church.  She is a certified lay minister for the Western NC Conference of the United Methodist Church.  Brooker’s honors include the Lights of Hope Award from the Wake Public Schools, Woman of Achievement Award from the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of NC, Who’s Who in the South, and the Distinguished Woman Award from American Indian Women of Proud Nations.  Lena is married to Jim Brooker and lives north of Asheville on a mountainside overlooking Reems Creek Valley.  In addition to enjoying time with their two children, she also gardens and plays tennis.

Biography retrieved from http://cmlitfest.org/2019-authors/

More about Lena here  https://prabook.com/web/lena_epps.brooker/908340

We meet on Tuesday June 16Th at 5:15pm so MARK YOUR ZOOM CALENDARS!!!

Let’s Welcome   Marian Lewin

League of Women Voters

Marian Lewin has served in several leadership positions for the League of Women Voters-Wake since becoming a member in 1997 including as president from 2014 to 2019. In addition to chairing the Voters Services Committee, Marian is Vice-President of the Board of Directors for the League of Women Voters of North Carolina. She has worked extensively in the public policy arena. In Washington DC, she worked for the General Accountability Office (GAO) in the National Security and International Affairs Division responding to congressional requests for legislative and budgetary analysis of Department of Defense and State Department programs. Marian then worked at the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture providing analysis of legislative proposals. In Raleigh, she served as an Assistant to the Commissioner in the NC Department of Labor. While in Warsaw, Poland, she managed a cooperative agreement between the AFL-CIO and the Polish Worker’s Union, Solidarity. Since 1996 Marian has served as a precinct worker for the Wake County Board of Elections, most recently serving as an election-day Coordinator. She has a BA from the University of California-Davis and an MS and PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Please join us!  Our guest has timely information that’s more important now in our history of democracy and freedom than ever before!!

Topic: AAUW Wake Zoom Meeting
Time: Jun 16, 2020 05:15 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83827582602

Meeting ID: 838 2758 2602

Our May Speaker

Our speaker is Lynn Edmonds, Outreach Director for Public Schools First NC and Great Schools in Wake. She has worked in public education advocacy for 10 years, first as a volunteer and then with Public Schools First NC beginning in 2013. Lynn graduated with an associate’s degree from Peace College (now William Peace University in Raleigh). She has served on multiple PTA and civic boards, including her current, at-large position on the Wake County Board of Library Commissioners. A native North Carolinian, Lynn and her husband attended and graduated from Durham Public Schools. They have two children who both graduated from Wake County public schools. We are eager to hear Lynn’s perspective on the current state of affairs of our public schools. Here are a few questions to get the conversation started:
· How are grades, especially exams being handled for 2020?
· What factors go into planning for the fall in Wake County Schools?
· With unequal access to the Internet, isn’t online education an unfair delivery system?
· What other challenges are teachers and administrators are coping with?
· What difference (if any) is made for the future in Wake County by the (December 2019)
Leandro Report and the (April 2020) state and system responses?

AAUW Zoom Meeting Tuesday 5/19/2020 5:15 PM to 7:15 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89642136806

ONE ADDITIONAL NOTE: The fiscal year for AAUW ends on June 30. So, it’s time to renew your membership at all 3 levels (local, state and national AAUW). Both the Membership VP & the branch Treasurer have the capacity to invoice members for the 2020-21 year, if you’d like to get a notice. Alternatively, if you know your membership number, you can go straight to aauw.org and click on Membership. You’ll be guided to the online form for renewal. Send me an email to get your membership number.

Gregoria Smith, our Program Vice President is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting
facilitated by Treka Spraggins, President.
See Our Agenda below. Just click on the link to join the meeting.
Select Audio/ Video/ or both.

Join Zoom Meeting on your computer or laptop or phone
https://zoom.us/j/99393469733
Meeting ID: 993 9346 9733

Call in or dial the number below (New York) on your phone  
+1-646-558-8656,      99393469733# US (New York)
+1-312-626-6799,     99393469733# US (Chicago)

Meeting ID: 993 9346 9733
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/abm5xLdOUa

Our Agenda
1. Election temporarily on hold because of a need to rethink how we meet leadership demands
2. An overhaul of how we conduct our meetings until lockdown ends. Zoom for some. Call in for others.
3. Self-Care Habits that support who we are; since “sedentary” is not part of our corporate AAUW DNA
4. Time to get out the vote and touch base with League of Women Voters and find out how they are reaching out to get the job done.
5. Margie’s report: policy
6. Terry’s report: membership
7. Gregoria’s report: programs
8. Member sharing
9. Treka’s Tech & Talking: Keeping in Touch with Members

See you online!

Just so you know…..AAUW is going Virtual!  Of course, RWC will be right alongside our national office. So stay tuned for updates on our next meeting date and venue!  

https://mailchi.mp/4202783f3d9a/zoom-elections-and-annual-meeting?e=efb8c0906a

Unfortunately, we must cancel our March meeting.  The covid-19  “virus” is very real and taking a toll on our communities.  So an administrative decision has been made to keep us all safe and cancel our March meeting.

Please follow all cautionary behaviors to keep you and your families safe and healthy.

See you next month!

Regelyn “Reggie” Edwards is the Executive Director of The Encouraging Place, a
non-profit ministry in Raleigh, NC, created to serve women and their families and work toward racial healing. A Raleigh native, she attended local colleges and graduated from Justice Fellowship College of Theology with a Master of Arts in Ministry in 2005. Reggie has over 25 years of experience working in urban communities. She has impacted over 5,000 women through women’s empowerment programs and is a Certified Life Coach. She has also led hundreds of men and women in a deeper understanding of race and reconciliation. She serves as a consultant with churches and organizations, helping both to bridge the racial divide. In addition to several groups she coordinates, Reggie also holds annual conferences and forums on dismantling racism. She believes one cannot adequately deal with issues around racism without historical, cultural, structural, and institutional analysis. Reggie is a strong proponent of the Racial Equity Institute and participates regularly.
Come and Join us on Tuesday March 17 for an event of empowerment and knowledge!

AAUW’s Raleigh-Wake Branch

is proud to present the speaker for our

September 17^th Meeting

Leah Bug

speaking on

You Can Make a Difference:   The Importance of Supporting K-12 Students in Science and Engineering Research

Ensuring our K-12 students have strong science and engineering knowledge when they graduate from high school is imperative in preparing them for the future workforce, but also in creating scientifically literate citizens.  Come learn about the North Carolina Science and Engineering Fair, a program designed to showcase student’s original science and engineering research. Learn about the regional fairs, the state fair, and the International Science and Engineering Fair where our North Carolina compete with students from across the world. Learn how you can help support this important program and help students, especially underrepresented student populations, participate in these valuable learning experiences. No science or engineering background is required to help make a difference!

About our Speaker:

Dr. Leah Bug is currently the North Carolina Science Fair Foundation‘s Executive Director, but she will soon begin a new position at NC State as Assistant Director of The Engineering Place, a program of outreach to students in grades K-12.  Both positions draw on Leah’s classroom teaching experience and her belief that it’s never too early to expose students to research methods in the sciences and technical fields. The Engineering Place is a direct outgrowth of NC State’s College of Engineering program to cultivate women’s interest in applying for admission. The current belief is that interest develops early when the opportunity is provided.

More from Leah:

My talk will be focusing on my work as the Executive Director of the North Carolina Science and Engineering Fair.  I have had the honor of attending the North Carolina Science and Engineering Fair last March and joined NC Students at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, AZ last May. I am excited to share with you the impact these programs have had in inspiring students in STEM education. We are looking at ways to increase underrepresented student participation in the regional and state fairs, so I look forward to brainstorming with you!