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Understanding Women's Issues
The organization also worked with women around the globe. Through the United Nations we worked with China, Africa, and South America. The idea was to foster the leadership of grassroots women and encourage them to take action in the developments of their own communities. Together with the Federation of Protestant Women and the NYS Executive Office of the Women’s Division, we organized a conference entitled “The Feminization of Poverty” because the majority of the people living in poverty were - and still are - women and children. Such a reality called for the kind of action that would lend support to the rapidly, increasing number of single female headed households resulting from the departure of manufacturing jobs coupled with arson sprees that left women and children living in substandard housing and blighted neighborhoods. Women re-maining in their communities, then, became the anchors of such communities. In the early 1980s, I took the work one step further by creating the concept of Women and Policy Symposiums, which brought professional and affluent women together with poor working class women to discuss policy issues. These symposiums opened opportunities for dialogue leading to concrete action, so that public and private policies leading to the development of programs affecting women and their families would address the “real needs” as opposed to perceived needs. Programs not based on concrete elements or “reality” have always resulted in a waste of money and resources, for example the employment and training programs under the Job Training Partnership Act or JTPA. In 1999, I was fortunate to find women in Greater Lawrence who shared my ideas and we started Woman’s Agenda - a committee planning and organizing annual Women and Policy Symposiums. Apparently our instincts were correct because hundreds of women have participated and many women come back each year with friends and family. We see women, for the most part, as the ones who negotiate on behalf of their families with various systems in our society (such as the schools, the healthcare system, and the like.) Inasmuch as we see women as the anchors in communities across the nation - if not the world - to improve on many of our social systems, women need to feel confident and supported in sharing how we see and think about what works and what doesn’t. Many times our discussions include how do we get men to be more supportive of women’s leadership. We very much want the men in our communities to grow with us and be our partners. By no means are the symposiums about “hating men”, this is not a part of our agenda. Every year more men help to make it happen; and, we find their increasing participation a strong indication that we are succeeding at building stronger partnerships in the community. Woman’s Agenda depends on the generosity of participating members, individuals, and organizations. We do not accept cash donations. Our budget is developed by the planning/organizing committee. We share the budget and ask potential sponsors or underwriters what they would be willing to pay for or contribute. These sponsors and underwriters pay vendors directly or provide in-kind contributions. This is especially true of organizations that have as part of their mission some aspect of community organizing or direct services to women and children –(such as the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council’s Head Start Program). We do receive folders, paper, pencils, pens and other needed supplies from organizations like Family Services, which has a program to focus on developing women’s leadership skills in the area of environmental justice. Often this means the sponsors organizational logo or slogan will be printed on such materials. In addition, the consumers of their organizational services or programs participate in the symposiums, which helps advance the mission of participating organizations. The Lawrence Public Schools, for example, have a leadership development program for parents, of which 95% are women. In like manner, women make up the majority of the tenant association members and leaders at the Lawrence Housing Authority. Many elected officials and community leaders contribute either from campaign funds or out of pocket for needed items not covered by sponsorship. Some legislators donate staff time, which we greatly appreciate. We have also been fortunate to have guest speakers, facilitators, moderators, organizers and planners contribute to our success. They all donate their time, energy, and expertise. They are not paid one cent for their work or their time. Other similar conferences and summits require people to pay a fee in order to participate. We do not. What’s more, unless one works in a human service or social service organization rarely does the average citizen know about such events. And for many who do, they may not have the money to cover the cost of participating (registration fee, meals, childcare, travel, etc.) in them. We do not want money to be a barrier to participating. Everyone is welcome to participate poor or rich, man or woman, black, white, green or purple, Jewish or Christian. Women's Agenda understands
that to be effective in educating women and empowering
them in their communities we cannot do it alone. Through
education and networking we are building stronger
families and a better community. Send your questions
comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com |
In New York
City, during the mid to late 70’s, I was honored to
be part of the National Congress of Neighborhood Women -
an organization working nationwide with women of poor
working class background across race and ethnicity.