Archived Spotlight Posts
AAUW volunteers at the Girlstart DeSTEMber Extravaganza
March 2018 – Nonagenarian Fern Chester
Celebrating a special Austin AAUW lady, Fern Chester, who it’s hard to believe is now 90! What a role model of grace, poise, talent and sweetness.
2017 Girlstart Luncheon and Fundraiser
Another outstanding Girlstart Luncheon and Fundraiser. Congratulations to Executive Director Tamara Hudgins and Staff for an extraordinary 20th Anniversary Celebration.
WOMEN’S MARCH AT THE TEXAS CAPITOL
Many of you have heard of the January 21 Women’s March in Washington. Did you know we had a similar march in Austin? Why the Women’s March? We walked for social justice: the rights, safety, and health for all.
Anita Knight finalist for Diana L. Gorham Lifetime Achievement Award
Anita Knight, immediate past AAUW Austin president and volunteer extraordinaire, was a finalist for the 2015 Diana L. Gorham Lifetime Achievement Award given annually by the YWCA of Austin. She is pictured (l-r) with the recipient, Virginia Marie Raymond, JD, PhD. In the second photo, District 50 State Representative Celia Israel congratulates Anita and Virginia.
Support YWCA, which strives to EMPOWER WOMEN like AAUW does!
Honoring and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.
Six AAUW branch members (l-r in photo below): Mary Kate Fredriksen, Ines Garcia, Tulis Escobar, Mary Ellen Scribner, Adrian McCulloch, Anita Knight attended the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act signing by President Johnson. The event was held at the LBJ Library with Luci Baines Johnson in attendance.
AAUW Austin members attend the National Convention at San Diego
More than 30 workshops offered lots of choices, information, and fun from national topics to global connections.
Steve Adler, Austin Mayor, talking with the Latinitas girls from Pleasant Hill and Campbell Elementary Schools.
Latinitas gets thirty Macbooks
Facebook and Austin Mayor Steve Adler came to visit Latinitas after-school club members at Pleasant Hill and Campbell Elementary schools to address digital inclusion in Austin. To support Latinitas’ mission, Facebook donated refurbished Mac laptops.
AAUW Austin member Lilac Bauer has been working as an assistant with the eighteen member Pleasant Hill Latinitas club for the past two years.
Volunteer to support Latinitas.
Girlstart keeps expanding under leadership of AAUW member Tamara Hudgins
Tamara Hudgins
The SXSW 2015 Interactive Hall of Fame honors Tamara Hudgins, Ph.D., the Executive Director of Girlstart, whose mission is to increase girls’ interest and engagement in STEM through innovative, nationally-recognized informal STEM education programs such as Girlstart After School programs and Summer Camp.
Austin Branch of AAUW sponsored 4 girls for Girlstart STEM Summer Camp 2015!
Founded in Austin, Texas, Girlstart is the only community-based informal STEM education nonprofit in the nation that is specifically dedicated to empowering and equipping girls in STEM through year-round STEM educational programming.
Volunteer to support GirlStart.
See additional archived spotlight posts.
The Mary Braunagel-Brown Excellence Fund for Young Women Leaders
AAUW Member Dr. Mary Braunagel-Brown has established an endowment supporting women undergraduates selected for INSPIRE Leadership, a three-year revolving program serving sophomores to seniors that helps women develop the skills they need to achieve the highest levels within their chosen academic fields.
Under the direction of the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, the INSPIRE program has served as UT’s signature leadership program for women undergraduates since 2009.
To help more young women enter the INSPIRE program, make your gift online today.
Monica Benoit-Beatty received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Austin YWCA.
 YWCA Award Celebration with (L to R) Marsha Endahl Kramer, Shiphrah Evelyn Meditz, Monica Benoit-Beatty, and Anita Knight celebrating Monica’s Lifetime Achievement Award, June, 2014. |
Voter Registration Project
 Voter Registration Project – Dr. Sylvia Garcia worked with “Austin Women Vote” coalition. Every eligible woman voter should VOTE – we worked hard for that right and privilege! |
Community Grants
Lilac, Janani, Anita and Janie ( not picttured ) delivering tablets to Mainspring Schools.
Thanks to Janani Janakiraman, who donated hours of service to enhance our branch website, the Austin branch of AAUW received a community grant of $1000 from IBM. We could not use it to add to the national Ann Richards American Fellowship, so we decided to purchase technology products for 2 local non-profit education programs. Thanks to smart shopping by Anita Knight, we were able to stretch the money to buy 5 tablets for Latinitas and 4 tablets for Mainspring Schools.
Austin Students work with AAUW; Win TWO National History Day Competitions
In 2012 four Austin, Texas middle school girls interviewed AAUW staff in D.C. for their entry in the National History Day Competition. Their website about the history of Title IX won first prize in the Junior Website Category.
TX girls preparing for history competition, meeting branch members at VJ’s house
In 2013 they had another winning entry in the National History Day competition; their project won the “History of Congress” special award, and they also placed 6th out of the 95 entries in the Senior Division Website category. The spark for the girls’ project on the Voting Rights Act of 1965 began with their visit to the AAUW National Office the prior year where they were asked to do a short video on why voting is important. They were also able to interview many civil rights leaders as part of their research. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Smrithi Mahadevan, Maanasa Nathan, Priya Ramamoorthy, and Kavya Ramamoorthy !
Priya Ramamoorthy and Kavya Ramamoorthy at the GenAustin “We are Girls” Conference, November 2013.
Read AAUW blog about their Title IX Champions Award and watch the documentaries on Title IX created by Kavya Ramamoorthy (Title IX: Empowerment Through Education – 8:23 min) and Priya Ramamoorthy (Title IX: Tool to fight Sexual Discrimination in Schools -4:30 min) for their Girl Scout Gold Award Project.
Priya, Kavya, Maanasa and Smrithi are featured on Nickelodeon in a special news episode on Title IX. It was filmed in Austin at the Austin Community College, Highland Mall campus thanks to the support of local AAUW members.
Title IX prohibits gender discrimination in schools that receive federal funds and addresses issues from sports to sexual harassment.
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