AAUW's mission is to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research.

    AAUW FLORIDA      

Remember to take advantage of One Member One Vote and vote for AAUW Officers for 2013-15, the Public Policy Program for 2013-2015 and a bylaws amendment.  To request a paper ballot email connect@aauw.org. before May 2nd. Don't delay - do it today!

WELCOME TO THE AAUW FLORIDA WEBSITE!

AAUW Florida began in 1929 and has been active ever since. Thirteen years earlier  in 1916 a group of Tampa women organized as a branch of the Southern Association of College Women. It was the only branch in the state until 1923 when a Tallahassee group organized a second branch. The two groups were joined by St. Petersburg in 1924, and then followed by Jacksonville, Miami, Gainesville, Pensacola, and Sarasota in 1926, Hollywood in 1927 and Central Florida (now Orlando-Winter Park) in 1928.  These branches were the founding branches of AAUW Florida. Over the years the number of branches has varied as has the total membership. Presently we have 42 branches with a total branch membership of approximately 2,500 and there are another 1000 AAUW members living in Florida who are not affiliated with a branch.

AAUW Florida Convention.

AAUW Florida holds an annual convention in the spring of the year. The convention is designed to be an educational, interesting, and rewarding experience for the attendees so that they return home invigorated with renewed enthusiasm for advancing the AAUW mission in their communities and spreading their enthusiasm to the members of their branch.  The convention features interesting and motivating speakers, a variety of workshops, and several opportunities to socialize and network with members of branches in other areas of the state.

At the 2013 Convention that concluded Sunday, April 21st, Susan Berlin and Virginia Farace were elected co-presidents-elect, Kamala Anandam was elected to a 2nd tern as Program Vice-President, Nancy Pura was elected Director for Finance, and Diane Schrier was elected to her 2nd term as Director for Public Policy.  Congratulations to all!

July 2013 Tech Trek Camp for Middle School Girls

AAUW Florida is one of five states to be awarded a grant for a TechTrek pilot program. This grant of $10,000 will help finance a 2013 one week math and science summer camp for girls who will be entering the 8th grade in the fall. The sleepover camp will be held on the University of Central Florida Campus from July 21st through July 26th. To learn more about this exciting opportunity for rising 8th girls who excel in math or science please visit the TechTrek website. It costs $625 per week for a girl to attend the camp. That breaks down to $125 per day per girl. The grant covers the stipends for the teachers and other adults supervising the camp activities and costs associated with UCF. AAUW Florida members and branches must raise the funds to cover the cost of each girl's weeklong stay at the camp. Download and print this new flyer about how you can help our first TechTrek be a rousing success. Then share it with your friends and branch members.

Our pre-convention and convention fundraising efforts for TechTrek brought in over $3000 for the camp!  However, we still have quite a ways to go to meet our funding goal for this July's camp. We need to pay for the girls to attend camp, pay two teachers,  their lab fees, notebooks, etc and a day trip to NASA at Kennedy Space Center. Donations of cases of water, snack foods, lab notebooks, etc will be greatly appreciated.

 If you would like to lend your financial support to this stimulating program just for 8th girls there are two ways to do so.  If you have a friend or know a business that might  be interested in con tributing to the camp please share this camp flyer with them To contribute by credit card or PayPal visit the TechTrek website at http://techtrek-fl.aauw.net and click on donations. Complete the form and be sure to indicate that your donation is to go to Florida TechTrek by filling in the branch and state to which your contribution is to be credited. Please notify Carol Newnam of your contribution as she is keeping track of the total raised.  If you prefer you may send a check made out to AAUW Funds and indicate in the memo line that it is for TechTrek Florida . Mail your check to  to Diane Boyce and also notify Carol Newnam that you have made a contribution. All TechTrek contributions are income tax deductible.

On-Going Statewide Activities That Assist Branches

• For the past two years the state has held a fall one day workshop for branch leaders.  In 2011 it was for branch presidents; in 2012 it was for branch presidents, program and membership vice-presidents and branch finance officers.

•  AAUW Florida sends out AAUW Florida Action Alerts as needed during the Florida Legislative session. If you would like to become a subscriber to these Action Alerts,  please email Diane Schrier, State Public Policy Chair and ask to have your name added to the list.  Write AAUW Florida Action Alert in the subject line. The Action Alerts advise subscribers when an important issue included in our public policy program is about to be heard in a committee or voted upon in a legislative session.  Usually these Alerts ask us to contact our legislators or important committee members to explain why the issue is important to us. Some of the Alerts ask us to support a proposed bill and sometimes we are asked to explain why we are opposed to it.  Suggested wording is available or subscribers may compose a message of their own.

•  Branches may apply for mini-grants of up to $500 for special branch projects.  The funds requested must be matched by branch funds, monetary contributions or in-kind contributions.

•  Branches may also invite an AAUW member from a branch in another part of the state to speak to share their expertise and/or experience of in an area of particular interest to the branch.  The state will pay for the speaker's travel expenses if the branch applies for funding through the Leader-on-Loan program.

We publish a newsletter, FloriVision, twice a year and have a Facebook page.  Please visit our Facebook page and like us!

Branch Activities that Benefit Girls and Women

Many of our branches are located in communities where there are PACE Centers for Girls and are active in supporting these centers by volunteering their services, donating needed materials and supplies, making  financial contributions and/or serving on their boards of directors.  PACE Centers are for teenage girls who have lost their way and fallen behind in school.  Girls that attend PACE, a free program, improve their grades, graduate, go on to college or begin careers thanks to a caring staff, teachers, and personal counselors.

 Some branches without PACE Centers in their communities support other local girls organizations by contributing needed materials and supplies and volunteering their services, etc to these organizations.

Other branches are very involved with activities such as the Academic Olympics, Math Superstars, Reading is Fundamental, STEM workshops for girls of various ages, work in local precincts during national, state and local elections, etc.

Most of our branches raise funds for the AAUW Funds (Educational Opportunities, Eleanor Roosevelt, Legal Advocacy, Public Policy and Leadership Programs).  Many of our branches also raise money to award scholarships to local women who need financial assistance to complete their work toward Associate of Arts or Bachelors degrees. The qualifications for the scholarships and the amounts of financial assistance vary from branch to branch.

We are committed to the AAUW Mission and the Public Policy Action Priorities established at the 2011 Convention in Washington, DC. The AAUW Florida Public Policy Program was updated on Sunday April 22, 2012.  Read or download the Florida Public Policy Action Program for 2012-2014. 

To learn where to find things on this website, read or download the AAUW Florida Website Guide.  An AAUW Website Guide is available if you find the AAUW website daunting. Read or download it.

Other Items of Interest

Read this eye opening report on Human Trafficking written by Mary Palomar a member of Florida's West Pasco Branch.

Read the AAUW  blog at http://blog-aauw.org.  The blog examines news and events related to AAUW issues.  It's a space for members to share ideas, join discussions, find resources, take action on issues, and explore ways that you or your branch can make a difference in your community. These articles are interesting and thought provoking. . Any member may sign up to receive the blogs via email when you logon to http://blog-aauw.org.

Learn about the National Women's History Museum and look at the online exhibits.  The museum has private funding to build a museum on the National Mall in Washington, but needs to have congressional approval to purchase the land for the building. Sign the petition on the home page to ask the Senate to support the bill that will enable the museum to purchase the land at no expense to taxpayers.

If the bi-monthly Mission & Action e-Bulletin isn't arriving in your email you may read the most recent issue and older issues at www.aauw.org/publications/mission/index.cfm.

Read about AAUW's most recent research reports,  Graduating to a Pay Gap (2012), The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap and (2012) Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment in School published in 2011.   

View AAUW's calendar of events by visiting the AAUW website at www.aauw.org.

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Florida Elected Officers

Florida Appointed Officers

Florida Past Presidents