Ely Branch

AAUW Ely Branch 2008 – 2009

The Ely Branch of AAUW has a proud history, extending over 80 years, advancing equity for women and girls through advocacy, education and research.

Board:

We welcome new members. Please contact Darlene Nemanich if you would like to become a member, or be a guest at one of our monthly meetings. Please email Laura or call 218-365-24552

Monthly Meetings All meetings are held at 7 PM on the second Tuesday of each month, unless noted. Any changes are announced in the monthly newsletters.

Scholarship: Each year the Ely branch grants a scholarship to a non-traditional female student who attends an area community college.

Adopt a Highway Community Service Project: Our branch has adopted a two mile stretch of Highway 169 south of Ely. We pick up litter along both sides of the highway, once in the spring and once in the fall.

The Ely Branch has had many successes and highlights during the past year. A significant highlight of the year was the development of a three-year strategic plan. The process encouraged us to look at our past and present successes as well as to plan for our future. Members participated by attending planning meetings or by sending ideas electronically. We completed our three-year plan and developed an action plan for year one, including mission-based programs, collaborative education and service projects, and activities for membership recruitment and maintenance.

A second highlight of our year has been collaborative efforts with local groups and organizations. In October, we organized a candidates’ forum for the Ely mayoral and city council elections in cooperation with Ely Rotary, Vermilion Community College, WELY, Ely Echo, and Ely Timberjay. Our branch used this opportunity to educate attendees about AAUW and our mission and to distribute copies of the “AAUW Congressional Voting Record.” As part of this effort and prior to November elections, we placed VOTE signs throughout the community. Another political effort involved collaboration with EMPOWER (a local women’s group) and several other local organizations to organize a town hall meeting with Senator Tom Bakk, chair of the Senate Taxes Committee, to discuss State budget concerns and issues.

Our collaboration with Vermilion Community College (VCC) in supporting women students is perhaps our proudest achievement. The Branch has a member liaison that meets with VCC counselors and women students in determining how we can lend support to the students who represent about one-third of the student body. We invited VCC women students to attend our December meeting as an introduction to AAUW and a time to interact with members. In March, our branch, in collaboration with EMPOWER and the VCC Ironwomen, organized a panel discussion involving nine women in careers in the outdoors, which is the focus of many of the women students at VCC. The panel discussed mentors/role models, working in a male-dominated field, pay equity, harassment, and entering and advancing in a career. Currently, VCC is in the process of joining AAUW as a College/University Partner with the support of our branch.

The branch fundraising efforts this year have provided ample resources for our many endeavors. In December, a local business gave us 10 percent of profits during our one night shopping spree. Additionally, we participated in Herberger’s Community Day and organized raffles. We offered a scholarship for a nontraditional woman student at VCC and partially funded a ninth-grade female student’s trip to the International Science Fair in Atlanta and Project Olympiad in Houston to present her project on wind energy in Minnesota. This year we made a special contribution to the Minnesota Past Presidents American Fellowship in honor of Isabelle Koski, an AAUW past state president from Ely. We also continued to fund “Books for Babies” in cooperation with Friends of the Library, to purchase books for the “I Love to Read” program in the Ely schools, and to participate in the “Festival of Trees” which helps fund the local Hospice/Respite Program.

The Ely branch continues to thrive. We have had a steady growth in membership, with 41 current members (a 7.89 percent increase from 2006 to 2009). Our goal is to continue to increase membership by offering quality, mission-based programming, by engaging our members in meaningful activities, and by sponsoring community events.