Tuesday, March 22, 2022, 12:00-1:30 pm via Zoom
Registration Link

CWI is delighted to celebrate this Women’s History Month with President Biden’s nomination of the first Black Woman, Ketanji Brown Jackson, to the Supreme Court. CWI’s Vice President Legal Affairs, Jeanette Lim Esbrook, has issued this statement to endorse her confirmation. The Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues is an organization that addresses progress towards greater equity for women and girls in economic, health, education, social, political, and legal issues. Accordingly, we wholeheartedly support President Biden’s nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court of the United States. This highest Court of the land should have representation of all citizens and the nomination of a Black woman to the Court is long overdue. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is eminently qualified as a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law school. She is a respected and experienced jurist with a life-long dedication to public service. We urge the Senate to confirm Judge Jackson to establish a Court that represents all citizens of the United States.

Kimberly Humphrey, Senior Legislative Counsel at the Alliance for Justice will provide an overview of the demographics of women in the US Judiciary and the strong progress of advocates and the Biden administration in adding women of color, and particularly Black women, to the federal bench. She will also discuss the ways in which the judiciary might be made more gender-conscious and supportive of feminist goals. Kimberly leads and coordinates federal advocacy to elevate the importance of the courts and judicial nominations for AFJ. She previously worked as a senior policy analyst in Baltimore’s Dept of Human Resources and as a Legislative Counsel for ACLU of Maryland. She has a J.D. from Catholic Univ. and an undergraduate degree from Spelman College.

Samantha Cyrulnik-Dercher, Senior Manager of the Fair Courts Program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund will update us on the vetting and confirmation process for Judge Jackson including the role of Civil Rights groups in supporting her confirmation. Sam previously served as Federal Policy Director of SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, where she advocated for LGBTQ-inclusive comprehensive sex education. She has been featured in Esquire, Cosmopolitan, The Washington Post, and other national publications. Before SIECUS, Sam spent four years in the office of then-Congressman Tim Walz (MN-01), working her way from intern to Acting Legislative Director. Sam earned her B.A. in political science from The George Washington Univ. and her J.D. from American Univ. Washington College of Law.

Erinn D. Martin, Director of Nominations and Cross-Cutting Policies, National Women’s Law Center, had been scheduled to speak, but will be unavailable as she has been invited to attend Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic hearings.

Please join us at this noon ET zoom meeting by registering here.

Tuesday, February 22, 2022, 12:00-1:30 pm via Zoom
Registration Link

This meeting will be hosted by CWI’s, Dr. Alotta Taylor. Sherry Klein assisted in arranging this program.

Dr. C. Nicole Mason, President/CEO, Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), was named one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine. She is also the author of  Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey from Nothing to Something in America. She will focus on women’s wealth inequities and the ways to fix them.

“Prior to IWPR, Dr. Mason was the executive director of the Women of Color Policy Network at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

At the start of the pandemic, she coined the term she-cession to describe the disproportionate impact of the employment and income losses on women. Dr. Mason has written hundreds of articles on women, poverty, and economic security. Her writing and commentary have been featured in the New York Times, MSNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, the Washington Post, Marie Claire, the Progressive, ESSENCE, Bustle, BIG THINK, Miami Herald, Democracy Now, and numerous NPR affiliates, among others.”

Dr. Ethlyn McQueen-Gibson, DNP, MSN, RN-BC, Director, Center for Gerontology Excellence (Hampton University), U.S. Army Nurse Corps veteran, will address topics related to older women of color. Dr. McQueen-Gibson is a School of Nursing Associate Professor at Hampton University, Board Chair of the American Heart Association, Member of the Governor’s COVID-19 Long Term Care Task Force, and the State COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Workgroup.

Her current clinical research focuses on the social, ethical, and behavioral implications (SEBI) of COVID-19 testing among underserved and/or vulnerable populations, addressing residents’ mistrust from communities of color of public health messaging and review of COVID-19 testing protocols within public housing in Southern Virginia, and how these protocols can be adapted to be more responsive to the needs of residents. This research is a partnership between Hampton University, Eastern Virginia Medical School and Norfolk State’s Center for Health Disparities.

Please join us at this meeting by registering and coming to our noon Feb. 22 zoom meeting here.

March 22 Noon Zoom CWI Women’s History Month Meeting: Women & the US Judiciary

Tuesday, January 25, 2022, 12:00-1:30 pm via Zoom
Registration Link

What do you think of when you read/hear “Women’s Health and Wealth Equity”? What is the correlation? What is the impact of health and wealth inequalities on women? What can we do about it? Attend this CWI noon zoom meeting on January 25th to find out.

Dr. Martha Burk, a long-time feminist activist and Money Editor of Ms Magazine, will focus on financial (Wealth) inequities.   Alanna Murrell, Special Projects Manager, Black Women’s Health Imperative, will address Health inequities. They both will highlight the intersection of the inequalities and what can be done to overcome them.  This meeting will be hosted by CWI’s, Holly Joseph. 

Dr. Burk will summarize how county, state, and federal government Pay Equity initiatives have fared.  Dr. Burk’s work, featured on the U.S. Department of Labor website, advises city, county, and state governments on gender pay equity and conducts internal pay analyses for private sector companies seeking to improve their understanding of wage gaps by gender and race.  She designed and implemented the first-in-the-nation equal pay contractor reporting initiatives for the State of New Mexico and the City of Albuquerque.  Dr. Burk holds a Ph.D. in experimental psychology with an emphasis on research and statistics.

Alanna Murrell, Alanna Murrell is a Special Projects Manager for Black Women’s Health Imperative. She focuses heavily on Black women’s health, centering health advocacy and equity in environmental justice, reproductive justice, and maternal health. She is multi-faceted communication specialist, conversationalist, and empathic thought-leader amplifying the importance of vulnerable communication, intersectional storytelling, and community building. Her background is in business development, marketing, and communications.

The Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) is the only national organization solely focused on promoting the physical, emotional and financial health and wellness of the nation’s 21 million Black women and girls.  For almost four decades, BWHI has served as the leading voice for health and wellness for Black women and girls across the country. Their mission is to advance health equity and social justice for Black women across the lifespan, eliminate racial and gender-based health inequities and deepen Black women’s resolve in becoming informed decision makers to achieve optimum health and wellness.

Please join us at this meeting by registering and coming to our noon Jan. 25 zoom meeting.

Our February 22 noon zoom meeting will feature some follow-up, with focus on Black Health and Wellness, which is this year’s Black History Month theme featuring: Dr. C. Nicole Mason, Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), Dr. Ethlyn McQueen-Gibson, Director, Center for Gerontology Excellence, Hampton University, and possibly an additional speaker.

Tuesday, October 26, 2021, 12:00-1:30 pm via Zoom

Free Registration Link

We are all worried about the disaster for women and girls and all the people in Afghanistan since the US withdrawal and the takeover by the Taliban in Aug. 2021. This CWI noon zoom meeting on October 26th will enable us to learn more about the disaster even for those who were fortunate enough to leave, the roles of women and girls in the education and the civic sectors, what is happening now, and what the US and others should do to avoid continued and new disasters.

This meeting is organized and will be emceed by CWI Co-President, Connie Cordovilla and Vice President for Global Issues, Megan Corrado, who worked for Women for Afghan Women and is now Director of Policy and Advocacy for the Alliance for Peacebuilding.

Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, the Feminist Majority, and publisher of Ms. Magazine, who has worked to save Afghan women since the first Taliban takeover will amplify her understanding of the current disaster and share her advice on what women’s organizations and activists should do now and in the future.

Saba, a prominent Afghan women’s and girls’ rights advocate and educator, will speak on the education of girls and women both before and after the current takeover of the Taliban.

Stacey Schamber, an American who worked with the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), providing technical assistance on the Better Peace Initiative, the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL), and issues of protection and psychosocial support has agreed to share her knowledge and insights based on her ongoing work with Afghan women.

We are inviting  additional Afgan women experts to share their insights during the discussion time.

Please join us at this meeting by registering and coming to our noon October 26 zoom meeting

Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 12:00-1:30 pm via Zoom
Registration Link
(Please register for this free public meeting by 6pm on 3/22/21)

The Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues is delighted to celebrate Women’s History Month by sharing information on the recent passage of the Smithsonian Women’s History Museum Act to create a museum for which the federal government will pay half the development and operating costs of this museum under auspices of the Smithsonian Institution.

Many of us have supported the development of this museum mainly via the privately funded and mostly virtual National Women’s History Museum (NWHM) incorporated in 1996. To show equal treatment of women, many believed the museum should be partly supported by the federal government and be part of the Smithsonian. We are delighted that this is now to become a reality. A Congressional Commission created in 2014 to study the establishment of the museum issued a detailed report http://AMWH.us) in 2016 recommending not only that the U.S. needs and deserves a physical women’s history museum but that it be part of the Smithsonian and located on or near the National Mall in Washington, DC. The bipartisan Commission was created by a bill sponsored by Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney.

Congresswoman Maloney then introduced H.R. 19 in the 115th Congress and H.R. 1980 in the 116th Congress based on the Commission’s recommendations. The bipartisan Smithsonian Women’s History Museum Act passed the House in 2019. The legislation was then included in the bipartisan omnibus spending package at the end of 2020, which was signed into law on Dec. 27, 2020. Representative Maloney will outline key
accomplishments and next steps for funding and building the museum.

Wendy Pangburn, who served as the Executive Director of the American Museum of Women’s History Congressional Commission will add brief insights from the Commission to help guide the museum’s creation.

We are delighted that both Holly Hotchner, President and CEO of the National Women’s History Museum, and Museum Board Chair, Susan Whiting, will join us to highlight NWHM’s historic role in getting legislation passed for a museum. They will also discuss NWHM’s current programming and how the Museum will continue to shine a light on women’s contributions to American history while the plans for the Smithsonian develop.

To conclude, we will hear from Julissa Marenco, Assistant Secretary Communications and External Affairs and Chief Marketing Officer for the Smithsonian, who will share an early-stage update for the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative. Sign up for their enewsletter: womenshistory@si.org.

We hope to reserve time for the presenters to comment on each other’s presentation and for some audience questions to them.

RSVP to the March 23, 2021 Zoom meeting here. (Please register for this free public meeting by 6pm on 3/22/21) At meeting time (noon), remember to join without activating your video and or audio if you do not wish to be seen, heard, or recorded. You may also want to rename your participant name to first name and last initial. This meeting will be recorded and posted to YouTube, and possibly also to Public Access Television.

Next Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues Zoom Meeting will be Tuesday Noon, Apr. 27, 2021 on The First 100 Days of the Biden/Harris Administration: Achievements, Expectations and Challenges.

Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, and Spirit www.jewishspirituality.org (based on the book Wise Aging by Cowan and Thal.) Wise aging is a senior program that considers mindfulness and contemplative practices such as meditation, text study, journaling and gentle movement as key tools.

This CWI meeting is organized and led by Harriett Stonehill, past CWI Co-President, mega skills trainer of trainers, professor at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), author, and an experienced Wise Aging facilitator. She has arranged for the following trained Wise Aging Facilitators who are active nationally and internationally to lead us in various interactive activities in this CWI meeting.

Evi Beck, is a retired professor of Women’s Studies at University of Maryland, author and long-time Circle Dance teacher who conducts programs across the country and world. She will lead us virtually in some dances.

Harriette Kinberg, is a retired Federal Government Manager who worked at FEMA and a Wise Aging Facilitator in DC, Maryland and Virginia. She will provide an overview of the Wise Aging program and describe what happens during a typical Wise Aging group session using power point materials.

Francie Schwartz, retired from the Union of Reform Judaism, where she worked as the Adult Jewish Learning Coordinator and still loves to teach all things Jewish to our community. She is now a Wise Aging Facilitator at Temple Micah in DC. She will focus on using meditation.

The majority of participants in the Wise Aging Programs are women so the focus has mainly been on their needs as they grow older.

This session will be interactive with a discussion after the presentations. Attendees will be able to join and focus on various strategies. Please have a pen and blank paper handy.

Questions may be addressed to Harriett Stonehill. Invite your friends to join us.

RSVP to the February 23, 2021 Zoom meeting here. At meeting time (noon), remember to join without activating your video and or audio if you do not wish to be seen, heard, or recorded. You may also want to rename your participant name to first name and last initial. This meeting will be recorded and posted to YouTube, and possibly also to Public Access Television.

Next Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues Zoom Meeting will be Tuesday Noon, Mar. 23, 2021.