This is so well put. Listen to Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland talk about the “ambition gap” and the continual inequality between genders in the workforce due to social norms that begin in childhood and are perpetuated throughout our adult lives.
In the developing world these inequalities are much more obvious when it comes to the accessibility of education for girls vs. boys and basic freedoms that are often restricted by government and/or religious tradition. But in industrialized countries like the United States the gender gap is more muted. Our social norms have still not changed and our ways of thinking about how women and men should act are so ingrained in us that we fail to notice unless it is pointed out. My favorite quote from Sandberg who explains that it all begins in how we are raised when she points out: “little girls are called bossy . . . I challenge you go find someone who calls a little boy bossy.” Sandberg then goes on to link this social norm and way of thinking to adults in the workforce by noting that “success and likability are positively correlated with men and negatively correlated for women.” Watch the full 6 minutes below:
As I’m sure you’ve all heard, its extremely likely that the U.S. Federal Government will be shut down if Congress does not agree upon and vote on a budget (H.R. 1) for the fiscal year. All throughout the day I’ve been getting news alerts saying they are close to a compromise . . . I’m sure you are wondering what is holding things up? Is it a disagreement on how much should be cut?
All I can say is that the disagreement over spending cuts has been settled for hours now, in fact the Dems met the GOP request of $30+ billion in spending cuts, but then the GOP decided to change their mind because the Tea Party wants more. And then there is the fact that Republicans attached more than 80 riders to their initial funding bill, including several that actually increase federal spending. As Senator Reid explained, ”The two main issues that are holding this matter up are the choice of women, reproductive rights, and clean air.” Thats right – the GOP/Tea Party is going to shut down the U.S. Government because ideological policy issues that will only hurt low income and middle class Americans. More so it appears that the Tea Party conservatives are launching a “War on Women.” As evidenced by the riders that include: eliminating Title X Family Planning funds for low income women (Planned Parenthood), not allowing women to purchase health coverage with their own money if it includes abortion services, redefining rape as “forcible rape,” allow hospitals to refuse to provide abortions/medical care even to victims of rape or incest, eliminate funding for programs like Head Start and WIC and limit the EPA from being able to set regulations for carbon emissions, etc (learn more about these riders here). And as Speaker Boehner explained: ”We will continue to insist that the policy riders passed in H.R. 1 are on the table. It’s just as important to many of our members as the spending cuts themselves.” It appears that compromise is not in the GOP/Tea Party vocabulary.
Here is the thing, It may be important to freshman Tea-Party members to infringe on my rights and access to safe affordable reproductive healthcare, but it is insanely irresponsible to put ideology before your primary responsibility, which is to keep our country and government running. GOP get your people in line and stop letting your freshman members act like children who really want their dessert before dinner. Because at this point dinner may not be served on the tables of many working families. There are those families who are struggling to put food on the table because our economy has yet to begin producing enough jobs to get our country back on track — and then there are those who will not be allowed to report to work or be paid because of a government shutdown. Your attempts to hold the U.S. Government and American people hostage because of extreme ideological views is childish and if you can’t put the country’s interests ahead of your own you don’t deserve to be there.
*Images from this post are from the Rally for Women’s Health and Lobby Day in Washington, DC on April 7th 2011 (organized by NARAL Pro-Choice America & Planned Parenthood). Thousands of women came to the Capital from around the country via car, bus, plane or train to tell their representatives in the U.S. Government that their bodies and access to basic reproductive healthcare are not to be toyed with. Millions of women (and men) utilize the comprehensive health services Planned Parenthood provides which include cancer screening (breast & uterine), access to preventative contraception, STI/HIV testing, etc. Attendees met with Congressional staffers and Members of Congress to explain the importance of access to reproductive and preventative family planing care that is covered by Title X funds.
While some staff members from either side of the aisle were welcoming and willing to listen, others (Nan Hayworth, M.D. R-NY – I’m talking to you) were not! Congresswoman Hayworth has said publicly that she is both pro-choice and supports access to reproductive healthcare, but actually voted in favor of cutting Title X funding to Planned Parenthood. You see where we might find issue with that? Her staff had 20 of us stand in the hallway (we “couldn’t fit in the office”), looked as if we were torturing him (its not hard to just smile and nod, even if you disagree) and refused to explain her rationale for voting no despite her public statements. When he finally stated that for “fiscal reasons” she voted to cut Title X – a staff member from Planned Parenthood pointed out to him that for every $1 cut from Title X funds that Medicaid spending would actually increase by $3. A statistic which the staffer of course never wrote down. So here is to hoping that the Congresswoman gets her views and numbers straight in time to vote for the best interests of her constituents who utilized Planned Parenthood’s services.
This past week we lost two giants whose lives were not only marked by their own successes and failures, but also by their service and dedication to ensure that others had those same opportunities for success. They were women who didn’t allow social norms to dictate their opinions or actions.
I sometimes wonder if Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) and Geraldine Ferraro (1935-2011) ever crossed paths? They were so different, yet also so much the same. One was married once, the other eight times. One was in Hollywood, the other in our Nation’s Capital. Both were working mothers. Ferraro stood by her husband and son during extremely difficult times, despite the impact to her career and Elizabeth Taylor was said to be a wonderful mother & step-mother (according to Carrie Fischer) and both were known as tireless advocates for their friends. Its funny that both Elizabeth Taylor and Geraldine Ferraro are forever engraved in my mind as women who truly had grit, because of things they did in 1984 – the year of my birth.
Everyone knows that in 1984, Geraldine Ferraro became the first female candidate for Vice President to be on a major party ticket when Walter Mondale chose her as his running mate. As Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright explained to POLITICO, “When she stepped up on the stage at the San Francisco convention, that really opened the door in so many different ways . . . People questioned, frankly, whether a woman could do foreign policy. They asked her if she could press the nuclear button – questions they don’t ask men. But she cut through it all.” She cut through it all so that the girl I was at the time, and the woman I became knew running for Vice President or even President of our great country was a possibility, not a pipedream. The 1984 election loss didn’t bring her down. Ferraro went on to serve as United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights under Clinton and she continued to fight and support other women who ran for office across the country. As she put it, “When women run, women win.”
In the same year, Elizabeth Taylor became one of the first celebrities and public personalities to raise awareness and advocate for the prevention of HIV/AIDS by organizing and hosting the first AIDS fundraiser in 1984, to benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles. In the 1980s HIV/AIDS was barely acknowledged, despite the fact that it was causing hundreds of deaths each year (including the death of my Great Uncle in 1985) because it was a “Gay Disease.” Some of Taylor’s friends, including actor Rock Hudson, were stricken by the disease. So despite the controversy associated with the disease she refused to stay silent by publicly advocating for funding and research to find a cure. In 1993 she founded the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. Former President Bill Clinton said it best, ”Elizabeth’s legacy will live on in many people around the world whose lives will be longer and better because of her work and the ongoing efforts of those she inspired.”
Both these women paved a path for us . . . the least we can do is fill in a pot hole every now and then to make sure the road continues to allow safe passage for all.
This past Friday I was fortunate enough to have a conversation (and virtual tour) via Skype with POPVOX‘s Marketing Director Rachna Choudry, who along with co-founder Marci Harris, was recently highlighted in Fast Company’s – 25 Woman-Run Startups to Watch. POPVOX is the newest eAdvocacy and civic engagement platform, which is currently being beta-tested and seeking investors.
According to Choudry, POPVOX is based off of the Latin words “populi” and “vox,” which means “People’s Voice.” The goal of POPVOX is to ease the communication between Congress, organizations (trade, union, advocacy), and the greater public on specific pieces of legislation. Oftentimes people and organizations don’t necessarily know the best way to get their voice heard on particular issues when reaching out to Congress. Likewise, Congressional offices don’t have the most efficient methods in place to find information on constituent opinions or organizations’ policy positions on specific legislation. Choudry and Harris utilized their backgrounds on Capital Hill to envision and ultimately create an advocacy platform that would close this communications gap.
In my opinion, POPVOX is truly Gov 2.0 at its best and will do what LinkedIn did for career networking and what Change.org did for social change advocacy. POPVOX’s non-partisan platform allows for individuals, organizations & congressional staffers to not only track real-time legislative action (via Thomas.gov) in Congress, but also gives these stakeholders greater opportunity to advocate (orgs), track public opinion (congress) and have their voices heard (individuals)! Here are a just a few functions that I’m looking forward to watch develop as POPVOX participation grows:
1) Public Opinion by Congressional District! - Organizations and congressional staffers have the ability to track constituent/voter views on specific pieces of legislation. Just by looking up a specific bill number – you can see what % of individuals have the majority opinion. Simply utilize a drop-down menu through the Congressional portal or a U.S. map providing numbers that show majority opposition or support by location. Right now the numbers are small by each Congressional district, but as POPVOX grows in popularity this will be the ultimate tool.
2) Individuals‘ positions on legislation are counted and have greater impact. Constituent addresses are verified and their stances on particular pieces of legislation go directly to Congressional staffers, not through a 3rd party organization. My favorite piece is the option for individuals to share their story and why they support or oppose the legislation. This is a great way for constituents to express themselves and a wonderful tool for electeds to be able to share these stories while promoting their own positions in Congress.
3) Organizations can post policy statements or press releases on specific bills. Individuals and congressional staffers can see which organizations oppose/support a bill and why. Every organization is given the option to upload a policy position for each Congressional action/bill. This is a great resource for my friends on Capital Hill who are looking to get a better idea of which organizations share a Member of Congress’ stance on a bill.
4) Launch advocacy campaigns & increase list building. Organizations have the ability to create advocacy campaigns around particular bills by emailing their membership and directing them to POPVOX to show their endorsement or opposition to legislation. These campaigns will also be listed under the organization’s page on POPVOX, which would allow for non-members to participate as well and for organizations to collect new emails/potential members. Congress will have direct & immediate knowledge of these campaigns and/or the percentage of individuals for or against particular legislative bills or actions.
While I could go on for quite awhile touting all the awesome functions this new platform has – I’d rather you check it out for yourself, by clicking on the “POPVOX: Tell Congress what you think” widget above.
Calling all non-profits! The CTK Foundation is launching the 2011 Heart and Soul Grant Competition. Nonprofits of all sizes and types are invited to apply their creativity to win major grants of funds and technology. The contest is now open to all nonprofits in the United States, Canada and the UK. As a blogger, I was asked to promote this contest and get the word out because this is an amazing opportunity . So to all my friends in the non-profit world: APPLY!
To win, you have to get creative and write an original four- to eight-line poem or stanza that reflects the work or mission of your nonprofit. No poets on staff? Ask one of your members/supporters to write a poem for you.
The 1st place winner will receive $10,000 and will have their submission turned into a song to be used in public education or awareness. The song will be written and recorded by songwriter Bill Dillon — who was recently exonerated after 27 years in prison thanks to Innocence Project of Florida — and produced by Jim Tullio of Butcher Boy Studios.
The winning nonprofits will receive one of the following awards:
1st place award in the U.S., U.K. or Canada is a cash grant of $10,000 (US)
2nd place award in the U.S., U.K. or Canada is a cash grant of $5,000 (US)
The 2011 Blogger’s Choice Award, whereby a randomly selected blogger participating in “spreading the word” among nonprofits about the H&S Grant Award Program will choose an applicant of his or her choice to receive a $1,000 cash grant
2 steel-stringed guitars, signed by all members of Los Lonely Boys, the Grammy Award winning, internationally-acclaimed band, for auction and fund raising
Up to 20 technology grants, valued at $10,000, to nonprofits that indicate an interest
The only eligibility requirement is that the submitting nonprofit must be a registered 501(c)3, charity or voluntary organization and that all grant award guidelines regarding manner and timing of submission have been followed; these guidelines will be posted TODAY, March 1st on the Foundation tab located on the www.communitytech.net website.
Applications will be accepted from March 1st to March 28th, 2011. Winners will be notified by April 10th and celebrated at the Heart and Soul Grant Award Gala on April 14th in Austin, Texas. Questions? Email inquiries@ctkfoundation.org. No phone calls accepted.
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