Prior Meetings
Review of October Meeting - The Future of Education with Auditi Chakravarty
Sarah Parnell October 19, 2026
Auditi Chakravarty, a nationally recognized education leader, argued that education is both an economic and civic imperative, affecting everything from earnings and health to the strength of communities. Drawing on research about long-term success, she highlighted four key conditions for learning: belonging, agency, learner variability, and meaningful connections. Students learn best when they feel they belong, have ownership over their learning, are recognized for their unique strengths, and can connect… Read More »
Erica Anderson Rooney - Review of our September Meeting
Sarah Parnell September 22, 2026
Erica Anderson Rooney—author of The AI Gap and Glass Ceilings & Sticky Floors — opened our conversation with a simple message: we need to learn how to work with AI, not brace against it. AI is suddenly threaded through everything, and many of us — especially women — are feeling that uneasy mix of “this is interesting” and “how do we navigate this.” The fears are real. Only 9% of people feel comfortable using… Read More »
May Meeting Review
Sarah Parnell May 22, 2026
Our speaker, Marla Smith-Nilson leads Water 1st International, a Seattle nonprofit bringing piped-to-home water systems to communities in Honduras, Kenya, and Bangladesh. A civil engineer who never set out to be a leader, she traces her commitment to fairness back to her small hometown of Benson, Arizona—and to a childhood moment in Mexico when she saw young girls carrying water for their families. That early sense of injustice shaped a career… Read More »
Daraja Academy Review
May 14, 2026
On May 25th AAUW Seattle supported an online meting about the Daraja Academy in Kenya and how Bush School Students connect with the girls in Kenya. Nancy Bowman, a teacher at the Bush School in Seattle who values experiential learning and civics, first connected with Daraja in 2022 after hearing a student describe what it’s like to pursue an education as a girl in Kenya. She learned how many girls face barriers—public… Read More »
High School STEM Scholar Recognition
Marianne North April 22, 2026
Proud families clapped as their daughters received recognition for their achievement in STEM fields. The high school juniors received awards for their excellence in science, math or technology. They were nominated by their high school teachers and counselors. AAUW member Tonna Kutner spoke about AAUW and its most recent research on pay equity. Four outstanding women scientists gave presentations about their research, their sometimes erratic paths to earn their degrees, and the… Read More »