Lisa Maatz on Equity and US Politics

Seattle Branch was excited to have Lisa Maatz engaging with us on Zoom. She headed the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education and the Paycheck Fairness Coalition. She is currently the Senior Advisor for Ohio Citizen Action.

Maatz, former vice president of government relations for AAUW, is a sought-after speaker in our nation’s capital and has a large and devoted following on Twitter. At our September Zoom meeting she addressed our members regarding these important nation-wide issues:

• The Child Tax Credit, with money for families to raise their kids. It is slated to end December 31, 2021 and definitely needs to be made permanent.
• The infrastructure bill which includes paid time off for family emergencies.
• The chipping away of reproduction rights.
• Redistricting that may cause the Democratic Party to lose the Senate, as well as state and local representation. Following her presentation, Lisa answered related questions from members.

The meeting started off with our three College Scholarship Recipients for 2021-2022 – Anna, Anya and Octavia. They thanked the branch for the opportunity to continue their education and spoke about their latest experiences. Overview of College Scholarship program.

After Lisa’s presentation, we were introduced to five board members who gave us an update on branch activities:

• Katherine highlighted AAUW public policy and Women’s March October 2.
• Marianne introduced finance seminar coming soon for AAUW members. Watch for it on What’s New.
• Tonna highlighted the Legacy Circle and how to be a Legacy donor
• Robin announced delivery of new AAUW Directory at the upcoming branch meeting.
• Gay recruited volunteers for an expanded marketing committee – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)