Women's Foundation of Montana ~ Women's Wire

Girl-Tech introduces science and technology to girls at a young age
Making it fun is the key

At first, it looks like an ordinary group of chatty 5th-grade girls, getting together for a fun evening of arts and crafts. They gather around a table filled with fun stuff—colored clay, bits of wire and fabric, colored pencils and drawing paper. By the end of the session, however, the girls are well on their way to designing and creating puppets with blinking eyes and brightly lighted features controlled remotely by wire circuitry that they will build.
            Welcome to Girl-Tech, a program to mentor young girls in science and technology, specifically computers and robotics. This girls-only club is one of the programs that received funding last year from the Women’s Foundation of Montana. Aimed largely at girls who qualify for their schools’ free-and-reduced-lunch program, Girl-Tech provides a very special kind of intensive mentoring that would not be available to these girls otherwise. The girls meet twice a week to learn computer programming, electronic circuitry and robotics. Occasionally, they take field trips to meet women in the community who are employed professionally in the fields of science and technology.
            Helena’s Girl-Tech program is modeled after the national YWCA TechGYRLS course, which is no longer available in Helena. The women who organized the original course in Helena felt it was too important to lose, so they moved it from the YWCA to the Helena Housing Authority Computer Lab, then to its new home, ExplorationWorks, a new science center which invites people of all ages and backgrounds to experience science and culture through exhibits and activities that promote lifelong learning.
            Seated at the table with the girls, up to their elbows in clay and wire circuitry, retired physician Liz Gundersen and 5th grade science teacher Sandy Jones, look and act more like big sisters to these girls than teachers. Both do this work for the sheer love of teaching and exposing young girls to science and technology.
            “The girls have to be comfortable before they will start experimenting,” says Sandy, dressed just like the girls in jeans and sweatshirt. “So we bring fun projects to the class, provide them with all the materials they need and, most important, make sure they are never intimidated by the process. It’s all about fun and creativity and being together with girls their age.”
            Both Gundersen and Jones have attended conferences and workshops designed to teach teachers how to inspire young people about technology. They lean heavily on a national network called PIE (Playful Invention and Exploration) developed through a collaboration of six museums with MIT Media Lab and with support from the National Science Foundation. The whole idea is to integrate art, science, music and engineering as an approach to teaching kids how to use new technologies. Or, as Gundersen says, “We want these kids to understand that they can make their own electricity, that not everything has to come out of a box from the store.”

           Earlier in the year, in a related program, ExplorationWorks fielded an all-girl robotics team of 5th-8th graders to the First Lego League robotic challenge held on the MSU campus in Bozeman. The Power Chicks placed 10th in a field of 37, and won the award for creative presentation. Their research involved a study of energy use at ExplorationWorks, and they presented their recommendations for improved use of light fixtures to the facility’s board of directors.
          To our Women’s Foundation donors: You may not know the difference between PicoCrickets and NXT Mindstorms robotics, but you can feel good about giving young girls the opportunity to compete with boys in the field of science and technology.
            As one of the 5th grade girls said after class: “I love this program and I’d have to say that math and science are my favorite subjects.”

Founded in Bozeman in 1997 by 16 girls and their female mentors, Girls for a Change (GFAC) has been drawing big crowds to its annual conference ever since. Each year, a core group of girls and women plan the annual conference which, in 2008, drew 79 girls from 10 communities to think about their future and dream big.

          In addition to inspirational speakers, the conference offers workshops where girls can gain exposure to skills and opportunities designed to help them achieve self-sufficiency, fulfillment and success. Workshop focus areas this year were: Women in Science, Global and Social Awareness, Art and Movement, and Stress Busters. Past speakers have included: actress Jane Fonda, who has focused her activism and philanthropy recently on girls’ reproductive health and prevention of teen pregnancy; playwright, author and performer Eve Ensler; Lisa Woll, CEO of the Social Investment Forum, and Bozeman-based photojournalist Anne Sherwood.
           In addition to the annual conference, GFAC sponsors a number of activities devoted to encouraging the healthy development of girls, including team building, communications skills, journaling workshops, community-based mother-daughter groups and challenge courses.
           Here at the Women’s Foundation of Montana, we see the work of GFAC as an extension of our mission and are pleased to help sponsor its annual conference. For more information about GFAC, go to www.girlsforachangebozeman.org

I recently had the opportunity to network with and learn from inspirational women leaders from around the world at the annual conference of the Women’s Funding Network, held in Washington, DC. The conference, Leadership for a Changing World, brought together a powerhouse of women leaders, including keynoterWangari Maathai, the first African woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace; Rayona Sharpnack, founder of the Institute for Women’s Leadership; Geeta Rao Gupta, president of the International Center for Research on Women, and Christine Grumm, president and CEO of the Women’s Funding Network.
Through workshops and leadership training, I came away with concrete tools and ideas to improve our grantmaking, advocacy efforts and our fund’s visibility. Throughout the conference, I met women from women’s funds around the United States and the world. These conversations are the heart and soul of the conference, and the connections I made will continue to inform the work of the Women’s Foundation of Montana. Learning from others engaged in this work ensures that we are not reinventing the wheel and can learn from others’ mistakes and successes.

Source: Center for Responsible Lending (http://www.responsiblelending.org)

           Ever feel out of sync with the work you’re trying to accomplish? Ever feel stressed, drained or just plain worn out from trying to save the world? Is women’s work too hard?
            If the answer is yes to any of these, relief is in sight. The Women’s Foundation is teaming up with Heart View Center, north of Missoula, to bring a Bioneers’ “Cultivating Women’s Leadership” (CWL) training to Montana.
           Bioneers is a nationally recognized nonprofit dedicated to healing both natural ecosystems and human communities. As the name implies, this conference is just for women and it will be headed up by Bioneers co-founder Nina Simons. Since 1997, Simons has focused increasingly on teaching women’s leadership. She helps reveal the connection between inner awareness and outer work. She will be assisted in the conference by facilitator Toby Herzlich, a Rockwood Leadership trainer, who has supported women to be effective leaders in the Middle East, Bosnia, the U.S. and Canada. The Berkeley-based Rockwood Leadership Program specializes in leadership training for nonprofit organizations.
           Two of our staff at the Montana Community Foundation have participated in CWL and thought it worthy enough to bring to Montana. We approached our friend, Mary Stranahan at Heart View, who graciously opened her retreat center in Arlee and agreed to co-sponsor the event with us.
           Here are some of the things you can expect to gain from the conference: a stronger connection to your own purpose; a sense of balance between your personal self-care and your work; a new and diverse regional network of supportive women, and tools for ongoing leadership development.
           Heart View Center is the perfect setting for this important work. Its 240 acres of open space includes an organic farm, forested upland and river bottoms. The Center includes an indoor pool and sauna. Tuition ranges from $795 to $1095, depending on your lodging choice, and includes fabulous, nutritious meals.
           Limited full or partial scholarships are available and will be determined by our conference leaders after all applications have been received. To receive an application or learn more about the conference, call or email Jodi Medlar at 406-443-8313, ext. 101, or jodimedlar@mtcf.org.

In 2008, women are still fighting for pay equity
Senators Tester and Baucus are with us in this struggle

           It’s hard to believe that in 2008, women are still struggling for pay equity. After all, we thought we were there (in word, if not deed) with passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to enforce equality in the workplace. But a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision (Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company) turned back the clock by severely restricting legal redress for victims of pay discrimination.
           In an attempt to reinstate the principles of Title VII, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to clarify an employee’s ability to sue up to 180 days after the latest unequal paycheck rather than within six months of her first unequal pay, as the Court’s majority ruled.
            The Court’s decision ignores the realities of today’s workplace. At a press conference shortly before the Senate took up debate on the bill, the AAUW’s Lisa Maatz said, “Employees generally don’t know enough about what co-workers earn or how pay decisions are made to file a complaint precisely when a discriminatory pay decision is made.”
            But Senate Republicans filibustered the bill and proponents could not muster the necessary 60 votes to move the bill to final passage. Of the 56 senators who did vote for pay equity, we can be proud that both Montana senators—Max Baucus and Jon Tester—voted for the bill. We also have Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to thank for keeping this issue alive. In her dissent, she called the Court’s decision “totally at odds with the robust protection against workplace discrimination” and encouraged Congress to step in and “correct this court’s parsimonious reading of Title VII.” In the House, Montana’s lone representative, Dennis Rehberg, joined the Republican minority in voting against the bill.
            In Montana, the decision is an especially bitter pill to swallow because the pay gap is even wider than it is nationally, and Montana women rank 50th in the nation for women’s median annual earnings.
            Clearly, pay equity is not a race for the short-winded. The AAUW’s Maatz opened her statement by saying that her organization “has been fighting for equal pay for equal work since our first report on the topic in 1913.” So please take a moment to write or call Senators Baucus and Tester to thank them for standing up for pay equity, and let Rep. Rehberg know that women take this issue seriously and we vote. This issue won’t go away and neither will we!

U.S. Senator Max Baucus
511 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone (202) 224-2651
Email max@baucus.senate.gov

U.S. Senator Jon Tester
204 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-2604
Phone: (202) 224-2644
Email via http://www.tester.senate.gov/

U.S. Rep. Dennis Rehberg
516 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC, 20515
Phone (202) 225-3211
Email via http://www.house.gov/rehberg/

Donors
Alan and Jean Kahn Endowment Fund
Allegra Print & Imaging
Chambers Family Fund
Civic Consulting
Foundation for Community Vitality
Marguerite Casey Foundation
Post-A-Gram LLC
Remmer Family Foundation
R-Tech Systems Inc.
Ellen and Don Alweis
Sandra Anderson
Anonymous
Martha and Enrico Arguelles
Barbara Bayer
Joan and Dick Bennett
Ann Brodsky
Deborah Butterfield
Lynda Caine
Susan Capdeville
Linda Carlson
Eileen Carney
Diane Carriere-Myrah
Sheila Conners
Penny Copps
Bonnie and Richard A. Cotton
Lou Ann Crowley
Betsy de Leiris
Mary Dykstra
Dorothy Eck
Jo Ann and Bert Eder
Margery Eliason
Sarah Elliott and Kevin Furey
Tom Facey and Maureen O'Malley
Catherine Flynn
Representative Julie French
Rosella and Ernie Gallegos
Mary and Harry C. Gibson
Senator Kim Gillan
Randy and Valerie Hanson
Joan Hantz
Kent and Linda Harris
Ruth Heffron
Sheila Hogan and Jim Edwards
Mary and Terry A. Housinger
Barbara J. Hunter
John Ingalls
Gerry Jennings
Marilynn Jubb
Martha Katz
Marilyn Kramer
Bonnie Lambert and Marshall Mayer
Linda Leimbach
Debra Lewis
Sol Lovas
Eldora McBride
Chantel McCormick
Judy and Bruce Meadows
Senator Lynda Moss
Janice Munsell and Randy L. Spear
Myhre Family Foundation Fund
Virginia and Albert Niccolucci
Stuart and Janie Nicholson
Nancy and Alan Nicholson
Nancy and Buck O'Brien
Nancy J. O'Brien
Nancy Owens
Eva Patten
Jan Paustian
Mora Payne
Michele Pederson
Virginia Piatt
William Pratt
Linda Reed
Sheila Rice
Rachel Schaffer
Margaret Schoknecht
Rosana Skelton
Mary Minor Smith
Jessica and Ed Stickney
Alieda Stone
Sue Talbot
Cindy and Jim Utterback
Barbara Wagner
Kayla Williams
Jeanne Wolverton

Honorariums
Sidney Armstrong in honor of Dorothy Eck
Jacob Cooley in honor of Samantha Cooley
Kelley and Matthew R. Dowdell in honor of Lisa Snow, Anne Haley and Atlee Caldwell
Margery Eliason in honor of Sally Marion
Elaine and Gene Etchart in honor of Sarah Etchart
Nancy Goodspeed in honor of Linda Reed
Garth Haugland in honor of Ruth Haugland
Alyce Kuehn in honor of Deanie Bassett, Barbara Peabody, Shirley Mohr, Sandra
Anderson, Kay Jenson, Dorothy Harmon, Linda Reed, Ellen Alweis, Kathy Wallingford, Cathy Byron, Monte Lou Munro, Marvel McKerlick, Suzanne Trusler, Pat Feldmann, Carole Carey, and Marion Kerr
Jean Lemire Dahlman in honor of Elsie Fox
Elizabeth Marchi in honor of Dixie Conner
Teresa McKeon in honor of Becky Bruce
Audre and Harold Pressman in honor of Ann Walters
Bob Ream in honor of Ann Brodsky
Linda E. Reed in honor of Paulene Reed
Bev Ross in honor of Ellen Alweis
Maureen Rude in honor of Mickey Rosa
The Honorable Patricia Schroeder in honor of Jamie Cornish
Diana Solle in honor of Susan Brown
Ed Strommen in honor of Ellen Strommen
Dr. Jerry Williams in honor of Judith Williams
Women's Foundation of Montana in honor of Ellen Alweis

Memorials
Cathy and Ed Cooney in memory of Lillian Medlar
Ellen and Eric Feaver in memory of Mildred Colby
Sheri and Brad Harlow in memory of Lillian Medlar
Judy Johnson in memory of Dr. Thomas R. Johnson
Alyce Kuehn in memory of Beverly Benjamin
Linda E. Reed in memory of Lillian Medlar
Norma Tirrell and Gordon Bennett in memory of Mary Craig
Representative Franke Wilmer in memory of Elise Walden

Women's Wire ~ Issue 5, Spring 2008