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Meeting Minutes

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, 1/20/24
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

 

Karen S. called the meeting to order.

The California NOW meeting on the ERA on 1/7/2024 was summarized.

  • Strategy for the Discharge Petition to get the ERA published was discussed.
  • Jeanette suggested we send ERA info to the local democratic clubs.

Karen S. attended a California NOW meeting on 1/10/2024 regarding the state conference.

The scholarship and our publicity for it was discussed.  Forming a scholarship committee needs to be done.  Also, requesting for donations for the scholarship and timing for the request were discussed.  Requests will go out through email and USPS mail.

Chapter meetings for 2024 wee discussed.  We don’t need to meet every month, but we don’t need to commit this early when we’ll have meetings.  The next meeting will be March 16, 2024 and Nancy will arrange for the speaker.

Kathy DeFabio
Treasurer


Chapter Meeting
Saturday, October 21, 2023
2:00 – 4:00 pm

 

In attendance:  Jeanette, Kathy, Erika, Nancy, Karen, Joanne, Darnell, Jennifer

Our speaker was Jennifer Esteen candidate for Alameda County Supervisor.  Jennifer is a licensed psychiatric nurse.  She spoke to us about healthcare reforms she would like to have in Alameda county.

Our last meeting, held on August 26 was a picnic at Livorna Park in Walnut Creek celebrating Women’s Equality Day.

Kathy read the minutes from the previous meeting.

Treasurer’s report:  Kathy gave the Treasurer’s report.

Membership:  we looked at the latest membership list to check to see how renewals were now handled.

New business: Candidates for office for 2024:

Nominees:
President:  Karen Severud
Vice President:  Erika Maslan
Treasurer:  Kathy DeFabio
State Board Representative:  Jeanette Cole
Board Advisor:  Jeanette Cole

Upcoming Meetings:
October 29, 2023:   Monthly NOW Chapter Leaders Discussion

Karen Severud
Secretary

 


 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, June 17, 2023
2:00 – 4:00 pm

In attendance:  Jeanette, Karen, Erika, Kathy, Darnel, Terry

Our program speaker: Terry Sanders, NOW member from Florida.

Terry Sanders, board member for National NOW spoke to us about her experiences as an activist moving from California to Florida.

Kathy read the minutes from the April meeting and they were approved.

Treasurer’s report: Treasurer’s report was given.

Our scholarship winners this year are:  Syeda Manahill and Gerorigina  Prado.  There were ten applicants that went through the entire process this year.  Two scholarships, one each for $1,000 will be awarded.  The balance of the scholarship money raised will be carried over to next year.

Membership:   We have 122 members.

Old business:   California NOW conference, Bridging the Gaps was attended

                       Living Wage event in Sacramento in Jeanette and Karen 

 

New business:  Our next board meeting will be July 15.                                                                 

August 26 is Women’s Equality Day and we will be having a garden party at a local park on that day.  We will invite the scholarship winners and the contributors to the scholarship fund in addition to other guests and members.  Erika will look into reserving a space at the Lafalyette Reservoir.  

The National NOW conference is 6/30-7/2 in Arlingnton, VA

 

 


 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, April 15, 2023
2:00 – 4:00 pm

Our Speaker was Lashara Johneson from the Contra Costa Family Justice Center.  She explained the Telecare Program which serves survivors of interpersonal violence.

Kathy read the minutes from March which were approved.

Treasurer’s report balance for the end of March.  All is normal.

Membership report: One new member, we have 122 members,

New business: April is sexual assault awareness month. 

One Fair Wage is holding a rally in Sacramento supporting a bill that would raise the minimum wage to the amount needed to live in the cheapest county in CA, which is Modoc County at $23.75 an hour.  Jeanette and Karen are planning to attend.

Scholarship:  the deadline for applications is May 17.  There will be one scholarship awarded this year.  The members of the scholarship committee are: Vicky, Jaqi and Erika.  A motion wasmade to spend not more than $250 on a mailing to members asking for donations to the scholarship fund.  Jeanette would like to send self addressed envelopes to all members and put postage on half of the envelopes to see if it improves the chances of getting a response.  

The California NOW Conference, Bridging the Gap, will be held on May 20 from 10:00-4:00 pm.  The conference will be held as hybrid conference through West Hollywood NOW.  Participation
will be virtual or in person.

Jeanette and Erika would like to attend the National NOW Conference in Arlington, Virginia, June 30-July 2.  

There will not be a chapter meeting scheduled for May.  The next chapter meeting will be on June 17, from 2:00-4:00 pm.

Karen Severud
Contra Costa NOW

 


Chapter Meeting
Saturday, Mar 18, 2023
2:00 – 4:00 pm

In attendance:  Jeanette, Karen, Kathy, Darnelle, Erika, Nancy, Joanne, Sura

Our speaker was Sura Jayaramem from One Fair Wage, Oakland.

Saru gave an interesting presentation about the working conditions  and wages for restaurant workers.  Seventy percent of restaurant workers are women and these women also work for tips.

Kathy read the minutes for February.  Erika made a motion to accept the minutes and Kathy seconded.  The motion passed.

Treasurer’s report:  All expenses normal.
Membership rebate: $147.00.   The chapter sponsored $60.00 registration fee for Nancy to attend Women’s Networking Group.

Nancy reported on the Women’s Networking  meeting she attended at the Chamber of Commerce in Concord. Topic sex trafficking.

Membership report:  We have one new member. We have 122 members on our latest membership list.

President’s Report:   Both Jeanette and Erika reported on the State Leaders meeting they attended. Erika suggested that we go to the National NOW website to read the minutes for more details.

Scholarship Committee:  It was decided that we would give out one scholarship this year for $1,000.  The scholarship committee members are Vicky, Jaqi, and Erika.
it was decided to send a letter (USPS) to our membership asking for donations for the scholarship.  Also, an email will be sent to our members and interested parties asking for same.

The National NOW conference will be held in Arlington, Virginia, June 30-July 2, 2023.

Karen Severud
Secretary

 


 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, Feb 18, 2023
2:00 – 4:00 pm

 

In attendance: Jeanette, Nancy, Kathy, Karen S.

– Treasurer’s report as of 1/31/2023 was discussed

– The board went over the proposed budget for 2023.

– The board adopted the final 2023 budget.

– The State Conference is scheduled for 5/20 in Southern CA.

– The National Conference is scheduled for 6/30-7/2 in Virginia.

– Nancy and Karen will continue to work on the new membership letter.

– March is Women’s History Month.  March 8 is International Day.

– Proposed programs for future meetings are:

AAUW One Step Access Domestic Violence

Family Justice Center

Telecare free access

Rainbow Center (they came to a meeting last year)

 

– May is Asian Pacific Month.

Karen Severud

 


Board Meeting
Saturday, Jan 21, 2023
2:00 – 4:00 pm

 

  • The meeting was called to order by President Jeanette Cole.

 

  • Kathy read the minutes for the November 11, 2022 chapter meeting. Minutes were approved.

 

  • Kathy gave the Treasurer’s report. Usual expenses.

 

  • The Chapter’s 2023 goals and calendar were discussed.

 

  • The 2023 budget was discussed. May need to schedule another meeting to finalize the budget.

 

  • Nancy mentioned she and Karen S. had discussed ideas for member engagement for new members.

 

  • Speakers for our chapter meetings were discussed. Nancy mentioned someone from Telecare Free Access (which is a conglomeration of organizations, such as the Family Justice Center and Stand, to provide one-step assistance for people in crisis), might be a good candidate for speaker.  Nancy will contact the Family Justice Center (part of Telecare Free Access) to discuss availability of a speaker in April.
    Other suggestions for speakers were National Council of Negro Women for February, NARAL, and Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA).

 

  • Meeting was adjourned at 4:00 pm.

Kathy DeFabio

 

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, Nov 19, 2022
12:00 – 2:00 pm

In attendance:
Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Karen, Nancy, Vicki, Darnelle, Jo Anne, Patty

Speaker:  Iraf Esuf, field representative for Buffy Wickes, Assemblywoman, Contra Costa County: update on recent bills.

Jeanette opened the meeting.

Vicki read  October minutes.  Approved.

Kathy gave Treasurer´s Report.   Usual expenses.   No new donations for 2023 scholarships.  Discussion of reposting original article on our website eliciting scholarship donations.  Approved.

Nancy: no Membership Report.

Erika asked how our chapter can be more active on current issues.  Vicki reminded board about our decision at last board meeting to partner with compatible organizations on specific actions. Nancy suggested we work with organizations which have provided speakers for our meetings.   Patty suggested reaching out to students at local colleges & universities, and also tabling at college events for local organizations.

Karen announced that Marisol Rubio was elected to the City Council in San Ramon.  She had spoken to our group and received our endorsement.

Jeanette attended the NOW Leadership Meeting.  The next National meeting is on December 4th,  and will be a post-mortem of the midterm election results.

Jeanette confirmed that our chapter’s holiday party will be held on December 11th from 4-6pm in the Community Room of a Walnut Creek apartment complex.  Karen offered to invite previous speakers.   We will definitely invite new members.  It was suggested that we include a map of the apartment complex to send with directions.  Vicki mentioned that everyone should bring a folding chair, since there may not be enough seating.  We will have a potluck of appetizers, desserts, and wine provided by the board members.  There will be an email sign-up for what each attendee will bring.  It was suggested that we post signs and use balloons to help attendees find the Community Room.  Erika will obtain balloons, Kathy to bring partyware, and Vicki will bring nametags.  We also need serving utensils.

There was a discussion of chapter elections.  Nancy offered to be the State Board Representative, and she would like to continue as VP Membership, co-chairing with Karen.  Erika offered to continue as Vice President and will work on specific issues on an ad hoc basis.  Jeanette will be nominated again as President, as well as remaining a State Board Representative.  Karen will work with Nancy as co-chair of Membership, as well as working on outreach and increasing awareness of NOW.  Karen has also volunteered to take over as Secretary.  Vicki will no longer act as Chapter Secretary, but will continue to chair the Scholarship Committee.  All board members can organize a monthly program.  Rather than conduct the chapter elections at an upcoming Zoom meeting, all votes for chapter officials will be done via e-mail, supervised by Kathy and Jeanette.

Jeanette mentioned she has put a link on our website with details on how members can write letters to Georgia run-off voters in support of Senator Warnock.

There will not be a board meeting in December since we are hosting the holiday party.  Next board meeting will be a planning meeting in January to establish goals and potential actions for 2023.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:30pm.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary

 


 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, Oct 15, 2022
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

 

In attendance:
Jeanette, Kathy, Karen, Nancy, Vicki, Darnelle, Jo Anne K.

Speaker:  Kelly Ferguson, Director of Development, Rainbow Community Center, Concord

Jeanette opened the meeting.

Vicki read September minutes.  Approved.

Kathy gave Treasurer´s Report.  We have received rebates from National.  Usual expenses.

Nancy gave Membership Report:  We currently have 141 members, with several more on our mailing list.

Karen mentioned that the Walnut Creek Library meeting rooms are now open if we want to resume in-person meetings.  Vicki suggested we continue to meet via Zoom except for special events.

Vicki proposed scheduling an event next May to honor recipients of our scholarships, including previous winners.

Jeanette suggested we secure a speaker for the November meeting, who can analyze the election results.  Representatives of Women´s March, Democratic Club, and League of Women Voters were suggested, as well as local members of Congress.

 Kathy recapped the El Sobrante Stroll event on September 18th, which was mostly rained out.  It was discussed whether we should reprint pamphlets about our chapter for future public events.

Vicki gave an update on the Young Feminists Club formed at a school in Concord.  She will send them information about the Rainbow Community Center.  She had checked on resources available through National NOW, including the mid-October Week of Activities, but as of 10/15, nothing was posted.

Nancy mentioned that she attended the October 8th Women´s March in Berkeley.

Jeanette attended a virtual event from the Seattle chapter on Saving Secular Healthcare.  She said that 49% of the hospitals in Seattle are controlled by the Catholic Church, and 17% nationwide.

Nancy suggested partnering with Women´s March for a future event.

Jeanette brought up Vote Forward , an October 19th training event on outreach before the elections.

Kathy updated our candidate questionnaire.  Last month´s speaker, Marisol Rubio, was officially endorsed by our chapter.

Jeanette brought up the issue of chapter elections for 2023.  A nominating committee was formed with Darnelle, Vicki and Jose.  We may need to schedule an additional meeting for elections.  Vicki recommended that, for certain board positions, we should have co-chairs as a way to bring more members onto the board.  Vicki also mentioned that she was not planning to serve as Secretary in 2023.

A holiday party was discussed.  A community room in Walnut Creek could be the venue for a potluck afternoon event, either on Sunday, December 11th or 18th from 4-6pm.   Vicki will confirm availability.

Jeanette rescheduled the November 19th board meeting for 12-2 pm, since 2 of the board members have a conflict later in the afternoon.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:50pm.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary

 


 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, Sept 17, 2022
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

IN ATTENDANCE:

Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Karen, Nancy, Vicki, JoAnn, Mary, Patty

GUEST SPEAKER:

Marisol Rubio, VP Dublin San Ramon Services District Board of Directors and candidate for San Ramon City Council.

Jeanette opened the meeting.

Vicki read minutes from last meeting which were voted on and approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer´s Report:  normal expenses, $1000 donation sent to Planned Parenthood, second college scholarship paid.

Karen discussed future programs.  She will contact the Rainbow Coalition for a speaker in October.  She is thinking of a new member event for November.

Jeanette said that CA NOW should post their PAC recommendations on their website.  CA NOW is currently updating their website.  There are a couple of openings on their board.

Mary talked about a letter-writing campaign for the upcoming midterm elections.

Kathy has organized a table at the El Sobrante Stroll held on Sunday, September 18th from 8am-4pm.  Nancy is planning to remain at the table with her.  They will be passing out voter registration cards, and will have a list for people interested in joining NOW.  They will be able to accept membership payments on the spot.  Jeanette suggested that she provide the NOW coloring books for sale,  in exchange for a donation to our chapter, or as a perk for anyone who joins on the spot.

Vicki discussed the first new Young Feminists Club which was recently organized at a middle school in Concord.  She has been in touch with the club advisor and has been forwarding relevant articles and information.  Vicki will research what resources or materials may be available for Young Feminists from National.  It was suggested that, if we have a speaker from the Rainbow Coalition at an upcoming meeting, the club members could be invited as guests.

We discussed whether we can endorse candidates for office or provide a letter of support, as long as we don´t donate money to their campaigns.  We agreed that Nancy should check with Phyllis to see if there is a form that needs to be filled out before we endorse candidates.  We would like to endorse Marisol Rubio but not donate to her campaign.

Jeanette brought up the large National Women´s March planned for October 8th.  Unfortunately, there are no marches scheduled in San Francisco or the East Bay.  Vicki mentioned that the closest marches are in San Jose and Stockton.

JoAnn mentioned she received postcards for the midterm elections from an organization called Democracy for America.  The message is a reminder for people to be sure to vote for candidates who support reproductive rights.  Individuals are responsible for paying for postage.

Jeanette told us about the National NOW Vote Forward campaign offering letter-writing training to encourage people to vote.

Erika brought up the question of how we can organize to encourage people to vote, and perhaps to canvas for pro-choice candidates.

Kathy said we need to constantly update our website with the newest information.  Jeanette says she continuously adds information to our website and FB page.

Jeanette mentioned that the Seattle NOW chapter is doing a Zoom meeting September 21st from 7-8pm on how religious directives can have a negative impact on our healthcare choices.

Erika discussed outreach to colleges, high schools, and middle schools to encourage Young Feminists Clubs and activities.   National NOW is hosting a week of activities for young feminists from October 12th-17th.

Meeting adjourned at 3:50 pm.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary


 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, Aug 20, 2022
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In Attendance:  Jeanette, Kathy, Erika, Nancy, Karen, Darnelle, Vicki;   guests Teresa Saunders and Gabby Saunders

Speaker:  Margaret Martinez Franks, Planned Parenthood CA Interim Public Affairs Director

Following the speaker, Jeanette opened the meeting.

Vicki read the minutes.  Approved with correction.

Kathy gave the Treasurer´s Report.  Membership rebates received for January-May.  Normal expenses.  Kathy sent checks for 2022 scholarships, but only one cashed yet; she will contact bursar.

Karen is looking into getting a speaker from the Rainbow Center or Latinx for September, or perhaps someone who can speak about immigrant women.

Jeanette said she had attended the CA NOW PAC meeting, but it was mostly for S. CA candidates.  The next CA State NOW meeting with new leadership will be held on August 27th at 10am.  The Leaders’ meeting will be held on August 28th.  She also attended a meeting held by San Diego NOW called Swing Left & Vote Forward.  The Democratic club meeting was attended by Planned Parenthood executives.  We discussed offering a $1000 donation to Norcal Planned Parenthood to go directly toward paying for abortions and related healthcare; voted on and approved.  Jeanette will make a flyer to help get people interested in joining NOW and sending it to libraries.

Teresa and Gabby Saunders discussed the formation of the Young Feminists Club at Gabby’s school, Pine Hollow Middle School in Concord, where Gabby is in the 7th grade.  They have enlisted the support of a club advisor who is very enthusiastic about this group.  Gabby will begin recruiting members (both girls and boys) and members can attend our future board meetings.  We can also provide input on their potential activities.  Jeanette mentioned that schools are required to do training of students on certain issues, like bullying, LGBTQ+ and others.  Nancy mentioned that National NOW has a Young Feminists division and that Erika would be familiar with it since she did a presentation to the group.  Darnelle mentioned the current issue of pay equity to women in professional sports such as the US Women’s Soccer team.  Nancy suggested that, if we do have a speaker from the Rainbow Coalition in September, Gabby’s group would be welcome to attend, as a possible presentation for their school in future.

Jeanette mentioned there is a tabling opportunity at the El Sobrante Stroll on Sunday, September 18th.  Tables cost $90, with set-up from 8am and continuing until 4pm.  We would focus on voter registration.  Kathy already stores a table, canopy, and chairs.  The Board voted to spend $90 for the tabling opportunity.  Nancy suggested possibly sharing a table with Planned Parenthood or another organization.  We are open to other tabling opportunities.

Nancy told us that August 26th has been renamed Women’s Inequality Day, to commemorate the loss of women’s rights instead of a celebration of women’s suffrage as a result of the 19th amendment.  She said the League of Women Voters offers a voters‘ toolkit on their website, which we will reference on our website and FB page.  Jeanette said we can share any other actions by other organizations on that day on our site and FB page.  She has also been sharing NOW information on Twitter.

The next board meeting is Saturday, September 17th.

Meeting adjourned at 3:40 pm.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary


 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, July 16, 2022
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In Attendance:  Jeanette, Kathy, Nancy, Karen, Darnelle, Vicki; guest Wendy Ke

Jeanette opened the meeting.  She mentioned Shirley Wheeler, the first woman who went to jail for having an abortion.  Jeanette attended the CA NOW conference on 6/25.

Vicki read the minutes.  Approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer´s Report.  Last month we had 2 new members.   Kathy will be paying out the 2022 scholarships shortly.  The Garden Party resulted in some additional funds.

Karen stated that she is open to ideas on actions for repro rights.  She will coordinate with someone from Planned Parenthood, maybe check in with former employee Lauren Babb.  Jeanette has inquired about the possibility of our volunteering at PP in Walnut Creek but has not had a response.  Vicki asked if there had been any anti-choice demonstrations outside of PP in WC, but no one was aware of any.

Jeanette said she had added additional pro-choice organizations´ links to our website for volunteering and donation purposes.  She also mentioned the severe lack of abortion facilities in rural areas of CA.  She said that Women´s March is now offering workshops on becoming “Digital Defenders:” how to represent pro-choice viewpoints on social media.   Jeanette also attended the Jumpstart Your Activism held by the county Democratic organization.

Vicki brought up the idea of fostering Young Feminists clubs in area high schools which was discussed with a young attendee at the Garden Party; Vicki to follow up.   We need to explore ways to enable these clubs. Karen suggested working with Moms Demand Action, a gun-control group, to coordinate actions.

Jeanette stated that a NOW Leaders’ meeting will be on July 31st at 11:00 am.  There will be NOW members from all over the U.S..  The closest NOW chapter from us is in Sonoma County.  The national NOW conference will be held in Chicago from July 22-24th.  Women´s March will be holding their conference in Houston on 8/12-14th.

The board discussed ways to increase our membership, and attract new people to seek board positions.  Some ideas discussed are tabling at marches and other public places, and organizing clinic defense actions.

Jeanette suggested putting all options for member activism on our website and FB page, such as opportunities for sending postcards, text banking and phone banking in battleground states prior to the midterm elections.  It was noted that postcard postage recently went up to 44 cents.  We discussed leaving flyers in various CC County libraries.

Nancy brought up the fact that September is Latinx Heritage Month and that perhaps we would want a speaker on this topic.  Vicki was curious about finding out more on current Latinx attitudes toward abortion.  Nancy mentioned that in October, we could have a speaker from the Rainbow Center in Concord, and that we could pay an honorarium to speakers.

Vicki asked if we could donate a sum to an organization working directly with women seeking abortions, and it was mentioned that the National Abortion Network has a list of organizations in each state that help women in need.  Karen mentioned Biden´s recent actions to facilitate abortions.

A motion was made by Kathy, seconded by Jeanette, and approved by the board to donate $1,000 to an abortion fund.  The board members will research it and decide which one before our August meeting.

Jeanette mentioned that it will be Women´s Equality Day on August 26th.

Meeting adjourned at 3:50PM.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary

 


Chapter Meeting
Saturday, May 21, 2022
Via Zoom

In Attendance:  Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Karen, Darnelle, Vicki

Jeanette opened the meeting.

Vicki read the minutes.  Approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer´s Report.  Member rebates have been received.  Donation of $500 made to Bulgarian Fund for Women for Ukrainian refugees.  There were additional surcharges paid to make the donation.

Membership:  Kathy will add the 2 new scholarship winners to our members´  list, providing them with free 1-year memberships.

Jeanette announced that she had attended PAC meetings.  Most of the candidates are in Southern CA,  with the exception of Malia Cohen of Oakland, who is running for Comptroller.  The CA State conference will be held exclusively over Zoom.

We discussed the Bans Off Our Bodies marches on Saturday, May 14th.  Jeanette attended the one in Sacramento.  Vicki suggested posting photos of Jeanette and her daughter at the march on our FB page.

Vicki gave a recap on the 2022 scholarships for 2 women of color.  The recipients are FNU Tsamchoe and Delaney Ruiz, and each will receive $1000 for their Fall 2022 tuition.  Each will receive a free chapter membership and will be invited to our June garden party.  Vicki has contacted both winners, as well as the other applicants who were not selected.  Vicki will write an article for our website and FB page about the 2022 scholarship winners and also solicit donations for future scholarships.  In addition, Vicki has written to last year´s 2 scholarship winners for an update on how they are doing.

Our garden party is scheduled for Sunday, June 26th from 4-6pm, in the backyard of Phyllis Bratt in Walnut Creek.  Board members are requested to bring either an appetizer or dessert plus wine.  Erika offered to coordinate the menu and provide a cake.  Vicki will bring name tags.  We will have coloring books and a set of dishes to raffle off.  Kathy can bring petty cash to use to make change.  Jeanette will do the invitations.

Jeanette will make a list of actions by various feminist groups with which our members may want to volunteer.

Kathy reported that she had attended an event for Floy Andrews, candidate for County Assessor against Gus Kramer, where she handed out literature.

Jeanette mentioned a phone-banking opportunity to support Rep. Lucy McBath in Georgia.

Jeanette also contacted Planned Parenthood in Walnut Creek to see if they needed clinic escorts, which some of our members would be interested in doing.

The NOW national conference will be held in Chicago this year.  It is not likely that anyone from our chapter will attend.

Jeanette mentioned that May is AAPI (Asian American-Pacific Islander) month.

Jeanette referenced the current baby formula shortage and posted information on how to find it on our website.

Meeting adjourned at 3:20PM.  There is no board meeting planned for June because of the garden party.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary


Chapter Meeting
Saturday, April 16, 2022
Via Zoom

IN ATTENDANCE:

In Attendance:  Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Karen, Darnelle, Vicki

Jeanette opened the meeting.

Vicki read the minutes.  Approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer´s Report.  Member rebates have been received.  Donation of $500 made to Bulgarian Fund for Women for Ukrainian refugees.  There were additional surcharges paid to make the donation.

Membership:  Kathy will add the 2 new scholarship winners to our members´  list, providing them with free 1-year memberships.

Jeanette announced that she had attended PAC meetings.  Most of the candidates are in Southern CA,  with the exception of Malia Cohen of Oakland, who is running for Comptroller.  The CA State conference will be held exclusively over Zoom.

We discussed the Bans Off Our Bodies marches on Saturday, May 14th.  Jeanette attended the one in Sacramento.  Vicki suggested posting photos of Jeanette and her daughter at the march on our FB page.

Vicki gave a recap on the 2022 scholarships for 2 women of color.  The recipients are FNU Tsamchoe and Delaney Ruiz, and each will receive $1000 for their Fall 2022 tuition.  Each will receive a free chapter membership and will be invited to our June garden party.  Vicki has contacted both winners, as well as the other applicants who were not selected.  Vicki will write an article for our website and FB page about the 2022 scholarship winners and also solicit donations for future scholarships.  In addition, Vicki has written to last year´s 2 scholarship winners for an update on how they are doing.

Our garden party is scheduled for Sunday, June 26th from 4-6pm, in the backyard of Phyllis Bratt in Walnut Creek.  Board members are requested to bring either an appetizer or dessert plus wine.  Erika offered to coordinate the menu and provide a cake.  Vicki will bring name tags.  We will have coloring books and a set of dishes to raffle off.  Kathy can bring petty cash to use to make change.  Jeanette will do the invitations.

Jeanette will make a list of actions by various feminist groups with which our members may want to volunteer.

Kathy reported that she had attended an event for Floy Andrews, candidate for County Assessor against Gus Kramer, where she handed out literature.

Jeanette mentioned a phone-banking opportunity to support Rep. Lucy McBath in Georgia.

Jeanette also contacted Planned Parenthood in Walnut Creek to see if they needed clinic escorts, which some of our members would be interested in doing.

The NOW national conference will be held in Chicago this year.  It is not likely that anyone from our chapter will attend.

Jeanette mentioned that May is AAPI (Asian American-Pacific Islander) month.

Jeanette referenced the current baby formula shortage and posted information on how to find it on our website.

Meeting adjourned at 3:20PM.  There is no board meeting planned for June because of the garden party.

Jeanette, Kathy, Nancy, Darnelle, Vicki

Jeanette called the meeting to order with mention of the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the new justice of the Supreme Court.

Vicki read the March minutes, which were approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer’s Report: all normal expenses. Rebate checks have just beenreceived for some Fall 2021 memberships.

Vicki reported on the Scholarship project. So far we have received one application, and heard from another applicant who will be submitting hers. The deadline for applications is again on April 30th, and Vicki reminded the board that last year, almost all the applications were received in the last few days before the deadline.

Jeanette received a message from Karen on the situation of an Afghan family she has helped.  Vicki talked about the project she is working on with the JFCS to help a new Afghan family in the area.

Nancy said there were no new members this month.

Jeanette discussed a proposed garden party which could be held in Phyllis’ backyard, which is not available in August (when we last held an outdoor event there). If we schedule it for Sunday July 26th (perhaps from 4-6pm), we avoid a conflict with the NOW conference. We could have as a tentative theme “Salute our Members” to honor our 2021 and 2022 scholarship winners, new chapter members, and political candidates we have endorsed. The proposed May pizza party event for new members, originally planned for May, will be combined with the June 26th event.

Jeanette mentioned that the CA State conference is being held on June 25th, possibly in Southern CA. Jeanette has attended the NOW State PAC meeting held on April 15th.

The board approved a $500 donation to help female Ukrainian refugees through a Ms. Magazine-endorsed organization called Bulgarian Funds for Women.

Vicki brought up the Trevor Project, an organization that supports LGBTQ+ young people, in the wake of recent draconian anti-gay and -trans statutes enacted in Florida and Texas. Nancy offered to contact the Rainbow Center in Concord, which supports gay and trans teenagers, for a possible guest speaker in May.

Vicki suggested we look into recording any presentations by guest speakers to be available as podcasts on our website for all members to access. This should not be technically difficult.  She also suggested we update our website and Facebook page with short blurbs on any organizations we deem worthy of donations along with their logos, to further enhance CC NOW’s position as a clearinghouse for useful feminist information. Anyone proposing an organization for inclusion must receive board approval in advance.

The organization AAUW (American Association of University Women) is celebrating Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Title IX coordinators are available in many school districts, and one could possibly be a future speaker at our meetings. CA State NOW is also building safe online spaces for sexual assault survivors.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 pm. The next board meeting is on May 21st.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary

 


 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, March 19, 2022
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance:

Jeanette, Erika, Karen, Kathy, Nancy, Vicki

Guest speakers:

Kathleen Wimer, Women in Politics & Richmond Progressive Alliance

Floy Andrews, candidate for County Assessor

Carlyn Obringer, candidate for County Supervisor

 

Jeanette called the meeting to order after speakers.

Vicki read February minutes, approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer´s Report: normal expenses.  She mentioned that she doesn´t always get the dues rebate check from National.

Nancy gave the Membership Report:  no new members, unless they came through National and she didn´t receive their names yet.  She and Vicki are rethinking the new member digital packet for now, suggesting just a one-page welcome letter, explaining who we are, giving meeting dates, asking about their interests.

Kathy reiterated that we don´t always know about new members when they join through National.  Better if people joined through our own website.

Vicki brought up our plan to have an August outdoor event for Women´s Equality Day.  Once again we discussed having an outdoor event in May for members.

Karen told us she had not yet secured a speaker from a Pride organization for our April meeting.

Kathy mentioned that we received thank you notes from the 2 organizations to which we donated last month.

Erika asked if there was anything our chapter could do to help Ukrainian women and children.  To be explored in future.

Jeanette mentioned that there had been a CA NOW board meeting this morning.  They are looking for people to participate in a state convention and need a chapter to host.  We decided our chapter did not have the resources to host the convention.

Vicki gave an update on the Scholarship Committee.  So far we have received only one application.  She reminded the Board that, last year, virtually all the applications came in during the last few days before the scholarship application deadline.  Once again, the deadline is April 30th.

Kathy asked for dates for local elections, such as the primary, which may be in June.  We discussed the issue of whether or not our chapter can give endorsements to some candidates without donating to their campaigns.   Can we have a PAC without funds for endorsements?  Erika suggested we post our support for certain candidates on our website.   Kathy stated that offering financial support to candidates would be very complicated for us.    To be investigated.

Jeanette mentioned that National NOW is holding an in-person conference in Chicago this year.  They have sent out a request for chapters to offer workshops.

Jeanette mentioned that the ERA Coalition has many actions on their website, including an event on 3/22 at 7pm.

Jeanette raised the issue of once again sending postcards to voters in swing states before the November election.  We also discussed the possibility of inviting opposing candidates to speak at our April meeting.

Meeting was adjourned at 3:50 pm.  Next meeting is April 16th.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary


Chapter Meeting
Saturday, February 19, 2022
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance:  Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Karen, Vicki

Guest speakers:  Diana Becton, CC County DA, Champagne Brown, campaign manager

Jeanette opened the meeting.

Kathy read the January minutes; approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer´s Report:  no outstanding expenses, donations given to 2 organizations, we are now getting rebates from National.

Nancy gave the Membership Report:  she is working on the new member packet with Vicki, including a letter for new members.

Vicki suggested inviting National NOW President Christian Nunes to speak to our chapter.  Some members had seen her recent interview on PBS.

Karen gave the Program Report:  she discussed possible speakers on women´s history.  She mentioned Carlyn Obringer, the former mayor of Concord, who is running for the Board of Supervisors and is interested in speaking to us.  There was a discussion about International Women´s Day on March 8th.  Karen offered to write an article on women´s history for our website to coincide with that date.

A discussion ensued about if and how our chapter can support candidates for office.  Only PACs can contribute money so our chapter cannot make campaign contributions directly.  Individual members may contribute.

Jeanette announced that CA State NOW is holding their board meeting on Saturday, March 18th via Zoom.  They are currently looking for members to join their PAC committee.  Both Jeanette and Karen expressed interest in the position.

Vicki reported on the current Scholarship.  All 5 CC County colleges have posted our scholarship on their websites, and one application was already received.  Jaqi Thompson was invited to join the scholarship committee to help evaluate applications.

Jeanette reported that the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is still pending in the US House of Representatives.  One area of controversy is a provision banning gun ownership by violent domestic partners.

Jeanette reminded us that it is currently Black History Month.  There is a new Racial Equity and Social Justice Committee in the county offering a resource page to people of color.    They are investigating the possibility of compensation for racial discrimination.  The question was raised about our chapter working with them or possibly getting a speaker for an upcoming meeting; we could also post something about the committee on our website.  Jeanette offered to write a letter to the city council on the issue of racial justice.

Karen said she will contact the Rainbow Center in Concord to see about getting a speaker for our June meeting, which is during Pride Month.

There was a discussion of the possibility of holding outdoor meetings in a park beginning in May or June.  Also discussed was a pizza party for new members in May.  This could be a good time to introduce the new member packet.

Jeanette mentioned that our chapter may want to support various candidates for office, such as DA Becton, and Ms. Obringer who is running for County Supervisor.  We discussed postcard mailings to help get out the vote.

Some upcoming events were discussed:  DA Becton and other panelists at the Commonwealth Club in SF on 2/23.  An Equal Rights Town Hall for the ERA on 2/23.  A NOW Summit on racial justice on 2/23 at 8am PST.

Meeting was adjourned at 3:40pm.

Vicki Entene
Secretary

 


 

 

Board Meeting
Saturday, January 15, 2022
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance:  Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Karen, Vicki

Kathy read the minutes from the December 18th meeting (board elections) which were approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer´s Report:  In Sept 2021 a NOW member gave a $500 donation to the scholarship fund for 2022.  At that time she stated she would be willing to give another $500 donation in 2022 if needed.  Discussion of the 2022 budget.  Kathy will add “Charitable Donations/Honoraria” in the amount of $1000 to the budget.  Budget was accepted and approved.

Jeanette discussed her list of 2022 Goals & Objectives, many carrying over from 2021.  Vicki suggested adding outreach opportunities to young feminists (e.g., from local colleges and high schools).  It was suggested that colleges in particular are likely to have young feminist groups.  Vicki offered to ask local colleges, whom she will be contacting to announce the 2022 scholarships, for information and contacts for their young feminist groups on campus.  We can also explore affiliations with LGBTQ+ groups.  Vicki also requested that Jeanette add the issue of voting rights to our 2022 goals under the category of Political Action.

Jeanette said that the 2022 calendar was a work in progress.  We agreed to continue to have guest speakers relevant to particular themes speak before our monthly board meetings.  Karen discussed possible speakers for our February meeting relating to the theme of black history.   She suggested we look into Young Democratic Clubs or local county officials working on issues of diversity and inclusion.  Jeanette stated that we should have an action or theme for each month.  Karen suggested a speaker on voting rights issues such as the League of Women Voters or the ACLU, perhaps for March.  For April, which is Sexual Violence Awareness Month, we look into the issue of sex trafficking or the VAWA act.  For May, we discussed a new member in-person event in an outdoor venue like a park, such as a pizza party.  June is Gay Pride Month and it was suggested we look into perhaps the Rainbow Coalition or Act Now.

Vicki asked about the new members´ digital packet being spearheaded by Nancy.  Vicki will contact Nancy and help work on it.

We discussed the 2022 scholarships.  Vicki offered to write an article for our website and FB page on the new scholarships, soliciting additional donations from members for it.  Vicki mentioned she had already heard from St Mary´s College about this year´s scholarship program. The committee will review last year´s materials and revise if necessary before submitting it to the local universities, and it was recommended that we adhere to the same schedule as last year.  Jeanette asked Vicki to chair the scholarship effort, with Jeanette and Karen once again on the committee.  Kathy offered to invite Jaqi to participate in the committee when it´s time to evaluate applications.  It was also determined that a copy of the applicant´s college transcript was sufficient instead of an original transcript.

The question arose of any need to change the chapter´s by-laws, and it was decided no change was necessary.

The chapter has decided to offer charitable donations to organizations focusing on women´s issues.  We decided to give $500 to STAND, an organization for battered women in CC County, and $200 to Period, Inc.

We discussed the idea of offering honoraria to any of our guest speakers specifically earmarked for their organizations.  We decided that the board could vote by email following the speaker’s presentation on whether or not to offer the honorarium.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:50pm.  The next board meeting is February 19th, 2022.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary

 


 

Chapter Election Meeting
Saturday, December 18, 2021
11:00 am – 12:00 Noon
Via Zoom

 

The meeting was called to order by President Jeanette Cole.

Members present:  Jeanette, Darnelle, Nancy, Erika, Karen S., Jose, Vicki, Kathy

A vote was taken to suspend the rule that a board member can only serve 2 years in a board position.

Election Results:

President:  Jeanette Cole

Vice President:  Erika Maslan

Treasurer:  Kathy DeFabio

Secretary:  Vicki Enteen 

 VP Membership:  Nancy Bocanegra

 VP Program:  Karen Severud

State Board Representatives – Jeanette Cole and Karen Severud

Kathy DeFabio
Treasurer


Chapter Meeting
Saturday, November 20, 2021
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

Attendees: Erika, Kathy, Jeanette, Sierra, Darnelle, Karen, Rahima, Nancy

Presenter: Rahima H.- For over 29 years Rahima has been helping Afghan women both in the United States and in Afghanistan. She told us about the literacy program she has been working on in Kabul and the United States. Jeanette offered to contact Kolieka Siegal or Jan Strout who are both active at National level in the Global Feminist Movement.

Meeting was called to order at 2:35PM by President Jeanette. A moment of silence was held for today being Transgender Day of Remembrance. October minutes were read by Kathy and approved (motion Jeanette, 2nd Ericka )

Treasurer’s report:  Rebates were $148.

Membership is 175 members. The new membership application from National is not ready for chapter use yet.

Report on elections for CA NOW Board: President, Camerina Schwartz; V.P. Action, Karen Eyres; V.P. Membership, Kim Sontag; Treasurer to be determined.

New business: Nominees for CCC NOW 2022 chapter elections in December:
President- Jeanette Cole; V.P.- Erika Maslan: V.P. Membership- Nancy Bocanegra; V.P. Program- Karen Severud; Secretary-Vicki Enteen; Treasurer- Kathy De Fabio; State Board Reps.–Jeanette Cole & Karen Severrud.
Open positions: V.P. Action and V.P. Public Relations/Events
Voting will take place on December 18 Via ZOOM from 11:00-11:30 AM

Discussion was held regarding a holiday party in December. The date will be December 19th at 1:00 pm and we plan to have it at a restaurant. We expect 20-25 people and will invite speakers from our 2021 meetings as well as scholarship winners. A motion (Kathy, 2nd Erika) was made and approved to donate $1000.00 this year to feminist charities/organizations. Everyone is encouraged to submit a suggestion by email to Jeanette and we will vote to determine the group or groups we would donate to. We also plan to have our usual raffle so will be taking donations for raffle prizes. Jeanette is contacting restaurants for availability and cost. Nancy will obtain a list of possibilities from a member in WCANNC (another group she is active in) which held a luncheon recently.

Meeting was adjourned (motion by Karen, 2nd Erika) at 4:00 PM.

Jeanette Cole
President

 


Chapter Meeting
Saturday, October 16, 2021
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

Attendees:  Jeanette C., Kathy D., Nancy B., Jose F.,  Karen S.  Erika M., Darnelle S., Marilyn L., Cheryl S., Joey S., Siera W.

Presenter:  Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer Kahan 16th Assembly District. She gave us updates about recent passed and pending legislation concerning women’s reproductive health and domestic violence issues for the State of California. She explained AB 378, Assembly Bill covering gender equity.   She talked about AB 1356 which gives a minimum distance that protesters at Planned Parenthood must maintain from patients entering the clinics.

Business Meeting:  The meeting was called to order by Jeanette.  Minutes of the 9/18/2021 board meeting were read and approved.

Treasurer’s report:  Kathy reported the checking account balance was $8740.74 from the end of September. There are no large outstanding debts.

Membership:  Kathy reported that we have 175 members. We had three new members at the meeting.

Action:   Karen reported about our participation at some of the recent Women’s Marches in our area including, Orinda, Walnut Creek and Danville.  Jeanette mentioned that there will be a Senate Day of Action October 20.

Election of officers for 2022: Officers will be nominated at the next meeting in November which is November 20, 2021.  Members are eligible to vote after being a member of the chapter for at least 30 days at the time of the election.  They are eligible to run for office after being a member for at least 90 days at the time of the election. An email will be sent to the membership at least 30 days before the election.

The nominating committee is:  Erika M., Nancy B. and Karen S.

The current chapter offices are:  President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, State Delegate, VP Membership and Vice President Action.

State Board Officers:  Voting for the state board officers ends at midnight October 17.

Our bylaws are posted on the website under chapter business.

The next Chapter meeting will be a zoom meeting from 2-4 pm on November 20, 2021

The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

Karen Severud
Vice President – Action

 


Board Meeting
Saturday, September 18, 2021
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance: Jeanette, Kathy, Karen S, Nancy, Vicki, Darnelle

Jeanette opened the meeting, and introduced Hannah Cole, who discussed the recent pro-choice rally in Austin, TX, organized by the Austin and Georgia chapters of NOW. Major marches planned in Texas on October 2nd.

Vicki read the July minutes which were voted on and approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer ́s Report: no outstanding bills, rebate checks received, expenses are normal.  Sales and raffle tickets at the August party generated some income for the Scholarship fund. We have also received a $500 donation toward the scholarship fund from a member.

Nancy gave the Membership Report. She and Karen will work on the digital new members´ kit. There are a couple of new members. Discussion of potential roles for new members. Discussion on not providing personal or contact information on board and members for privacy reasons. Vicki suggested introducing new members at the holiday party in December.

Jeanette will send out membership questionnaire already approved by board. She mentioned the new Spousal Rape bill which originated with CA NOW. Our chapter was contacted and we support it.

Jeanette mentioned that October is Domestic Violence month; discussion of whether to have a speaker on this issue at the October board meeting. Vicki suggested getting a speaker who was involved in the new Spousal Rape bill which was supported by NOW. Our state representative Rebecca Bauer-Kahan is apossibility. Karen offered to contact STAND, an organization that works against family violence, for a possible speaker.

Jeanette announced there is a CA NOW board meeting on Monday September 20th, as the chapter is temporarily dissolving. She also announced that the Menstrual Equity bill has passed.

Vicki suggested getting a speaker on integrating Afghan refugee women into US society. She is in touch with Jewish Family & Community Services (JFCS) which is currently working with Afghan refugees, to see if they could provide a speaker for perhaps November or January.

Vicki suggested we continue our format of combining our Chapter meetings and board meetings, with a speaker the first hour for everyone, and the board meeting the second hour, in contrast to having 2 separate meetings each month.

Jeanette covered the CA NOW board meeting held last Monday, and planned October 9th CA NOW virtual candidates´ forum. She noted that only the presidency of CA NOW is a paid position.

Jeanette attended a short Media Training program conducted by professionals given by National.

The August garden party was discussed, including sending a thank you gift to Phyllis Bratt for her hospitality, which Karen will handle. Phyllis has once again offered her home for our December holiday party; we will require proof of vaccination for all guests.

We discussed the 2022 scholarship project. Vicki suggested we keep the same timetable as last year. There was a discussion about the number of scholarships to be awarded and the total value, which will be finalized later on. We have already received a generous $500 donation from one member and we will solicit more donations specifically for the scholarship.

There will be a series of pro-choice marches on October 2nd in various towns in CC County (listed on www.womensmarch.com), which Nancy will check on. There are NOW rounds available for anyone who marches. Individuals can attend whichever march is convenient for them, rather than us marching as a group.

Vicki will be away for the October board meeting and Karen has offered to take the minutes.
Meeting adjourned at 3:35 pm.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary


Board Meeting
Saturday, July 17, 2021
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance: Jeanette, Kathy, Karen S, Jose, Vicki

Jeanette opened the meeting.

Vicki read the June minutes which were voted on and approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer ́s Report: no outstanding bills, rebate checks received, expenses are normal. Second scholarship funds were sent out. Kathy confirmed that there are no problems getting membership rebates from National.

Jeanette mentioned the new Spousal Rape bill which originated with CA NOW. Our chapter was contacted and we support it.

Jeanette mentioned NOW´s Run Now training program for new political candidates taking place on July 22nd. She also mentioned that National is planning to relaunch its book club.

The Board reiterated that as a chapter we cannot endorse political candidates — only PACs can. We also decided that candidates running for office cannot speak at our meetings only to promote their candidacies. They can speak about specific issues if relevant for our chapter.

Jeanette reported that there are 2 upcoming NOW meetings this week. On July 20th, National is convening a meeting about CA NOW elections. On July 24th, Hollywood NOW chapter will be discussing CA NOW elections. August 17th is the deadline for nominations of candidates. The National Conference begins on July 24th and continues into August. Both Christian Nunes and Bear Atwood are running for re-election as President and Vice President of National NOW.

There was a review of board member phone calls to members to obtain their email addresses. Vicki recommended we not use phone calls to contact members since most are very hard to reach. We plan to email the membership questionnaire and post it on our website.

There was a discussion about the scheduled 50th anniversary party for our chapter, to be held at Phyllis Bratt´s home in Walnut Creek on Saturday, August 28th from 3-5pm. Jeanette has created an invitation. The event will be promoted by evites and on our web page and FB page. However, Phyllis´ address will not be posted on the latter. To RSVP and obtain the address, guests have to contact the NOW office. Masks will be required for guests who go into Phyllis´ house, but the event will take place outdoors without masks. The Board will provide appetizers and desserts plus drinks, no main dishes. Jeanette will order a special anniversary cake. Original founding members will be invited, and Phyllis will be asked to speak briefly. There will be a raffle for gift baskets, one of which Karen will supply. We can include our coloring books among the gifts to be raffled. All proceeds of the raffle will benefit our chapter´s Scholarship Fund for 2022.

We wish to continue the chapter´s Pedestal Awards, possibly in December.

We discussed whether we wish to continue having guest speakers for our monthly meetings. Vicki suggested that our speakers only address topics relevant to feminist issues, such as reproductive rights (e.g., the impact of the Supreme Court decision this fall), and Jeanette suggested getting a speaker from NARAL. Vicki suggested having a speaker on threats to voting rights, perhaps from the League of Women Voters or ACLU. Karen suggested we focus on the issue of voter ID requirements as being especially punitive to women.

Meeting adjourned at 3:40pm.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary

_________________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, June 19, 2021
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

 

In attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Karen S., Vicki, Michael Kerr

Jeanette opened the meeting.

Vicki read the May minutes which were voted on and approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer ́s Report: Usual expenses, scholarships paid to 2 universities. Will review method of dues payment on our website for new members to improve system and be moreconsistent with CA NOW.

Nancy gave the Membership Report: Two new members, whom she will call. Karen suggested we create a Welcome to the Chapter packet for new members, which Nancy and Karen would put together. Vicki suggested making it a digital multi-media packet, to include a video link to Erika´s interview with Phyllis Bratt on suffragist history. Jeanette suggested we include bios of the board members, information on our meetings, actions, and events, including the new scholarships.

Jeanette reported that National NOW´s Run Now campaign, offering training to potential political candidates, in ongoing, and will be shown at the July board meeting.

Jeanette reported that CA NOW´s conference will be held next Saturday, June 26th, on Zoom from 10-3:00. It is open to all NOW members. It will be both a virtual membership meeting and state convention. Kathy will add it to the chapter event calendar.

Jeanette sent lists of members´ names and phone numbers to board members to obtain their email addresses via direct phone calls. We can add mention of the state conference on 6/26.

Jeanette brought up the sample membership survey we want to send to all chapter members to elicit their feedback. She has sent it in advance to all board members as a test and to request input. It includes 7 major feminist issues which are to be ranked in importance by the members. Vicki suggested the survey be included in the new member packet.

Nancy discussed new program ideas for our board meetings and made several suggestions. One possibility is the new Office of Racial Equity run by CC County. We also discussed having an LGBTQ organization called the Rainbow Center present at our July board meeting. There was a discussion of how long our guest speakers should have for their presentations and it was agreed that half an hour would be sufficient for presentations and question/answer periods.

Michael Kerr spoke about his plans to run for Congress for a yet-undetermined House seat.

Erika suggested that when we return to in-person board meetings at the WC Library, we do it as a hybrid event, allowing some members to attend via Zoom while others attend in person. This may allow us to expand our reach to members. It was suggested that in-person meetings recommence in September of this year. We agreed to continue scheduling the meetings for the 3rd Saturday of the month.

Jeanette brought up the planned summer event to celebrate the chapter´s 50th anniversary. It would be a potluck dinner held on August 21st from 5-7pm. We discussed the options of having it in the Rose Garden of Heather Farm Park versus in the backyard of someone’s home. It was agreed that having it in a private home would be preferable but this option has to be looked into.  We would want to decorate the space with balloons and have a special 50th anniversary cake.

Meeting adjourned at 3:50pm.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary

_________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, May 15, 2021
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In Attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Karen, Vicki
Guest speaker Siya Sharma, Period Inc., Scholarship winner Thyra Cobbs

Jeanette opened meeting and did introductions.

Vicki read April minutes, voted on and approved.

Kathy gave Treasurer´s Report: $100 donation received from a member. Kathy has already sent checks for scholarships to the 2 universities. Expenses normal.

Nancy, Membership VP, cannot log into the Chapter Leader Portal to download the membership list..  Continuing issues with renewals and errors in processing memberships. Chaos caused by changing systems at National.

Scholarships: Vicki proposed free memberships to our chapter for 2 scholarship recipients and Siya Sharma, today’s speaker from Period Inc. Kathy will process if she receives their mailing addresses. Karen suggested we come up with a rubric for judging future scholarship applications. Karen and Vicki are in favor of a fund-raising campaign specifically for future scholarships. Vicki asked about possibility of reprinting coloring books. Question about whether or not we can sell merchandise online — Kathy to look into. Nancy suggested we check with other chapters to see how they sell merchandise. Vicki suggested we could possibly sell t-shirts and coffee mugs (ERA mug?) as well. Jeanette asked about the possibility of updating coloring books to include current politicians from CA like Kamala Harris. The boards consensus is that we definitely want to raise more money for more scholarships with a higher dollar amount in future. Vicki has written an article about the scholarships and the 2 recipients for our website and FB page. Sent to Jeanette and Karen for approval, then Kathy will post. Kathy also suggested the article be sent out as an email to members to keep them informed on what the board is doing.

Jeanette will be sending to the board lists of names of members for whom we don’t have email addresses, and need to be called. The survey of questions for members will be sent out separately in a couple of weeks.

A Garden Party for the chapter was proposed for some time this summer. Vicki suggested a potluck event at Heather Farm Park, and Erika proposed Lafayette Reservoir. Could possibly be held at a member´s backyard as well. Possible date could be July 17th or else in August.

Jeanette brought up the possibility of doing fund-raising for Period Inc. and Erika said we should solicit ideas for that. Nancy to ask Siya Sharma for fund-raising ideas for Period Inc.

Meeting adjourned at 4:10 pm.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary

________________________

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, April 17, 2021
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Darnelle, Michael Kerr, Bobbi Ausebel, Vicki

Jeanette introduced new board meeting attendees Michael Kerr and Bobbi Ausebel.

Vicki read the March minutes which were voted on and approved. Nancy suggested adding a description of the NOW coloring books so new members would understand what we were discussing.

Kathy gave the Treasurer ́s Report: no outstanding bills, rebate checks received. Expenses are normal.  Kathy announced receipt of $500 donation for second college scholarship.

Nancy gave the Membership Report — no change. Discussion on encouraging more members to attend our board meetings. Need to announce these meetings on all platforms and let members know they are important and their input is welcome.

Jeanette mentioned that National NOW has hired Monique Alcala. Some ongoing issues have resulted in a delay in sending rebates. Also, National will be electing a new president this year.

Erika announced that she will be making a $500 donation to CC NOW annually.

Jeanette reported on a new National NOW program called Run Now, headed by Janie Maniscalo, which offers training and support for women running for political office or jobs.

Jeanette mentioned a special National Board of Directors meeting to be held on Sunday April 18th.

Vicki gave an update on the new CC NOW scholarship for women of color. So far we have received information from 2 candidates. The scholarship applications must be received no later than April 30th.

Jeanette is compiling membership lists so board members can call certain members to obtain their email addresses. She is also developing a script we can use. It was decided not to ask members the list of
questions we have developed to obtain feedback on CC NOW´s priorities and activities; that could be distributed to members separately by email as a survey.  We can provide CC NOW´s email address for members who don’t wish to share their personal email addresses with us.

Jeanette mentioned her planned presentation on feminist economic issues to a group of business students at DVC on April 21st. (Event cancelled by DVC at last minute.)

Jeanette mentioned she was contacted by a woman named Andrea S. Ureno who is making a documentary on women. No action required at this time.

Bobbi Ausebel talked about a new Congressional bill, the Long-haulers Act, to promote research and education on long-term effects of Covid-19, which especially afflict women. It was suggested that Bobbi attempt to publish this information on the National NOW website for greater dissemination.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and April 28th is Denim Day, which focuses on attitudes toward sexual assault against women.

Jeanette reported again on the dates for the virtual National NOW conference in July and August, and the need for our attendance at as many sessions as possible.

Nancy reported that she was able to schedule a speaker from the Santa Clara chapter to speak on Period Equity for our next board meeting on May 15th.

Meeting was adjourned at 3:30 pm.

Vicki Enteen,
Secretary

_________________________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, March 20, 2021
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

 

In attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Karen S., Jose, Darnelle, Shannon Reif, Michael Kerr, Heidi Goldstein, Champagne Brown (BWOPA),  Tara Kopp (Rep. De Saulnier´s Office), Vicki

Guest speaker: CA Rep.Mark De Saulnier

Jeanette opened meeting.

Vicki read February minutes, approved.

Kathy gave Treasurer´s Report: usual expenses, no major changes.

Jeanette requested that Kathy sends finalized 2021 chapter budget to the board for their final approval.

Nancy announced that we have a new member.

Jeanette brought up the issue of the coloring books — we currently have about 100 copies left. There was a discussion about what to do with them. We agreed to hold onto them until we recommence tabling activities where they could possibly be sold or given for donations. Question raised about taxation issues if sold. Darnelle suggested they be sold for $12 each or $20 for two.

Vicki updated the status of the chapter scholarships. To date, no applications have been received. Applications are now posted on 4 out of the 5 colleges; despite many attempts at reaching administrators at CA State U East Bay, no one has gotten back to her. It was suggested that we broaden the audience for students by adding local high schools. Vicki argued that it was too late to change the terms of the scholarship with just a little over a month until the deadline for applications, and it was agreed that we may make changes next time. We discussed the possibility of not being able to award the scholarships for the fall semester, and we could roll them over for next spring semester.

Vicki brought up an inquiry from a student at DVC representing their Business Club, and their interest in working with us on a marketing project, but only through April 2021. This may help with one of our long-term goals of attracting young feminists to the chapter. She will keep members informed of how this develops. Erika raised the issue of prior outreach efforts to attract high school and college women to the chapter, which did not result in long-term commitments when the women graduated.

Vicki read proposed member questions from the planned questionnaire we would like to send out. Kathy and Erika have added questions to the original list. Jeanette is working on completing the membership email address list for members whose contact information is incomplete.

Jeanette announced that VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) and the ERA extension were both passed in the house the previous week.

Jeanette brought up the dates for the National NOW conference: sessions are scheduled over 3 weekends in July and August, once again virtually.

Discussion of possible future chapter events depending on Covid-19 situation: an event in a park in late August for Women’s Equality Day, and a holiday party in December.

Jeanette and Nancy brought up the subject of period products for homeless and military women. Nancy said that female soldiers had to find and pay for them themselves.

Next board meeting is April 17th. Meeting adjourned at 3:45pm.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary

_________________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, Feb 20, 2021
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Karen S., Darnelle, Vicki

Guest speakers Champagne Brown, Joey Smith, Cheryl Sudduth from BWOPA (Black Women Organized for Political Action)

Meeting began with a discussion initiated by Erika on the need for closer cooperation with BWOPA and similar organizations for women of color.

Vicki read January minutes, approved.

Kathy gave Treasurer´s report: expenses normal. She requested a separate meeting before the next board meeting in March to propose a 2021 budget. To be held on Saturday, February 27th from 12-1 pm.

Nancy, VP Membership, announced a new member.

Karen S., VP Action, said she was researching a possible speaker on the ERA for March meeting.  For example, she has reached out to Rep. Swalwell´s office. Jeannette wants to work more closely with local politicians. Karen and Nancy announced they would be collaborating more on projects.

Erika said, following BWOPA presentation, that it would be useful to get a better perspective on preferred vocabulary used by the speakers from BWOPA and other organizations in order to have a stronger understanding of their agendas.

Vicki reported on the status of the scholarship program. It will be published on scholarship websites of 3 of the CC County colleges; Vicki will follow up on the 2 remaining schools. A longtime member has endowed a second scholarship for $500. Jeanette, Karen S and Vicki will decide on the scholarship winners. Vicki asked for input from the board on organizations and media outlets to which she could send the scholarship announcement. So far, the only other organizations on the list are AAUW and BWOPA.

Jeanette initiated a review of 2021 goals which she had submitted to the board.

Jeanette announced that the NOW National Conference will be held over a weekend in July or August — exact date TBA — and that it will again be held virtually.

We still want to send members a questionnaire on their interests and priorities for the chapter. An email survey is planned to generate responses since Kathy said that Mail Chimp doesn’t work for that. Jeanette mentioned that there are about 50 chapter members who have not listed their email addresses on our database, and we need to do outreach to them by phone. As to the questions to be asked, board members are asked to submit their preferred questions to Vicki who will put them into a consistent questionnaire before the next board meeting.

Vicki questioned how guest speakers are publicized in advance of the meetings and was told this was posted on our FB page and our website. Vicki offered to write short articles about guest speakers in the future.

Jeanette raised the current issue of menstrual equity, particularly for women who are homeless or in prison. She mentioned a short video on this subject which could be shown at a future board meeting.

Jeanette and Nancy attended a League of Women Voters event on the new Equity office in CC County.

Nancy gave an update on the Gus Kramer trial. The decision was made by the DA that there would not be a new trial. The CC DA, Diana Becton, is seen as a potential chapter speaker.

Meeting adjourned at 4:15pm. Next board meeting is March 20th.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary

______________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, Jan 23, 2021
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Karen S., Darnelle, Bobbi Ausebel, Vicki

Jeanette gave introductions for new attendee Bobbi Ausebel.

Vicki read the December minutes which were voted on and approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer ́s Report: no outstanding bills, rebate check received, expenses are normal. We need to develop budget for 2021; Kathy will share 2020 budget.

Nancy gave the Membership Report.

Karen S., VP Action, said she is happy to serve as a clearinghouse on what other organizations are doing, but asked which organizations we are most interested in following. Suggestions include Planned Parenthood and Indivisible.

Nancy told us about a new CC County office on equity issues (particularly those affecting economic issues). Erika said it was important for our chapter to have the opportunity of
providing input to this office, and it was agreed that we want to be more aware of local politics and issues.

Jeanette raised the question of having more speakers at future meetings, such as someone to update us on the status of the ERA.

Jeanette discussed the CA State NOW grievance over recent elections and claim that the state is not following bylaws. There aren’t enough people voting on elections. The state convention was held in October 2020. National wants to supervise state elections. There have been personal attacks against Kolieka Siegel and policy splits in the state chapter.

Jeanette attended the recent meeting on the ERA. Some states don’t have ERA organizations. There is general optimism about the ERA being passed this time because of the new Biden administration. The question arose about what we can do to help it pass. The deadline for passage must be removed — the House has approved but not yet the Senate. Passage in the Senate only requires a simple majority.

Bobbi mentioned that there is a case on Roe v. Wade which will be heard by the US Supreme Court soon. She also offered to promote a chapter event with an ERA speaker to other
organizations.

Jeanette reported on recent event with Delaine Easton, who is running for CA Democratic Party
chair. It is likely that she will be endorsed by NOW.

Vicki read draft copy for the chapter´s planned scholarship for a college student who is a woman of color, based on a meeting with Jeanette and Karen S. She will forward the draft copy to the board for approval before its posting on college scholarship pages, but asked the board for suggestions of which colleges it should be offered through. She will then find out the appropriate channels for posting the scholarship information on each college´s website. Vicki also offered to send out a press release to local media about CCNOW´s first scholarship, and requested suggestions for appropriate media.

Jeanette mentioned that bios of the board are now posted on the chapter Facebook page.

Jeanette went over the chapter´s objectives from 2020, and solicited additional ones for 2021.  Vicki suggested we add more outreach to young women and women of color to increase chapter diversity and inclusion. Bobbi raised the issue of inequality in women’s health research and treatment, and suggested putting a recent NIH study on this subject on our website. Vicki suggested adding lobbying the Biden administration and Congress to continue to work on key women’s issues. In addition, she also suggested we send a questionnaire to members to solicit feedback on key goals they want us to address, and perhaps choosing a particular issue or goal each month as focus for our articles and/or event speakers, for example, women’s health or the ERA. Nancy suggested we have a monthly planning calendar on topics/issues to focus on, albeit with flexibility. The question was discussed as to whether to put our goals as a prioritized list, or into specific categories. Vicki suggested that, once we determine the major goals/objectives, we come up with specific strategies and then tactics to achieve those goals.

It was agreed that it was too difficult to plan in-person events or actions due to Covid, but we hope to be able to schedule an August garden party to celebrate Women’s Equality Day, as well as a holiday party. It seems likely that the next National Conference will again be virtual.

Nancy reported on the Gus Kramer mistrial for workplace harassment. There is no news on his retrial. He still has 2 years left in his term.

Meeting adjourned at 4:00 pm.

Vicki Enteen
Secretary

______________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, Dec 19, 2020
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Karen S., Vicki

Vicki read the November minutes which were corrected, voted on and approved.

Vicki reminded all board members to send her brief bios by December 30th, which she will compile for consistency and brevity, to be included in our January newsletter.

Kathy gave the Treasurer ́s Report: no outstanding bills, rebate check received, expenses are normal.

Nancy gave the Membership Report. Jeanette mentioned that National NOW doesn’t automatically tell us when our members renew or don’t renew. Kathy said we may be able to tell
by expiration date of their membership if someone doesn’t renew. They still remain on our email list. Memberships are renewed by anniversary date, not calendar year.

Karen S. VP Action, said she did a postcard mailing for the GA Senate races. She will check on whether there are plans for annual Roe v. Wade actions in January.

Erika asked whether we can get links to events of interest to include on our website, and it appears that we can. It was decided that Karen S. will serve as a clearinghouse for all information on relevant events, which she will forward to Kathy for publication (hopefully once a week).

Erika suggested all board members share their phone numbers so we can get in touch with each other quickly, especially for events with short notice. Jeanette offered to compile this list and distribute.

Jeanette reported that she attended the CA State NOW board meeting today. The election results continue to be delayed because of a grievance, with the hope of resolving it by January 15th. Kolieka Siegel received an overwhelming majority of the votes for CA State NOW president.  Gender equity awards will be decided in mid-December by Riverside County NOW. Membership dues are divided between the individual chapters and National Now. Chapters need to send annual reports to National NOW, e.g., calendars, budgets, etc., with a copy to their State NOW.

Jeanette scheduled a planning meeting as part of the January board meeting. The current slate of board candidates for 2021 was voted on and approved unanimously. The VP Events and VP Actions positions were combined into one office, which will be held by Karen S. Open board position for VP Technology/Communications no longer to be listed as an open position, pending a suitable person offering to take over those responsibilities.

Nancy reported on the Gus Kramer mistrial for sexual harassment. Per the DA, at this time, no new date has been assigned for the case.

Jeanette reported receiving replies after reaching out to CC County College District regarding the planned CCNOW student scholarship in 2021. There is a question of whether the scholarship can be offered to women applicants only. Jeanette will write up a blurb about the scholarship for the colleges to publish. Karen S. and Vicki will work with her on the scholarship.

Jeanette reported on receiving a letter of complaint from a former member about trans-gender issues to which she is opposed. Jeanette to respond. She also mentioned that there is a member running as a candidate for CA State Democratic Party Chair. She has been invited by CA State NOW to speak to members on January 8th from 6-8pm. We plan to announce this event on our chapter website.

Vicki suggested inviting one or more future speakers on changes on women’s issues expected rom the Biden Administration n light of major events occurring in late January, including the inauguration, International Women’s Day, and annual Roe v. Wade actions, Karen S. will look into whether there are any possible events in which we could participate. Vicki suggested pushing our January board meeting back a week, to January 23rd, so we could cover these events at the meeting. It was decided that the board meeting will also be a celebratory event for the new administration. Erika suggested we come up with a party activity for the meeting, such as sharing a poem, showing a video or an online meme.

Meeting adjourned at 3:20pm.

_____________________

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, Nov 11, 2020
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Karen S., Darnelle, Karen Brockwell, Vicki

Jeanette introduced new board meeting attendee Karen Brockwell.

Vicki read the October minutes which were corrected, voted on and approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer ́s Report: no outstanding bills, rebate checks received. Expenses are normal. Karen S. and Nancy requested reimbursement for postage stamps used for postcard mailings.

Nancy gave the Membership Report. She mentioned that we have to request additions to our membership list, and that the list can be sorted by inception date.

Karen S. reported that she had attended a Zoom meeting for Moms Demand Action.

Erika asked about studies on the effectiveness of phone banking on election outcomes, and whether postcards are more effective than phone calls or text messages. The consensus seems to favor postcards.

Jeanette reported that Phyllis Bratt will not run for VP of Events for the chapter next year.

Nancy reported on the Gus Kramer mistrial on his sexual harassment case. She will find out on December 18th whether the DA will initiate a new trial.

Jeanette reported on her attendance at the CA NOW convention for credentialed members. National NOW said they won’t recognize the CA NOW election results because of a grievance. Jeanette to follow up on election outcome.

Jeanette reported reaching out to the Contra Costa County Community College District regarding the planned CCNOW student scholarship in 2021 but has not heard back as yet.  She mentioned that Karen S. and Vicki would work with her on the scholarship.

Jeanette is assembling our 2021 slate of officer candidates. Karen S. agreed to stay on as VP Action. Erika asked Karen B. if she would like to be on next year’s board. Vicki proposed adding a board position as VP of Special Projects (an ad hoc position) for Karen B. and she agreed, Kathy suggested that Jeanette remain as liaison to the CA NOW board and PAC.

There was a discussion about whether there would be another Women’s March in January given the new restrictions due to Covid.

Kathy brought up the question of whether we want to change the photo images on our website, and how often to change/add articles. There was a discussion on technical maintenance. There is an open board position on Technology/Communications. Vicki suggested that we include brief bios (approximately 3-4 lines) of board members in the January 2021 website update. Board members to send their bios by December to Vicki who will put them into a consistent format.

Jeanette suggested we post other groups´ activities on our website. Karen S. to provide information.

Jeanette brought up options for members to volunteer for the GA Senate elections, by registering through National NOW.

Jeanette mentioned that the Concord Supervisor is to retire next year and that we may want to provide input in the new election.

Karen B. mentioned her expertise on Medicare options. It was suggested she could be a possible speaker on Medicare at a future meeting. Meeting adjourned at 3:40pm.

Meeting adjourned at 3:40pm.

Vicki Enteen,
Secretary

________________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, Oct 24, 2020
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Karen, Darnelle, Vicki, Shannon Raif, Jenni Shaw

Introductions and plan for voting.

Guest speaker: Cynthia Peterson, Executive Director, Community Violence Solutions.

Vicki read minutes of September meeting; approved.

Kathy gave Treasurer´s Report: rebate checks received, Zoom monthly rate increased slightly for tax.

Nancy gave Membership Report: 4 new members (transfers). Membership list requested.  Jeanette asked if there were any roles that new members could take over. Kathy suggested that Membership Chair learn how to use MailChimp to reach out to members. Vicki suggested outreach to high school and university feminists. Karen mentioned symposium held in the past for young potential members which led to 19 memberships given to young women and men, but none renewed; may be worth trying again. Vicki suggested outreach to schools for formation of young feminist clubs (which would be self-perpetuating); Jeanette suggested Vicki contact CA NOW to find out what, if anything, they are doing to reach high school and college-age women. Nancy suggested we add outreach/possibility of student interns to our 2021 objectives, and that we include articles of interest to young feminists to our newsletters/Facebook page. Vicki mentioned the possibility of a scholarship for an outstanding young feminist in the future, perhaps determined by an essay. Jeanette asked Vicki to write a brief proposal on outreach to young feminists for the board.

Discussion of proposed 2021 scholarship to woman of color at local community college. Karen and Vicki to help Jeanette with this project.

Nancy reported on Gus Kramer trial. She is waiting for the DA to allow her to attend the opening of trial, possibly on October 26th.

Karen mentioned an investigation into violence that occurred at an anti-abortion demonstration in front of Planned Parenthood in Walnut Creek. The question was raised about a change in PP policy against having clinic escorts. Some board members have experience as clinic escorts and are willing to do it again.

Jeanette brought up chapter elections, and Kathy agreed we need to take action soon. She noted that all new and renewing members must be affiliated with a specific chapter in order to vote in that chapter’s elections. Once again, we discussed importance of adding a board position for Technology/Communications. This should be posted on our website. Elections will take place in December. Current board members wish to remain in their positions, with the exception of Karen, who prefers to be VP Chapter Liaison or Development. Question of whether Phyllis will remain as VP Events.  Jeanette reported on attending National Conference. Discussion of members of board of the Pacific region.  Jeanette scheduled next board meeting (virtual) for Saturday, November 21st from 2-4PM.
Meeting adjourned at 4:15pm.

Vicki Enteen
Acting Secretary

__________________________

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, Sept 19, 2020
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Darnelle, Vicki

Jeanette opened the meeting by quoting Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Information on RBG vigils in the area was provided.

Guest Speaker Kolieka Siegle presented a Powerpoint on intersectionality and how it relates to current NOW issues.

Vicki read the July minutes which were voted on and approved.

Kathy gave the Treasurer ́s Report: no outstanding bills, rebate checks received. Expenses are normal, including a website security fee and postage for postcard mailings. The question was raised about how we could use some of our funds to help defeat Trump. Suggestions include donating to women candidates in tough races or to Indivisible, with which we have partnered. (Phyllis Bratt later reminded us that we can’t donate directly to any candidate, only through a PAC.) We were also reminded that we plan to offer a scholarship in January 2021.

Discussion of best timing for mailing of postcards to voters in swing states. October 21st decided as optimal date.

Jeanette asked if there were any upcoming events we wished to participate in, including RBG vigil on Sunday September 20th.

Nancy gave an update on the Miles Hall case with the WCPD: Walnut Creek has authorized a settlement of $4 million to his family. The PD has submitted a report to the city council on changes they proposed on dealing with mentally ill people: some of the changes have already been implemented. There has already been $100K allocated for mental health responses, and bias training has also been implemented.

Jeanette asked about planning a future Media Club event in October. Vicki said she preferred not to work on another movie event due to the poor turnout for the first two events. We can rethink future Media Club events post-pandemic when we could begin in-person book discussions and possibly movie discussions.

There were kudos for the excellent Women’s Suffrage event held on August 30th. There is a question of the actual number of attendees. Nancy suggested reaching out to attendees.  We discussed partnering more with other women’s rights organizations such as the Women’s March, which has been very active in planning successful events.

Kathy brought up next year ́s elections, including getting nominations and voting. Dates TBD.  Vicki agreed to remain on the board as secretary. Jeanette mentioned that Karen prefers not to be VP Action next year but would be open to another board position.

Meeting adjourned at 4:05.

Vicki Enteen
Acting Secretary

_________________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, July 18, 2020
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

 

In attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Karen, Phyllis, Laura, Darnelle, Vicki

Guest Speaker Taun Hall gave a talk about her son, Miles Hall, who was shot and killed by Walnut Creek police in 2019. She discussed the Justice for Miles Hall campaign, and will send us a list of ways CCNOW can help.

After Taun Hall´s talk, participants discussed police responsibility and shoot-to-kill orders.

Kathy reviewed minutes of June meeting; approved.

Kathy gave Treasurer´s Report: no outstanding bills, rebate checks and a donation received.

Nancy gave Membership Report.

Jeanette attended Indivisible online event. She now has 500 postcards to be sent to people in swing states, which she will share with other board members who also wish to send them. Vicki proposed that postage costs be covered by our treasury.

Erika discussed National NOW´s recent virtual gala event which generated a large attendance and lots of donations. She suggested we hold our own virtual fund-raising event.

Vicki announced the next Media Club event on Friday, August 14th at 7pm. The movie to be discussed is the 2016 film Hidden Figures, which deals with both racism and sexism. This will once again be facilitated by Vicki. She requested that all board members attend if possible. She will do a write-up of the event for the newsletter.  Kathy will again handle the technical side.

Kathy discussed the difficulty in communicating with members on the website, for example in eliciting feedback/opinions. Laura suggested using Facebook for polling members and offered to help with the technical aspects.

Jeanette reported on Women’s Suffrage virtual event scheduled for Sunday, August 30th, from 4-5:30 pm. Jeanette to contact Kolieka Seigle as possible speaker to discuss suffragists of color.  Feminist historian Zoe Nicholson will discuss Alice Paul. Participants can ask questions via chat function. Phyllis has developed a trivia quiz on women’s suffrage (prizes of feminist books or videos). Could have a moderator and panelists, or perhaps Erika and Phyllis discussing the women’s movement which begun in 1848. Discussion of new book by Elaine Weiss called The Women’s Hour about how racism affected passage of the 19th amendment. Closing will be asuffragist song. Laura offered to help with technological aspects of event.

Related to this event, Planned Parenthood is having a fund-raising virtual event on August 28th, including a trivia quiz. Question of whether CCNOW will get any funds from this event as cosponsor.  Discussion of whether we should do our event as a separate entity rather than cosponsoring with PP.

Nancy reported that the trial of Gus Kramer is now scheduled for October 13th. He is running against Glover.

Jeanette discussed difficulty in finding an existing scholarship to which we could contribute. The recipient would be a woman of color/activist currently attending a nearby college. Decision made to offer one scholarship a year beginning in January 2021. Karen to work with Jeanette on this.

Jeanette discussed the Town Hall Theatre´s current play (M)Others, a virtual performance we could consider sponsoring.

Jeanette reported that 24 NOW chapters are doing Facebook events regarding Toni Van Pelt issue. CA NOW has been actively working to remove her via their Facebook page, pushing for more diversity in the leadership.. There will be an election for new National board members in October; could be both a live and virtual event to allow more members to vote. Access to the National website for members only with a password. There will be a CA NOW board meeting via Zoom on August 8th at 10am.

Vicki proposed adding a board position for VP of Technology so we could enhance our capabilities and improve virtual events. Kathy to look into possible candidates.

Meeting adjourned at 4:05.

Vicki Enteen
Acting Secretary

______________________________

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, June 20, 2020
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Karen, Vicki, Darnelle

Jeanette reviewed minutes of May meeting; approved.

Kathy gave Treasurer´s Report: no outstanding bills, $15/month allocated for Zoom, rebate checks received.

Nancy gave Membership Report.   Karen offered a copy of Notorious RBG book to membership drive winner.

Nancy confirmed no response yet from DA on Gus Kramer case.

Re WC City Council letter about WCPD, CCNOW board approved with abstentions.  Nancy explained her reasons for abstention.  Erika recommends we try to improve communications among board members especially if there is a difference of opinion.

Jeanette reviewed June 12th Media Club event, discussion of RBG documentary facilitated by Vicki.  Eight attendees including 3 board members.  Suggested we hold these every 3 months.  Vicki to recommend film choice for event in October.  Same time slot recommended.  Suggestion  that questions for discussion be sent out in advance to give participants time to review them.

Jeanette reported on Women’s Suffrage virtual event scheduled for Sunday, August 30th, possibly 4-5:30 pm.  She is working on powerpoint and photo presentation, can use existing one from League of Women Voters.  Nancy to invite speakers, Vicki to get name of feminist historian who did recent virtual event for Hollywood Now on feminist history.  Possibility of doing a trivia quiz on women’s suffrage (need to obtain prizes).  Vicki to do press release using media list borrowed from Lauren Babb of Planned Parenthood.   Want to include information on African-American women.  Plan is for 1 hour for program, 1/2 hour for Q & A.

Jeanette announced State PAC meeting June 22nd.  We will run NOW PAC endorsements on our website when they are announced.

Discussion of how we can help stop police brutality and support BLM.  Vicki suggested providing a scholarship to a female college student of color.  Jeanette to research existing scholarships to contribute to through local community colleges, especially targeting community activists.

Suggestion made to offer links on our website to a few other relevant websites such as Indivisible.

Erika recommended participation in Indivisible´s letter-writing campaign to voters.  Vicki asked about link on website to information on how to register to vote.  Already on NOW site.

Vicki suggested we do a poll on our website of who voters want Biden to choose for Vice President, since this is our first opportunity to select a Democratic VP candidate.  Kathy will look into whether this is possible.

Nancy recommended a movie on sex trafficking of young girls called SOLD, offered as a webinar next weekend by Washington State NOW.  Jeanette recommended a new PBS series on The American Experience on Women’s Suffrage, airing July 6-7.

For Media Club section of website, Vicki to amass list of recommended books, movies, TV series on feminist issues.  Board members to send suggestions for this list to Vicki.

Note:  Guest speaker never joined meeting, expected at 2pm.  Meeting adjourned.

Vicki Enteen
Acting Secretary

_____________________________

Board Meeting
Saturday, May 16, 2020
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance: Jeanette, Kathy, Nancy, Vicki

Jeanette reviewed minutes of April meeting; approved.

Kathy gave Treasurer´s Report: no outstanding bills, $15/month allocated for Zoom

Nancy gave Membership Report:  proposed membership contest, with prizes of a book for member who brings in most new members.  Prize to be copy of current book club book,
winner publicized in newsletter.

Currently 176 members; we want to print members´ list which Kathy will help with.  Can add new members from our families for $10/each, honorary members $15.

Discussion of suggestion made in last board meeting that we ask members for questions or issues they would like the board to address, and also what they are doing on key issues they want to share with us.

August garden party is now cancelled.  Discussion of virtual event to commemorate anniversary of women’s suffrage to be held on August 30th.   To be held in partnership with League of Women Voters, CC Suffragettes, and Planned Parenthood.  Vicki suggested a Zoom event, including a photo montage of suffrage history, plus key speakers (for 10-15 minutes each).  We can possibly use Event Brite for invitations.  Suggested we invite media to August event; Vicki can handle If we can use Lauren´s media list.

Karen unable to join board meeting.  Will need to organize after training on Zoom with Nancy and Kathy.  Book is still RBG.  Several other book clubs run by other organizations.  Vicki suggested changing it to a movie club which would require less of a time commitment for participants.  Movies/series could possibly include 2 RBG movies (documentary and fictional),

The Suffragette, Feminists: What Were They Thinking?, Mrs. America..  Nancy to follow up with Karen.

Jeanette reported on results of May 12th election for CA House seat (formerly Katie Hill´s), won by Republican.

Jeanette reported on scheduled webinars, including National´s Ask Them More Tool Kit and CA NOW´s series of webinars on May 17, 24, and 31.  There is a membership drive organized by the Pacific District (California, Oregon, Washington) from May 25-29.  There is a Zoom event discussing the TV series Mrs. America organized by the Hollywood chapter on May 28.

Jeanette scheduled next board meeting (virtual) for Saturday, June 20th from 2-4PM.

Vicki Enteen,
Acting Secretary

______________________________

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, April 18, 2020
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Via Zoom

In attendance: Jeanette, Erika, Kathy, Nancy, Karen, Lauren, Vicki

  • Jeanette reviewed minutes of February meeting
  • Kathy gave Treasurer´s Report:  no outstanding bills
  • Nancy covered Gus Kramer trial, now scheduled for June 15th, may be postponed
  • Lauren discussed August garden party combined with suffrage event; no deposit put down, Sunday August 23rd tentative date. Discussion of possible virtual fund-raising campaign by video. Would need Zoom account.
  • Jeanette discussed postponement of state and national conferences. Possibility of some virtual state meetings on specific topics, e.g., intersectionality, how to be active during the lockdown, what can we do to promote ERA, voting issues like use of paper ballots, vote by mail. CA NOW proposed amendment to Article IV Section IV of bylaws on intersectionality, also mandatory training for members (or just officers?); this needs clarification. Former board member Tika now State VP for Outreach. NOW PAC can contribute up to $5,000 per candidate. State PACs endorse candidates. Members can contribute money and work for candidates as individuals.
  • Karen discussed turning book club into virtual book club using Zoom. To include movies as well as books. Possibly called Media Club.
  • Kathy to set up Zoom account, voted and approved to spend up to $20/month.
  • Jeanette scheduled next board meeting (virtual) for Saturday, May 16th from 2-4PM.
  • Vicki suggested we ask members for questions or issues they would like the board to address, and also what they are doing on key issues they want to share with us. Decided not to open board meetings to general membership.
  • Vicki offered to help any board members who may do public speaking with their presentation skills, as well as media training. She also brought up media outreach to both local and national media, using media lists provided by Lauren. Vicki is available to write press releases on CCNow positions on breaking news/issues.
  • Erika discussed volunteering to work with other activist organizations on letter-writing campaigns.

Vicki Enteen
Acting Secretary

_______________________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, February 15, 2020
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

The meeting was called to order by Jeanette Cole, president.  There were five board members, one chapter member, and one guest present.  Introductions took place.

Kathy D. gave the treasurer’s report.

Gus Kramer Hearing:  Nancy B. reported on the Gus Kramer hearing.  (Background:  Gus Kramer is on trial for creating a hostile work environment while county assessor.  He is currently running for one of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors positions).  The trial has been postponed until after the Board of Supervisors election.  If Kramer wins a seat, the court case will be dropped.

Women’s March update:  Various individuals reported on the Women’s march held on Saturday,  January, 18, 2020.  The march was well attended, and our booth did well also.

Inkling Book Club:  The next book club meeting will be March 28, 2020 from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm at Flashlight Books, 1537 North Main St., Walnut Creek.   Notification to members will be sent, but RSVP is required since space is limited.

Women’s Equality Brunch:  Phyllis B. gave and update.  She and Lauren Babb of Planned Parenthood are organizing the event.  The event is in celebration of the passage of the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote.  The event will take place on Aug 23 at the Lafayette library.

Indivisible:  Indivisible was discussed.  Their mission: “The Indivisible Project’s mission is to cultivate a grassroots movement of literally thousands of local Indivisible groups to elect progressive leaders, realize bold progressive policies, rebuild our democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda”.  We discussed making a donation to them and also having a member from that organization speak at one of our chapter meetings.

Nancy B. gave a report on the 2020 census and Emerge (“boot camp” for women running for political office).

Communication:  Jeanette C. will contact Katia regarding Meet Up app and Eventbrite.

Changing Chapter Name:  A vote was taken and approved to change our IRS chapter name (doing business as) from National Organization for Women Inc, Contra Costa to “CA0090 Contra Costa County NOW”  Our EIN is 51-0242439.

Action items:  Various actions items that we would like to do were discussed, such as driving people to the polls and Planned Parenthood clinic escorts.

Kathy DeFabio
Treasurer and Acting Secretary
Contra Costa NOW

_________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Sunday, December 8, 2019
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

The meeting was called to order by Vice President, Jeanette C..  There were 5 members present.  The minutes from the November 9 meeting were read and approved.

Kathy D. gave the treasurer’s report.  Kathy reported she purchased a table and chairs for our future tabling events, the cost was $104.23.

Karen gave a report from the Women’s March meeting.  We decided that we would not combine our next meeting with a Poster Party.  Instead we will focus on planning and budgeting for next year.  There may be an opportunity for C.C. NOW to speak at the end of the rally before the march as one of the supporters of the march.  The event is on January 18 in Walnut Creek and we will be tabling.  Karen also reported that the High School Chapter will be invited to the rally and if they would like to make posters Jeanette suggested we could help with a donation for supplies if needed.

Nancy reported the next court date for the Gus Kramer hostile work environment case is in the morning on December 13th.  Katia will attend but most of us are not available at that time.   Hopefully they will be setting the date for the trial to start.

Kathy and Nancy reported on their voter registration tabling at the Richmond BART station.  They registered 3 people.  They are looking into trying another BART location such as El Cerrito, Del Norte.  We also discussed trying the Richmond Farmer’s Market or other events.  We also will ask for help from Field Team 6 and other groups that focus on registering voters.

Karen will hold the next Book Club Meeting in March and is looking for a book suggestion having to do with Women’s History.  She said Margaret from Planned Parenthood was interested in participating with our book club.

The next Democrat Presidential Debate is scheduled for December 19.  It was decided that we would not schedule a planned meet up for it.

Kathy presented the following slate of candidates for the elections:  President:  Jeanette C.,    VP.:  Erika M..,    VP. Action: Karen S..,    VP. Membership:  Nancy B.,    Treasurer: Kathy D.,     Secretary:  Open,    State Board Rep.:  Jeanette C.,    Events Coordinators:  Phyllis B. & Lauren B.   Kathy D. made a motion and it was seconded by Darnelle to accept the slate.  All voted in favor.  None opposed.

Kathy D. moved to adjourn the meeting at 3:00PM seconded by Jeanette C.  Motion carried.

Jeanette Cole
Vice President

Upcoming calendar:

January 11- General meeting at Walnut Creek Library   2-4 PM

January 18-  Women’s March Walnut Creek

February 15- General Meeting at Walnut Creek Library 2-4 PM

March 21-  General Meeting at Walnut Creek Library 2-4 PM

___________________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, November 16, 2019
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

The meeting was called to order by president, Katia Senff.

Minutes from the September 7, 2019 chapter meeting were read and approved. 

Kathy gave the treasurer’s report.

Jeanette reported on the State Board Meeting that occurred 11/16/19 by phone-in.  Jeanette will try to send us the agenda of that meeting plus other CA NOW documents. The next CA NOW election meeting is scheduled for May 16, 2020 in Sacramento.  Nominations are due 60 days before the election, thus 3/17/20 is the last day to nominate or be nominated.
The CA NOW Board meetings in 2020 are scheduled for 2/29, 5/16, 8/29, and 11/14.

CA NOW PAC was discussed.  The application was criticized because it is too long, and thus discourages candidates from reaching out to CA NOW for endorsement.
The CA NOW PAC will interview candidates on 1/24/20 and make a decision on 1/26/20 on who to endorse.

It was suggested that we contact Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, who is running for re-election, to try to get the endorsement of CA NOW.  Katia will download the form and Erika will contact Rebecca regarding the CA NOW endorsement and help her complete the form is she is interested.
Another candidate we may want to reach out to to get the CA NOW PAC endorsement is Marisol Rubio who is running against Steve Glazer.

End the Demand Workgroup was discussed.  There was a discussion about Resolution K proposed at the National conference and a statement made by Toni Van Pelt regarding a bill introduced in Washington, D.C. that would decriminalize those who buy and profit from the purchase of sex acts.
This was a controversial subject, and after some discussion it was decided to remove the post that we had on our website that showed Resolution K and our statement that we opposed Toni’s press release.

The Gus Kramer hearing was discussed.  Nancy said a new hearing date had been set but she couldn’t remember when.  She will find out and let us know.

Phyllis updated us on the Holiday Party.  Bring hearty appetizers.  She could also use a few more gift baskets for the raffle.

Gender Equity Awards were discussed.  Katia will be attending.  A motion was approved to reimburse Katia $200 for some of her travel costs.

BART voter registration was discussed.  Registration is scheduled for 11/18/19, 4:00-6:00 pm.

Women’s March Table and Rally, 1/18/2020:  The theme is “Voting is My Super Power”.   We will table at this rally.  A motion was approved to pay the $100 fee to table.  A motion was approved to purchase a table for our tabling events.

Chapter Nominations:  Nominations were as follows:

President:  Jeanette Cole
VP:  Erika Maslan
VP Membership:  Nancy Bocanegra
Treasurer:  Kathy DeFabio
State Board Rep:  Jeanette Cole
Secretary:  Open
VP Action:  Open

Democratic Primary Debates:  The next debate is 12/19/19.  Phyllis and Lauren, event co-chairs will schedule debate watch parties in 2020.

August 2020 Suffrage Celebration:  Scheduled for 8/23/20 at the Lafayette library.  Liability insurance is needed.  Phyllis will find out the cost.  The cost may be split with Planned Parenthood or Planned Parenthood may cover it alone.  Also, Phyllis and Lauren need to determine who will be honored at this event.

Continuing the Inkling Book Club:  Karen Severud volunteered to take over the Inkling book club.  She had some ideas for meetings.

Supporting Dougherty High School Club:  Karen Severud volunteered to give support.

Website overhaul:  Kathy will try to find out what companies do this.  She will contact 1 and 1 Ionos who host our website.

Next chapter meeting dates are 1/11/20, 2/15/20, and  3/21/20.

Meeting adjourned.

Kathy DeFabio
Treasurer

____________________________

Chapter Meeting
October 5, 2019

President Katia called to order at 10:05 am.

The minutes from Sept 7 were read and unanimously approved.

Kathy gave a treasury report.

The Watch Party at Town Hall Theater was a success. Our chapter made $250 and roughly 20-25 people came.
– Lauren and Phyllis (event chairs) will coordinate the next debate watch party with more advance notice.

Desaulnier’s town hall was focused on the impeachment enquiry. Kathy attended the El Sobrante Town Hall and Nancy attended the Pittsburgh Town Hall.

We registered 5 people to vote at the El Sobrante Stroll. There wasn’t a lot of foot traffic; Katia suggested free coffee next year to encourage people to stop by, and postcards people can take to remind them to register.

State Board Meeting: Sept 28. The attached agenda is the full agenda, and the highlighted portions were what was discussed on the call.
– Kolieka arrived at the end of the discussion and suggested a change to the bylaws to allow for a percentage of people as opposed to a set number in order to achieve quorum
at meetings.
– Mary asked about the next state conference and where it will be. There was no answer.
Kolieka asked CoCo NOW to consider a bid for the 2020 Gender Equity Awards and discussed the 2021 National Conference bid from Seattle.

Gus Kramer Update: the status conference was canceled and the hearing date is Oct 18, at 10:00am at the Martinez Courthouse, at which the prosecutor’s office will discuss the discovery.
– Gus Kramer is planning to run for District Supervisor against Glover. CoCo NOW will work locally to support Glover.

Website Member Request Updates:
– Action : Need to check stats on new members through the current button – is that possible?
– Consider returning to the contact form on the website so we have a record of who has reached out to us.
N.B:   new members should be registered through the chapter as opposed to sent to the National site. This ensures that membership dues go to the chapter soonest.

Mary moved to put together a task force to recommend outsourcing a website overhaul. Katia seconded; it passed and the task force will be made up to Katia, Kathy, and Tika.

Fired Up Women endorsement:  CoCo Now has voted not to endorse the book, as it is not directly in line with the NOW mission values.

Holiday Party: Phyllis’s house from 3 – 6 on Dec 8.

Gender Equity Awards: Dec 6 in San Diego.

National Period Day : Oct 19; there will be an action on Oct 18 from 5-7 at Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley.  CA NOW will be collecting menstrual supplies at the event.

Natasha Koneru attended from the Dougherty Valley HS (San Ramon) NOW Club, which meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month – 3:15 – 4:00.
– CoCo NOW will include it on our social media and will sponsor Natasha’s national membership.

August 2020 Suffrage Celebration:
– Will be at the Community Hall at the Lafayette Library
– Brunch on Sunday Aug 23, 2020 from 11-2
– Lauren discussed the proposed agenda and awards
– Katia will solicit silent auction items from local businesses

Next Chapter Meeting: Nov 16th meeting 2-4pm, location TBD. We will invite Silvia Young to present for 5 mins.

BART station voter registration: Monday Nov 18 at Richmond BART from 4-6.

Inkling: The next meeting will be on Nov. 9 at 10am. The book is The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. RSVP here! https://www.facebook.com/events/470187126921645/

Chapter Elections: Nominations will be held at the meeting on Nov 16th.
– Elections committee: Nancy, Tika, and Karen B.

New Business: Library of Congress is eliciting help to transcribe documents about women’s suffrage.

Katia motioned to adjourn at 11:56.

__________________

Chapter Meeting
September 9, 2019

Katia called to order, Jeanette seconded.

Katia, Nancy, Jeanette, Kathy, Erika, and Tika present. Joey Smith (guest) joined.

Kathy read the notes from August 03.  Approved unanimously.

Kathy gave a treasury report.

  • Members present motioned and unanimously approved a $500 donation to the National NOW PAC

Katia gave a Membership Report:

  • Guests from 8/3 were added to the newsletter and asked to join

Inkling Book Club

  • ACTION: Start email list for Inkling to encourage participation
  • ACTION: Schedule q4 meeting

Blog/Website Update:

  • Anahita put together a detailed list of candidate profiles for the debate watch party
  • Kathy and Katia discussed switching off of WordPress and potential alternatives.

CA NOW Business:

  • Board Meeting: Sept 28 – 10am call in
  • Gender Equity Awards – Scheduled for Dec. 6 in San Diego

Gus Kramer Situation:

  • Nancy gave a report on Gus Kramer’s hearing in Martinez.
  • The next meeting is on Sept 20 at 1:30 in the Martinez Courthouse, 1020 Ward St. Dept 23
  • Joey D. Smith (guest from Contra Costa Women’s Commission) suggested bringing in the Lt Gov as his direct supervisor

Debate Watch Party:

  • Thursday Sept 12, 5:00 at Town Hall Theater in Lafayette
  • Max capacity of 35

El Sobrante Stroll Voter Registration:

  • Sept 15 in El Sobrante on San Pablo Dam Road
  • No sales allowed
  • Kathy, Jeanette, Nancy, and Erika will be registering voters

Meeting Location:

  • Nancy suggested the Concord Public Library Community Room
  • Other possibilities:
    • Mechanics Bank in Richmond
    • Co-working spaces
  • Oct 5 meeting will be moving to the Las Trampas Room in the Walnut Creek Library from 10-12pm

October 5 meeting:

  • Need to form an election committee for 2020
  • Discuss BART voter registration

Calendar:

  • 16 – 2-4pm – Chapter Meeting (location TBD

Katia motioned to adjourn at 2:12pm

____________________________

Chapter Meeting
August 8, 2019

Tika, Kathy, Jeanette, and Nancy present. Also list of guests.

No quorum was reached, so no business can be decided.

Kathy gave a treasury report

Jeanette and Tika discussed the national conference.

  • Erika’s focus in the conference was with the ERA
  • Jeanette focused on the global feminists and issues of race
  • Tika focused on sex work and the support thereof

Sally Johnson (guest) discussed the opportunity to go to high schools and discuss with young people

  • Diane from League of Women Voters – Diablo Valley discussed the need to be aware of the different lenses through which people experience oppression

Jeanette discussed the Gender Equity Awards

Nancy discussed Gus Kramer’s situation

  • There will be another hearing on August 30 at 9am at the Martinez courthouse

Pints & Politics

  • Jeanette’s recommendation
  • Town Hall THeater in Lafayette is on the public transit line, which sounds like a good idea

Diane discussed the LWV program plans for the next year and how they are restructuring and reflecting and growing.

Women’s Equality Day is August 26 – we would like to make sure something is on the website (etc) that day.

___________________________________

 

Chapter Meeting
July 6, 2019, 2:00 – 4:00 pm

Vice President Jeanette called to order at 2:08pm

The minutes from May 4, 2019 were read and unanimously approved. Erika motioned and Phyllis seconded.

Kathy gave a treasury report as of June 2019.

Budget Discussion:

  • Reimbursement for National conf attendees
    • Phyllis moved to portion the stipend as $500 each, Kathy seconded, and the motion passed.

 

Membership Report:

  • Karen ordered a membership list from national
  • Considering about 2 events/year for new members
  • We have 178 members as of June.
  • There was a discussion about following up with members who have dropped out.
  • ACTION: Phyllis will follow up with Leslie Hunt, who has been a member for many years but may have accidentally not renewed.
  • Nancy motioned to form a membership committee with Karen as chair. Jeanette seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
    • First item of business is to generate an action plan with the membership list.
    • This will be reported on at the next meeting.

Young Democrats BBQ Tabling:

  • Jeanette tabled and reported that it went positively and that next year we should definitely plan to go
  • 40-50 people came and there were 4 tables including ours
  • They had a survey to ask about future locations.

Garden Party Report:

  • The garden party raffle generated $248
  • ~25 people came to the garden party
  • There was a positive response to the baskets and the event in general

Inkling Report:

  • Next meeting will be Sept 7, 11-12pm, CapitalCafe upstairs.
  • Book is “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” by Mary Wollstonecraft

State Conference Recap:

  • Jeanette and Nancy and Tika reviewed the events of the conference. There was no quorum, so no business was conducted.
  • Jeanette suggested writing a letter to recommend the changes we think may help foster more communication for the next annual conference.

National Conference Delegation:

  • Goals:
    • Community Outreach and Presence
    • Name Recognition
    • Website Content and Management/Outreach

Gus Kramer Game Plan:

  • Nancy has calls into the DA’s office to confirm the date/location of the hearing.
    • She will email the board when she has full confirmation.
    • Erika reported that the hearing is scheduled for July 26 (per news article)
  • Next step is to email full CoCoNOW membership, add to website, and create a FB event
  • ACTION: Tika to reach out to Dems, Indivisible, and Women’s March to see if any are planning parallel action.

Gender Equity Awards 2019:

  • ACTION: Jeanette to follow up on nomination process and report back.

Pints & Politics Debate Watch Party:

  • Tika to reach out to League of Women Voters SF about their plan
  • Jeanette will send a list of potential locations
  • Goal is to have location and details nailed by July 25 so we can start selling tickets during Debate #2
  • Behind the Plate Clubhouse Grill in Martinez hosted the Young Dems/Planned Parenthood for Debate #1, so they may be a good option

Other:

  • Phyllis and Lauren have been meeting about the 100th Anniversary of Suffrage
    • August 23, 2020 – Brunch
      • Lauren is looking at venues
      • Phyllis and Lauren have a list of women to present awards to
        • Need to get on calendars
      • Save the Dates will go out June 1, 2020
    • Calendar:
      • Aug 3: 2-4pm – Chapter Meeting
      • Sept 7: 12:30 – 2:30pm (after Inkling Book Club) – Chapter Meeting
      • October 5: 10am – 12pm – Board Meeting
      • ACTION: Tika to make above reservations.

Kathy motioned to adjourn, Jeanette seconded. 3:56pm.

______________________

Emergency Board Meeting
June 19, 2019 5pm-6pm via Skype

The Meeting, conducted via Skype, was called to order by Katia Senff at 5:15pm. Joining the call were Nancy Bocanegra, Lauren Babb, Jeanette Cole, Tika Viteri, and Katia Senff.

During this meeting we discussed the issues concerning the State Conference planning, State Executive Board elections, and whether or not to sign on to Hollywood NOW’s Letter of Concern directed to the State Executive Board.

Hollywood NOW has drafted a letter to be sent to CA NOW requesting that the Conference be postponed due to bylaw violations and negligence. They have asked our chapter to sign on to this letter.

They request that “the California NOW State Conference be postponed until such a time arises that the National Action Center (NAC) of the National Organization for Women (NOW) can step in and temporarily take over the election in accordance with the By-laws to ensure proper noticing, transparency, and procedures are followed for the election of California NOW and California NOW PAC officers.”

Issues they are citing include:

  • Lack of proper notification regarding open board positions, nominees, and election process. We have still not received a list of who is running and for what positions. Nor have we received confirmation from the election committee that Tika’s nomination has been approved. Nor have we received any communications from the Election Committee.
  • Nominations will not be allowed from the floor during the conference.
  • We have not received a schedule of events or any details regarding election timing.
  • We do not know who is on the Nominating Committee, Election Committee, or Advisory Committee, nor do we know when and how these committees were formed.
  • At least the last two conference volunteer calls have been canceled with minimal notification given to chapter volunteers.

Hollywood NOW requested that we get back to them by Thursday, June 20th with our decision.

We discussed each line item of the letter to confirm accuracy and to verify our position. We concluded to ask Hollywood NOW to make the following updates:

  • Instead of a request to postpone the entire conference, we would like the letter to request only a postponement of the election. We feel it is unlikely that the conference will be canceled given how close it is. Additionally, many members have organized travel, etc., which may be nonrefundable. State has does some planning for the event (though it may not be communicated well) and has coordinated with many volunteers and some speakers. We feel it would be unfair to the chapter members, other non-board volunteers, and speakers who have contributed to the planning of the event to have the event suddenly be canceled.
  • We would like to add a deadline for a response with acknowledgment of the concerns to the letter. We propose giving a 72-hour deadline from receipt of the letter. Proposed text for this line is: We request written acknowledgment of the concerns herein addressed within 72 hours of receipt. We also suggest that Hollywood NOW send an additional reminder of this deadline after the letter is sent.
  • Should the elections go forward in spite of the bylaw violations cited in the letter, we will most likely support efforts to file a grievance with National. Before doing so we will convene and discuss.

Via email May Davis advised that care be given to assure that all claims in the letter were true violations of the bylaws and that they were properly documented.

A vote was called by Katia Senff on whether or not to sign on to the Letter of Concern drafted by Hollywood NOW so long as it is includes our requested changes. Those unable to attend the call were asked to submit their vote via email. Votes are as follows:

In Favor:
Tika Viteri
Lauren Babb
Jeanette Cole
Nancy Bocanegra
Katia Senff
Phyllis Bratt (via email)
Erika Masalan (via email)

Against:

Abstain:
Kathy deFabio (via email)
Karen S.
Karen B.
Mary Davis (via email)

Katia will be sending an email to Hollywood NOW with our decision and requested changes.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:56pm.

 

_____________________

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, May 4, 2019

President Katia called the meeting to order at 2:07pm.

The meeting opened with a presentation from Moms Demand Action, partnered with Everytown for Gun Safety

  • Candy Brown, M.D. gave an informative presentation about gun violence in the United States and what can/should be done across the country to help alleviate the epidemic of gun violence in the US.
  • Text JOIN to 644-333 in order to begin working with and volunteer for Everytown for Gun Safety
  • Local action suggestions from MDA:
    • Write to local mayors to see if any of them are members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns
    • Reach out to Buffy Wicks to discuss anti-violence initiatives in Oakland and beyond

The Board unanimously approved the minutes from March 16, 2019. Katia motioned; Karen seconded.

Kathy gave a treasury report as of May 4.

Board Reports:

  • There is a new board report process from National NOW.
  • Action: Erika filed the board reports for 2017 and 2018, but she will follow up with the new process to ensure that we are in compliance.
    • Erika and Katia will make sure they connect on the process for 2019

Rosie the Riveter Museum Tour:

  • Katia and Kathy reported on the Rosie Tour from April 20. It went well despite a couple of issues with the invitation list on Facebook.
  • The second tour will be on May 11.

CA NOW Conference:

  • Jeanette and Karen S. will be the volunteers for CoCoNOW
    • Jeanette will clarify the timing, child care, etc. and report back to the group
    • Action: There are volunteer calls on Mondays at 7pm PT. Karen and Jeanette will dial in, and Tika and Katia will also try to attend as available.
  • Jeanette nominated Tika for the VP of Outreach for the state board. Katia seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
    • Action: Katia will email Kolieka to report the nomination.
    • Action: Tika and Katia will follow up with Kolieka to find out what else is needed for any kind of campaign.

CoCoNOW Garden Party – June 8 in Walnut Creek, CA, 3-5pm.

  • This will be considered our chapter meeting for June
  • Board to provide raffle baskets to support CoCoNOW
  • Action: Katia will send out a questionnaire to find out what people are planning to bring.
  • New members who attend will get a button; legacy members will get special buttons and a coloring book
    • Action: Erika will design the button and submit to the board for comments/approval
  • Action: Phyllis will reach out via mail/MailChimp to invite the legacy members to be honored

Summer Social Media Intern:

  • Katia suggested a social media intern (college-level) for the summer.
  • Action: Tika will reach out to her contact at Cal.

National NOW Conference:

  • Tika, Erika, Jeanette, and possibly other members  will attend.
  • The Board unanimously approved buying a business card-sized ad for the conference program.
    • Jeanette motioned and Karen seconded.
    • Action: Katia will send the payment and image to National NOW.

Calendar of Upcoming Events:

  • May 11: Rosie the Riveter Museum Tour, Richmond
  • June 8: Garden Party, Walnut Creek
  • June 28-29: California NOW Conference, Sacramento
  • July 6: July Chapter Meeting, Walnut Creek
  • July 19 – 21: National NOW Conference, Minneapolis

Meeting adjourned at 4:01pm.

Tika Viteri

Secretary

______________________________

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, March 16, 2019

 

President Katia called to order at 10:08

Present are: Phyllis, Katia, Tika, Nancy, Kathy D., Jeanette, Erika

Updates from Feb. action items:

  • Lynda Kilday will come to SWAN day.
  • Tika is working with a friend in the Alameda County Voter’s office to get registration forms

Special election: Kathy nominated Tika Viteri for Secretary. Phyllis seconded, and the vote was unanimous.

Action: Katia to report to National.

Kathy gave a treasury report.

Membership Update:

  • Officers now have access to national NOW portal.
  • Action: Tika will send a how-to for navigating the portal once she has access as a board member
  • Note: Inception date = the day the member officially joined the chapter, not the day they joined the larger organization
  • Celebrating Members: blog posts and invite to garden party in June
    • Cadence to be determined

Update from CA NOW meeting:

  • No updates so far
  • Katia will be speaking to Kolieka and will follow up on several items
  • John from Hollywood NOW has also had difficulty getting a response
  • Action: Tika will check state bylaws about term limits

National NOW Board Meeting:

  • Tika attended the national board meeting by phone in which they discussed the bylaws updates that will be approved at the National Conference in July.

Rossmoor Event Recap: successful event and it was standing room only

  • next time we will consider a slightly different approach re. the performance and setup

Pleasant Hill Library Display: good job, Erika! We may need to restock the brochures

Capital One Cafe: No cost involved for non-profits to use their facilities. The upstairs room holds ~10-14 people. The community space is first come first serve, but we could use the space; it holds ~25-30 people.

  • We will try this out by holding the June book club there. Date is TBD.

Partners for Justice (March 28): Phyllis and Jim will attend on behalf of CoCo NOW

  • CoCo NOW should promote event on social media
  • Katia will put together a silent auction basket for the event

National Conference Workshop Deadline: March 31

  • Action: Katia will contact Karen Brockwell about repeating her STEM workshop

MDA Capitol Day (March 18 @ 10am): will be sharing on social media

Women’s Equal Pay Day (April 2): share on social media.

  • Action: Tika will research black and Latina equal pay day to make sure we also post on those days.

Rosie Tour 1 (April 20): 20 spots

Rosie Tour 2 (May 11):  24 spots – board members have been moved to this day.

Political action update:

  • Letters from CoCoNOW will be hand-delivered on Capitol day
  • State will submit letters for ending tampon tax day
  • Women’s March Agenda 2019 has been released
    • Katia will send our endorsement
  • Candidate Endorsement:
    • We need clarification on endorsement of candidates without monetary donations from State

Digital NOW:

  • Katia discussed the social media calendar
    • Scheduled posts with templates
  • FB Best Practices: Katia put together a best practices for administrating the CoCo NOW FB page
  • Katia showed us the mock up for the updated website.

Adjourned at 12:00pm

Tika Viteri

Secretary

_____________________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, February 9, 2019
2:00 – 4:00 pm

President Katia called the meeting to order at 2:00pm.

The meeting began with a presentation from White Pony Express, detailing their work to provide fresh food to people in need. White Pony Express also runs free clothing boutiques. There are two upcoming opportunities to volunteer:

  • March 23: clothing boutique focused on young adults leaving the foster system.
  • March 30: a food rescue

Volunteers signed up with White Pony Express and will be attending in the name of CoCoNOW.

Phyllis moved to approve the meeting minutes from January 19, 2019. Karen seconded.

The Giving Tree Event – Rossmoor Retirement Home.

  • Jeanette will speak on behalf of CoCONOW.

The Inkling Book Club – March 16 in Walnut Creek, CA, 12:30 – 2pm

  • The inaugural book will be Visionary Women: How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall, and Alice Waters Changed Our World by Andrea Barnet.
  • Action Item: Tika will reach out to Maria Maria to explore availability. She will also lead some discussions on social media leading up to the in-person meeting.
  • Katia has posted the event on FB and to MeetUp

Support Women Artists Now (SWAN) Day – April 6 in Martinez, CA, 10am – 4pm

  • CoCoNOW will host a table at no cost to the chapter.

10 – 12pm: Katia

12 – 2pm: Jeanette

2 – 4pm: Currently open.

Action Item: Phyllis will reach out to Lynda Kilday

Rosie the Riveter Museum Day – April 20 in Richmond, CA, 1:30 – 5pm

  • Tour begins at 2pm and lasts approx 1 hour
  • We will plan for a short chapter meeting afterward.
    • Action Item: Karen will reach out to the museum to see if the meeting room is available.
  • If you have NOW merch, this is a good opportunity to wear it, as this is an outreach event.
  • As of 2/15, we have 40 Facebook RSVP’s, which is our maximum number.
  • This event will be the focus of our outreach/social media for April.

Moms Demand Action – May 4 in Walnut Creek, CA, 2-4pm (Chapter meeting)

  • Nicole from MDA will speak

CoCoNOW Garden Party – June 8 in Walnut Creek, CA, 3-5pm.

  • This will be considered our chapter meeting for June
  • Board to provide raffle baskets to support CoCoNOW

Budget:

  • There was a discussion of one-pagers and purchasing business cards from VistaPrint to pass out at events.
  • Budget was approved unanimously and disbursed to board members via email.

Katia shared the results from her calls with the president of CA NOW and Hollywood NOW:

  • See notes from Katia’s calls (attached)
  • Kathy will serve as our by-law designee to research and report back on answers to questions that come up in chapter meetings.
  • Action Item: Katia will share the State Google Drive information with CoCONOW board members.
  • State Conference: Tentatively set for last weekend in May.
    • Our chapter is expected to send 2 delegates. These will be Karen and Jeanette, who will also join the state-level event committee calls.
  • Tika is interested in running for VP of Membership of CA NOW. She will reach out to the current holder of that seat to determine next steps.
  • There are several legislative items that CA NOW is sending reaction letters to.
    • Action Item: Tika will research those initiatives and send the board a summary to determine if we will add our chapter to the official letter.

Voter Registration Drive Update:

  • The most effective method of driving voter registration is to add a link to the website.
  • The officer from the County Registrar of Voters recommends having voter registration forms at all of our tabling events.
    • Action Item: Tika and Kathy will get voter registration forms for Alameda and CoCo counties, respectively.

Katia gave an update on updating the website to simplify prospective members joining the chapter and also current members affiliating with CoCoNOW.

The board will explore moving meetings to the Capital Cafe (or another venue) in order to schedule meetings on a regular basis, i.e. the second Saturday of the month, etc.

Meeting adjourned at 4:14pm.

Tika Viteri

Acting Secretary

_________________

 

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, January 19, 2019
2:00 to 4:00 P.M.

 

The meeting was called to order by President Katia S. There were ten members and two guests present. The minutes for the December 15, 2018 meeting were read. An amendment was made to update the Rossmoor event date from March 6 to March 8. The minutes were then approved.

Our application for a Women’s History Month display at the Pleasant Hill Library was approved. Set-up will be on March 2; Katia is soliciting help for both prep and set-up.

Kathy has sent a 1-year membership to CoCoNOW to Rebecca Bauer-Kahan. Karen will send a flower arrangement to Rebecca’s Sacramento office and will be speaking to her about CoCoNOW’s aims and further introduce our chapter.

CANOW is soliciting help with a membership drive. Katia emailed Koelika regarding this and Jeanette will follow up with more details and whether we can be of help.

White Pony Express will be presenting at our February 9 meeting. Erika will ask the presenter whether she is planning to promote the discussion and/or bring people.

Nicole from Moms Demand Action Tri-Valley is interested in speaking at our next chapter meeting. Katia will invite her to the March 16 meeting (10am-12pm).

Karen will speak to the curators at the Rosie the Riveter Museum in Richmond to see if one of the local original riveters can speak to us in April.

The Giving Tree’s International Women’s Day event (March 8, 2019) has the following notes:

  • Room will handle ~100 people, will charge $15 for admission
  • Program content will involve video of TED talk, monologues on sexual harassment.
  • Someone from NOW should be prepared to give a 2-4 min presentation. Katia will get back to the Giving Tree coordinator about our plan for presenting.
  • Katia will reach out to Susie from the Lafayette Theatre to see if she is available to attend and perhaps do something theatrical at the event.

The question regarding requirements for Chapter Board Meetings was answered as follows: we are required to hold 6 chapter meetings per year unless we fall under the exception clause. Tika will check the bylaws for the rules regarding chapter vs. board meetings.

Katia asked 2018 officers to email the officer reports to her and Erika. Erika will send them to National NOW as the outgoing chapter president.

Chapter members discussed our goals for 2019. They are:

  • Membership Growth
  • Political Action
  • Member Engagement
  • Community Service
  • Revenue
  • Voter Registration

The group brainstormed action items for each goal, and broke into groups to discuss further (see attached).

Kathy passed out a proposed budget for 2019.  After discussion, several categories of spending were adjusted or condensed. The budget will be discussed further at the Feb. 9 meeting (originally planned for the March 16 meeting; moved up via email after adjournment). Revenue stream ideas will be considered to balance our budget.

Keys to our post office box are currently held by Erika and Kathy. Kathy will get one to Katia.

We spent $100 on the space at the Women’s March and ~$45 for coffee. We made $220 in donations for an overall surplus of ~$75.

Upcoming Events:

Feb 9, 2-4pm at Walnut Creek Library: Chapter meeting and White Pony Express presentation. Budget discussion.

March 2, time TBD at Pleasant Hill Library: set up for Women’s History Month display

March 8, time TBD at Rossmoor: Me Too & How We Have Risen event with The Giving Tree Club

March 16, 10-12pm at Walnut Creek Library: Board meeting and possible Moms Demand Action presentation

April, date/time TBD at Rosie the Riveter Museum in Richmond: Chapter meeting

May 4 in Sacramento: CA NOW conference

Motion made by Katia, seconded by Kathy, Adjourned at 4:00pm.

Tika Viteri
Acting Secretary

__________________________________

Chapter Meeting

Saturday, December 15, 2018

2:00 – 4:00 pm

The meeting was called to order by Vice President Katia S.  There were 8 members present.  The minutes from the November 3  meeting were read and approved.

Elections were held with the following results:   President:  Katia S.,    VP.:  Jeanette C.,    VP. Action: Nancy B.,    VP. Membership:  Karen S.,    Treasurer: Kathy D.,     Secretary:  Open,    State Board Rep.:  Jeanette C.,    Events Coordinators:  Phyllis B. & Lauren B.  Tika Viteri (new member) volunteered to serve as secretary until she can be voted into to office.

Jeanette gave a report about the state organization.  She is going to research how many chapters are in our state, find out more about what other chapters are doing in the state.  Also report on ACT NOW and whether there is a Social Media Kit especially for the repeal of the Tampon Tax.

Karen, VP of membership reported that she is getting a new computer. Katia would like to send out a newsletter via email to ask nonaffiliated members to become part of our chapter.

We had a short recap of the holiday party on December 8.  We made around $200 on the raffle for the chapter.

Upcoming events were discussed.  There will be a Poster Party on January 12 from 10AM to 1PM at Katia’s house.  We will be making posters for the upcoming Women’s March on January 19.  Katia will check into coordinating with Planned Parenthood on this.  We talked about having a table at the March & who would volunteer for set up.  Katia will check on the cost of the table.  Our next meeting is scheduled for after the Women’s March at 2PM.  Each officer is to provide a report of their activities in 2018.  We will also create the budget for 2019 and set goals for the chapter.

Phyllis suggested sending a congratulatory flower arrangement to the office of newly elected State Rep. Rebecca Bauer-Kahan.  She also suggested a gift of a one year membership to NOW. Karen will take care of ordering the flowers.

Katia would like to make some changes to our website including adding a Blog.  Kathy said she would give her the information so she can have access.

Upcoming Meetings and Events:

January 12- Poster Making Party for Women’s March– 10 AM

January 19- Contra Costa Women’s March

Contra Costa Chapter meeting at Walnut Creek Library– 2-4PM

February 9- Chapter Meeting- Walnut Creek Library 2-4PM- invite Lorrain Granit of White Pony Express to speak

February 21- Planned Parenthood NorCal Acts of Courage Fundraiser-Bimbos-San Francisco

March 6- Me Too & How We Have Risen with the Giving Tree Club at Rossmoor

March 16- Chapter Meeting- Walnut Creek Library 2-4PM

Motion made by Jeanette , second by Kathy.  Meeting adjourned at 4:00 PM

Jeanette Cole
Secretary

_____________________

 

Board Meeting

Saturday, November 3, 2018

2:00 to 4:00 P.M.

 

The meeting was called to order by President Erika M.  There were 8 members and 1 guest present.  The minutes from the October 6 general meeting were read by Jeanette C. and approve d.

No treasurer’s report.

Erika reported that she had $165 from selling items at the Town Hall Theater events.  We also have income that was made by credit card sales.  Everyone thought it was a success but did show that we need more exposure to the public as people were not aware of our organization.

Erika reported on quotes from Minuteman Press.  Large rounds are 10 for $217.33 total including tax.  Small rounds are 32 for $217.33 including tax.  Buttons would be 100 for $181.00 and stickers were 500 for $186.00.  A motion was made by Phyllis and seconded by Karen to purchase the rounds and buttons from Minuteman Press.  All were in favor.  The cost for stickers was found to be $215 for 2000 from Vista Print so we decided to order them online.

Erika has been contacted by Lorraine Granit board member of the group White Pony Express.  She would like to present a TED talk to our chapter informing us about her groups’ work to eliminate hunger and poverty in Contra Costa County.  We decided to invite her to a meeting in 2019 after we have our schedule.

Diane Collins a Contra Costa NOW member would like to have us read her soon to be published book called “Fired Up Women”.  Diane is a former teacher and president of United Teachers of Richmond.   Erika will contact her to see how we could obtain copies for some of the members to read.

Bobbie Ausubel, a Contra Costa NOW member has invited us to participate at a discussion event at Rossmoor for International Women’s Day, March 7 or 8 2019.  Erika will ask her for more details.

Upcoming Elections were discussed.  The nomination committee of Erika, Phyllis and Karen have presented the following nominations for office:  President:  Katia S.,    VP.:  Jeanette C.,     VP. Action: Nancy B.,    VP. Membership:  Karen S.,    Treasurer: Kathy D.,     Secretary:  Open,    State Board Rep.:  Jeanette C.,    Events Coordinators:  Phyllis B. & Lauren B.   Voting will take place on December 15, at our general meeting.

The Holiday Party is scheduled for December 8 at the home of Phyllis B.  Phyllis is planning to have a game for attendees with a prize for the winner.  She also suggested a raffle to earn some money for the chapter.  Members are asked to donate items for the prize basket. Erika will contribute a floral arrangement  to be raffled also.  As previously decided we will ask Planned Parenthood to attend to receive a donation of $500 from our chapter.

Erika handed out a flyer with directions for us to obtain the membership for Contra Costa NOW from national.

Proposed dates for upcoming meetings:

December 8,  Holiday Party  3-5 PM –Home of Phyllis B.

December 15,   2-4 PM  Election of Officers—Walnut Creek Library

January 19,  Women’s March for 2019 with general meeting to follow from 2-4 PM at the Walnut Creek Library

February 9, Board Meeting 2-4 PM at the Walnut Creek Library

March 16, General Meeting 2-4 PM at the Walnut Creek Library

Jeanette Cole,  Secretary

**********************************************

Chapter Meeting

Saturday, October 6, 2018

2:00 to 4:00 pm

The meeting was called to order by President Erika M.  There were 9 members and 1 guest present.  The minutes from the September 15 meeting were read by Kathy D.  and approved.

Erika reported on our tabling activity at the Town Hall Theatre for the play The Revolutionists. She suggested we give gifts of Women in History Playing cards to the cast and director.  We reviewed the sign up schedule for the remainder of the play’s run and have coverage for all the dates.  Sign up can be done by going to the theatre website and using Sign Up Genius.

Kathy and Erika discussed the follow up procedure for the contact forms from our NOW website.  Erika will review  this later with Kathy.  Kathy will continue to monitor our website and be the contact person for any additions or changes.

Upcoming Elections were discussed.  The nomination committee of Erika, Phyllis and Karen have presented the following nominations for office:           President:  Katia S.,    VP.:  Open,     VP. Action: Nancy B.,    VP. Membership:  Karen S.,    Treasurer: Kathy D.,     Secretary:  Open,    State Board Rep.:  Jeanette C.,    Events Coordinators:  Phyllis B. & Lauren B.  Jeanette C. was asked to fill the VP position so Kathy will review policy to see if she can hold that position along with State Board Rep.  Voting will take place on December 15, at our general meeting.

The Holiday Party is scheduled for December 8 at the home of Phyllis B.  Katia will contact Phyllis to discuss details so we can put a notice on our website.  We have decided to have members contribute to Planned Parenthood for our Holiday donation.  We also voted to donate $500 from our chapter treasury.  Members of the local Planned Parenthood will also be invited to attend.

The VP of Action, Nancy reported on members canvassing for the state assembly candidate Rebecca Bauer-Kahan.  She also plans to look into helping with voter registration for the November election since the registration deadline is October 20.  Erika is checking on the cost of stickers and buttons to wear, to help us be identified with NOW when we are attending various political activities.  Jeanette will contact the Bauer-Kahan campaign by email to inform the candidate on how she can obtain that CA NOW PAC endorsement.  This would make it possible for us to support her on our website as well as on the state NOW website.

Karen, VP Membership reported that she had been called by National regarding her request for a list of local members.  Kathy reported she found an internet “portal” where Karen could request a membership list with a very short wait time.  She showed this to Karen.

Jeanette reported that state NOW would like a report on all the chapters’ activities for their November 10 meeting.

Proposed dates for upcoming meetings:
November  3,   2-4 PM   Board Meeting –Walnut Creek Library
December 8,  time: TBD   Holiday Party  –Home of Phyllis B.
December 15,   2-4 PM  Election of Officers—Walnut Creek Library

Motion made by Erika , second by Kathy.  Meeting adjourned at 6:00 PM

Jeanette Cole
Secretary

***************************************

Chapter Meeting

   Saturday, September 15, 2018

    2:00 to 4:00 P.M.

The meeting was called to order by president, Erika Maslan.

Those present were Erika Maslan, president; Nancy Bocanegra, VP Action; Karen Severud, VP Membership; Kathy DeFabio, Treasurer; Karen Brockwell; Joe Flores; Bobbi Ausubel; and a new chapter member, Lauren Babb, who works for Planned Parenthood.

Minutes for the chapter meeting on Saturday, August 4, 2018 were read and approved.

Erika reported on the Town Hall Theatre Company’s upcoming performance of The Revolutionists.  Two brief videos were shown describing the play and the actresses.  The play runs from September 27 through October 20, 2018.  We would like to table on opening night (Sept 29) and on weekends.  Erika will send a sign up sheet to all board members to sign up for dates they would like to table.  We’re hoping to have 2 people per tabling event, maybe more on opening night.

Various “contact us” forms and emails sent to our gmail account were discussed.  Erika spoke about the teacher who contacted us in June 2018 requesting we speak to a group of middle schoolers about activism.  Erika will contact her to set up a time for a presentation.  Erika will discuss with Katia about participating in the presentation.  Also, Karen Brockwell may attend.
There was a contact request to post links for various options for teacher credential training.  Kathy reported these links have been posted on our website under “web links”.
Kathy brought up the contact from Michelle (Shay) Verger of Planned Parenthood.  Planned Parenthood is doing a canvassing for Rebecca Baure-Kahan in Assembly District 16.  Planned Parenthood is looking to partner with various organizations, including Contra Costa NOW, for this event.  The date is October 6, 2018.  Also, phone banking and texting will be done.  They will meet in Lafayette at 3685 Mt. Diablo Blvd from 10 am – 1 pm.  The chapter agreed this would be worthwhile to participate in.  Several members will attend either to canvass or phone/text bank.  Kathy will contact Shay to discuss further logistics.
Also discussed was how we (the board) handles contact us forms or emails.  Currently they are forwarded to the board by either Kathy or Phyllis, but with all the emails we get, it isn’t often clear that these are contact requests that we should respond to.  Kathy will try to highlight these emails when she forwards them so board members will know what they are.  And we need to figure out who will respond to these contacts once we get them.

Chapter elections:  The nomination committee was chosen.  Members are Erika Maslan, Karen Brockwell, and possibly Phyllis Bratt, pending her approval.  Nominations for officers will take place at our chapter meeting on October 6, 2018 from 4 – 6 pm.

Discussion took place about our chapter registering voters for the upcoming midterm elections.  It was suggested that we partner with organizations that do this type of action.  The League of Women Voters has a program set up to do this.  Kathy will contact them to see if and how we may partner with them.

Holiday party:  The holiday party will be held at the home of Phyllis Bratt.  Tentative date is Saturday, Dec 8 after the chapter elections.  This year we are hosting the party in support of Planned Parenthood.  We will ask guests to consider giving a donation to Planned Parenthood (cash donations, other type of donations are not useful for PP purposes).  These donations are not tax deductible since they are going to PP PAC, which according to Lauren Babb is where the donation could do the most good.

Remaining chapter and board meeting:
Saturday, 10/6 from 4-6 pm:  Chapter meeting, nomination of officers
Saturday, 11/3 from 2-4 pm:  Board meeting
Saturday, 12/8 from 2-4 pm (pending availability of the Las Trampas room):  Chapter meeting, elections

Membership:  Karen S. mentioned she has contacted National for and updated membership list.

Meeting was adjourned by Erika Maslan.

Respectfully Submitted,
Kathy DeFabio
Treasurer

*****************************************************

Chapter Meeting

Saturday, August 4, 2018

2:00 to 4:00 pm

The meeting was held at the Contra Costa Family Justice Center on August 4.  We had a presentation by Natalie Oleas, a navigator at the center.  She told us they have locations in central and west Contra Costa county and will soon open another office in east county.  The FJC works as a one stop shop for survivors of interpersonal violence helping them to find the various services they may need.    

After the presentation the meeting was called to order at 2:37PM by Vice President Katia S .   Members present Kathy D.,  Katia S., Karen S.,  Jose F., Karen B., Jeanette C., plus one new member and guests Mercedes and Natalia O.  The minutes of the June 2 meeting were read by the Secretary, Jeanette C.  Motion to approve was made by Kathy and seconded by Karen.

We discussed the Community Meeting held by NARAL to stop the nomination of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. CC NOW members will attend the Bay Area Unite for Justice Rally on Sunday, August 26, in San Francisco from 1-3PM.  Members will meet at the fountain in Union Square Plaza.  Kathy will post the event on our website and Facebook.

We will also do a postcard writing campaign asking Senate committee members from Red States to vote against the nominee.  Katia will create the text for the postcard to share with members.  Katia will also contact leaders of NOW chapters in the “Swing States” of Maine, Alaska, W. Virginia, and N. Dakota to ask what they are doing and how we can help.

Karen B. will create a Roe v. Wade fact sheet to provide information to educate people.  She will look for existing one page fact sheets to share as handouts at the rally on August 26th.  Katia will create a downloadable form to send to members.

Suzie Shephard from the Town Hall Theatre in Lafayette has reached out to our chapter asking us to table and/or set up a display at the theatre for the play The Revolutionists running from September 27 through October 20, 2018. Members agreed this would be a good idea and will have Erika reach out to Suzie to coordinate this.

Ideas to reach out to new members was discussed. One suggestion was having an adopt a member system to personally contact new members by email or phone.  Karen, Katia and Jeanette said they would be willing to do it.  Also an annual meet and greet was suggested such as meeting for coffee.  Meeting at a park was mentioned or the courtyard of the Family Justice Center.

The NOW Conference was discussed and ideas for improvement.  Most concerns were about communication with National and what their expectations were for us.

Proposed dates for upcoming meetings:

September  8, 2-4 PM  at Walnut Creek  Library view movie “Seeing Red”

October  6, 2-4 PM    Walnut Creek Library

November  3, 2-4 PM    Nominations for 2019 Officers

December 8, 2-4 PM    election of officers- Holiday Party

Motion by Karen, second by Kathy.  Meeting adjourned at 3:55 PM

Jeanette Cole
Secretary

******************************************************************************

 

Board Meeting

Saturday, June 2, 2018 

2:00 to 4:00 P.M.

The meeting was called to order at 2:10PM by President Erika M.   Members present Kathy D., Nancy B.,  Erika M.,  Katia S., Barbara G.,  and Jeanette C.  The minutes of the April 28 meeting were read by the Secretary, Jeanette C.  Motion to approve was made by Kathy and seconded by Erika.

Erika reported on the May 30 committee business from the national conference planning call.  The speakers have been set by national.  Jaclyn (Scott’s Circle) has sent out an email list of planning committee members.  Workshops are listed online.  We need to finalize arrangements with the Goat Girls Bluegrass band for a Performance from 5-7 PM on Saturday evening.  The cost is $500 plus approximately $200 for their dinner. Motion was made by Erika second by Kathy – approved.  The young feminists will DJ the party after.  Erika showed us the bags she would like to order from Amazon.  They are cloth and she will try to get purple or white.  She will check on the cost of printing the NOW logo on them.  Erika will pay cost up to $550.  Motion was made by Erika and second by Jeanette for chapter to pay any amount over $550 up to $800 to help cover the cost of bags and printing-approved.

LOC co-chairs Kathy & Katia are taking donations for the silent auction proceeds going to the National NOW PAC.  Katia will check into whether local Planned Parenthood Rep. is a speaker at the conference.  No press release yet we are waiting for National.  Minuteman Press is printing the programs.   Erika is checking on the cost of Food Trucks for meals at the conference.  Jeanette will cover the planning call on June 13 since Erika will be out of the area.

We need stationary with our letterhead to send to request privilege to show movie “Seeing Red” at our meeting on September 8.

Planned Parenthood annual Capital Day is on June11, from 9AM to 6:30PM.  Nancy and Katia will try to attend to represent Contra Costa NOW.

Nancy will check into the cost of tabling at the Lafayette Art & Wine Festival on Sept. 15 & 16.

Jeanette will send  flowers from the chapter in sympathy to Jose and Karen, due to the recent passing of Jose’s daughter.

Proposed dates for upcoming meetings:

August  4,  2-4PM at Family Justice Center or library (ask to have speaker from Family Justice Center)

September  8, 2-4 PM  at Walnut Creek  Library view movie “Seeing Red”

October  6, 2-4 PM    Walnut Creek Library

November  3, 2-4 PM    Nominations for 2019 Officers

December 8, 2-4 PM    election of officers- Holiday Party

Motion to adjourn by Kathy, second by Jeanette .  Meeting adjourned at 3:55 PM

Jeanette Cole

Secretary

_________________________________

Board Meeting

Saturday, April 28, 2018  

2:00 to 4:00 P.M. 954 Risa Road, Lafayette

The meeting was called to order at 2:15PM by President Erika M.   Members present Kathy D., Karen S., Jose F.,  Erika M.,  and Jeanette C.  The minutes of the March 17 general meeting were read by the Secretary, Jeanette C.  Motion to approve was made by Karen and seconded by Erika with one change, the spelling of Katherine to Catherine.

Erika reported on the L.O.C. business.  Erika showed us our new chapter banner. We would like the same logo placed on the bags for the national conference with Contra Costa NOW added.  Mujeres Unidas y Activas contacted us and has members who are interested in attending the conference. They asked about reduced conference fees and if there will be an interpreter for Spanish speaking attendees.  Erika will check into it.  Nancy and Karen will contact musicians for availability to perform at the cocktail reception.   Erika will contact food truck vendors to provide additional options for meals at the conference.  Katia has sent out email messages to potential sponsors.  National is setting up speakers for the conference and they are also to provide us with a press release.  The next National Conference Planning call will be Wednesday, May 2.

The Stem workshop proposal has been accepted for the convention also the Heidi Goldstein workshop: Ending Violence Against Women organizing techniques for school districts was accepted.

Action items were discussed.  Nancy brought up tabling at the Gay Pride event in San Francisco in June. The Lafayette Art & Wine Festival is in September we talked about tabling there.

Our next meeting will be June 2 from 2PM to 4PM at the Walnut Creek Library.

Karen made motion which was seconded by Joe to adjourn the meeting at 4:10PM.

 

Jeanette Cole

Secretary

____________________

Chapter Meeting
Saturday, March 17, 2018

The meeting was called to order by President Erika M. at 2:15 PM.  Seven board members and one general member were present.  The minutes from the Board Meeting on February 17, were read by the secretary, Jeanette Cole.   The minutes were adopted as read,  Erika motioned and Mary seconded.

Kathy reported for membership that we have received 3or 4 email responses and 3 regular mail responses to our mailing of at large members.

Mary reported on the March 7 meeting with National regarding conference planning.  The next call will be March 31 at 1:30PM.  Erika plans to record the calls for Kathy & Katia since Mary will no longer be available.  We have requested a free table for our chapter at the convention but so far National has not confirmed, the usual cost is $350.   Reserving a hotel room for people needing housing was discussed.  Mary motioned that we reserve a room for 2 nights at the conference hotel, cost not to exceed $500.00.  Erika seconded.  All voted in favor.  Kathy will make the reservation on- line in her name.  Katia has compiled a list of colleges, local universities, organizations, politicians and businesses to be contacted when National gives us the information they want sent out.  Mary made a motion and Kathy seconded to allocate up to $500 for LOC expenses.  We discussed the issue of potential invitees that would sit onstage at the opening plenary but not speak.  Mary will try to get more clarification from National on this.  Karen will look into submitting a proposal for a self- defense workshop.

Action Committee report was given by Katia.  She will be sending a Thank You letter to 1515 for the fundraiser on March 8.  Katia will make a flyer for the Yoga fundraiser with the Family Justice Center to be posted.  She is requesting donations from businesses near the center in Todos Santos Plaza.  We are using Eventbrite to promote the event.  The maximum number of participants is 30 people, a donation of $15 per person is requested.

Katia brought up the idea of tabling at the S.F. Gay pride event in June.  Mary motioned and Kathy seconded that up to $110.00 be spent on tabling.  Katia will also contact other nearby chapters of NOW to see if they would like to share a table.  She will also find out the exact day and time of the parade.

Karen gave a report on a meeting of Moms Demand Action that she attended.  There is a March for Our Lives Event being held on March 24 at 11AM.  Erika motioned and Jeanette seconded that Karen represent NOW at the event and we will publicize it on our website.

Nancy and Katia brought up the June primaries and whether or not we are endorsing anyone.  Jeanette reported that CA NOW has a PAC that has been endorsing candidates.  The candidate must request a questionnaire which the PAC reviews and then they vote for or against.  The two candidates running against Catherine Baker  in AD 15 were discussed.  Erika suggested that all of us review the candidates information and get back to Jeanette or Erika about who we should approach for endorsement by CA NOW.

Motion to adjourn by Jeanette and seconded by Mary.  Meeting was adjourned at 4:00PM.

Jeanette Cole

Secretary

____________________________

Board Meeting
Saturday, February 17, 2018

The meeting was called to order by President Erika M. at 2:00 PM.  Eight members were present.  The minutes from the board meeting of Jan 20, 2018 were read by the Karen.  Motion to approve the minutes was made by Mary, and seconded by Kathy.

Treasurer’s Report:
The proposed budget for 2018 was approved.

Our next chapter meeting, the fundraiser for the Family Justice Center, was discussed.  We are asking a donation of $15.00 to attend.  However, the donation is optional.  We discussed making the $15.00 charge mandatory but decided not to since it is a chapter meeting and our bylaws require us to have 6 chapter meetings per year, and it’s not a good idea to charge members to attend chapter meetings.  We agreed to split whatever income brought in by this event/meeting 50:50 between our chapter and the Family Justice Center.

A request to buy a banner for our chapter for $106.17 was proposed, seconded, and approved.

We seem to have lost approximately 80-100 California Then and NOW coloring/history books (cost  $436.59)  .  They were purchased in March 2017 along with business cards and membership brochures.  We have the business cards and brochures.

Mary gave an update on the conference call for the National NOW conference in July.  Noa and Jaclyn of Scott Circle had action items.

Discussion took place regarding our chapter’s participation in planning for the National conference.  All board members and several chapter members are part of the “Local Organizing Committee” (LOC).  We tentatively plan to meet the Saturday after the Wednesday planning conference call.  The meetings will take place at Erika’s office at 1:30 pm in Lafayette. Currently Mary is the chairperson of the LOC.  She will be moving soon and will no longer be able to chair this meeting.  Katia and Kathy will co-chair to prepare for transition when Mary leaves.  Mary thinks she will still be able to participate in the bi-weekly (every 2 weeks) conference calls with National.

Possible upcoming events/actions were discussed.  Katia mentioned having a fundraiser for our chapter on March 8, international women’s day, at 1515.  She will contact Tiffany, event planner at 1515, to finalize the plans.  Also discussed were Lobby Day on April 9 in Sacramento and supporting midterm elections.

We discussed getting an intern, especially to help us for preparation for the National conference.  The intern may be able to assist with other duties also.

A discussion took place regarding the letter to members-at-large to join our chapter.  The list is very long, approximately 1228 people.  Of those, only about 432 have email addresses, so that would mean mailing letters to the remainder.  The list includes all of Contra Costa County plus neighboring counties.  In order to make the mailings more manageable (reduce the number of mailings), we decided to send letters only to those in Contra Costa County.  If we get a good response from that mailing, we will then send letters to the remaining members.  Mail preparation will be done at one of our LOC meetings.  Erika will bring 350 – 400 copies of the letter, Katia will bring the address labels, Karen will supply the envelopes, and Kathy will bring the stamps.  An email letter will be sent to all members-at-large who have email addresses, whether they are Contra Costa County residents or not. We hope to get the letters out in March for Women’s history month.

Kathy DeFabio
Treasurer

____________________________________

Board Meeting

Saturday, January 20, 2018

The meeting was called to order by President Erika M. at 2:00 PM.  Eight members were present.  The minutes from  the  General Meeting on December 9, were read by the secretary, Jeanette Cole.   A motion was made by Katia and seconded by Kathy to approve them.  Motion passed.

We discussed income from member’s  dues and how we could increase that income.  We also discussed ways to bring in income from selling items at the National Conference in July.   Erika requested a more detailed budget be prepared for our next meeting so we could get a better idea of how the money was spent in 2017.

Erika read the State Board Report written by Mary.  Mary, Karen B. and Diane are working on a workshop proposal for the National Conference with the subject of women in STEM.   The first planning phone call was held with a report by Mary and Karen.  There will be a site visit on February 6 in San Jose at the Double Tree Inn.   Erika and available planning committee will attend.  They will meet with Emily Imhoff from National NOW.

Karen reported our membership at 188.  We had over 200 a few years ago but the numbers have dropped.   Erika and Karen are working on a letter to be sent to at-large members asking them to affiliate with our chapter.  Karen is to ask for a list of addresses  from National of at large members having zip codes in our area.

Erika gave a report on the National Conference planning.  Mary has put together a spreadsheet of items that we will need to accomplish for the conference.  (see attached)

The action committee reported that Planned Parenthood with be having a rally at the state capital on January 22. Members who want to attend can sign up to take a chartered bus to Sacramento.  Nancy has signed up to attend.

Katia reported on the Trauma Workshop we are having at the Family Justice Center. There will be a presentation by the Family Justice Center,  and a yoga session.  We will ask for a donation of $15 per person.  Dates were discussed with March 25th being our first choice.  Katia will send out an email blast and we also plan to invite people who attended our Paint Nite last year.

The proposed meeting schedule is:  Feb. 17, Board Meeting  from 2 to 4pm at Walnut Creek Library;  March 17, General Meeting  from 2 to 4 PM at Walnut Creek Library;  and April 21, Board Meeting from 2 to 4 PM at the Walnut Creek Library if Kathy can reserve that date.

Motion to adjourn by Erika, seconded by Karen.  Meeting adjourned at 3:55 PM.

Jeanette Cole

Secretary

__________________________________

Chapter Meeting

 Saturday, December 9, 2017

The meeting was called to order by President Erika M. at 2:13 PM.  Ten members were present.  The minutes from the Board Meeting on November 4, were read by the secretary, Jeanette Cole.   The minutes were adopted with one change, the number of card decks was 12 not 10. Mary motioned and Erika seconded . All approved.

The treasurer’s report was given by Kathy.  We have obtained California Tax exempt status.  At the January board meeting we will compile a new budget for 2018.

Mary gave a report on the state of California NOW.  There will be another call- in meeting on Sat. December 16, from 10AM to 12Noon and she will provide the board with details for signing in.  The November 11 meeting was cancelled.

Erika reported that National NOW will be coming to visit the site for the National Conference, July 6, 7, & 8, in San Jose either the end of December or in January.  She will be meeting with them at that time.

Karen in Membership reported she had sent for an updated list of current members and is continuing to work on a letter to be sent out.

Action Committee report was given by Nancy and Katia. Katia has made contact with the Director of the Family Justice Center.  They are interested in partnering with us for our event in March of a panel discussion, the suggested theme would be Trauma.  They have a community room that could be used for the event.  They currently participate in a restaurant week in March where a portion of your meal cost is donated to various Women’s groups in the area.  Katia told us about the Women’s Empowerment Committee at Diablo Valley College and the  event she attended there.

Erica presented Mary D. with the Persistence Award for 2017 in recognition of her work on the California State NOW Board of Directors .

The election was held with the results as follows:  Erika M.-President, Katia  S.–Vice President, Kathy D.—Treasurer, Jeanette C.—Secretary, Nancy B.—VP of Action, Karen S.—VP of Membership, Katia S. –VP of Public Relations and Mary D. –State Board Rep.

Motion to adjourn by Erika, seconded by Karen.  Meeting adjourned at 3:20 PM.

Jeanette Cole

Secretary

______________________________

Board Meeting

 Saturday, November 4, 2017  

The meeting was called to order by President Erika M. at 12:10PM.  Seven board members and one general member were present.  The minutes from the Board Meeting on September 23, were read by the secretary, Jeanette Cole.   The minutes were adopted with one change to remove Phyllis B. as nominee for VP of Public Relations.  Mary motioned and Erika seconded.

The next Board meeting will be January 20, 2018.  Katia will put together a calendar to present for 2018.  Officer’s reports are due and we will go over our budget and goals for 2018.

Erika will be having a conference call on Thursday, November 9 at 10AM with National NOW to discuss the 2018 conference being held in San Jose.

Mary reported on the state of California Now.  There is to be a State Board meeting conference call on Saturday, November 11 which she will participate in.  Mary will be leaving next year so mentioned that we will need another State Board Representative from our chapter. Usually it involves  3 meetings by telephone each year.

Action Committee report was given by Nancy and Katia. Nancy presented the idea of a panel of three area organizations that are working on issues currently in the news, such as sexual harassment in the workplace and domestic violence.  Motion was made by Karen and seconded by Mary.  All approved.  Katia reported on donations collected for the fire survivors in Santa Rosa.  We plan to invite the newspaper to the holiday party to cover the presentation of our check of $1000 to Planned Parenthood as well as our donations to STAND.

Membership committee reported no changes.  Karen is working on a membership letter with Erika.

Mary presented information and displayed a deck of cards of important women.  Mary’s son-in-law sells them on his website and he donated 10 packs to the chapter.  She is asking for a $20 donation to our chapter for each deck.  We talked about using them as a gift for online donations of $50.  The challenge of obtaining the addresses to send them to when they pay by credit card and paying for postage to send them was mentioned.   Mary will get more information to see if this is feasible.

The state of the chapter was discussed.  We have a large membership but few active members who attend meetings.  We talked about having a Women’s Symposium in August next year with other groups working on women’s issues in the area.  This would attract new members and show members how they can become involved.

Our next meeting is the election at the Lafayette Library on December 9, with the holiday party after at Mary’s house.  Everyone was asked to contact Mary to determine food they should bring.  The next board meeting is January 20, 2018 at the Walnut Creek Library Las Trampas Room.

Motion to adjourn by Mary, seconded by Erika.  Meeting adjourned at 1:55PM.

Jeanette Cole

Secretary

 __________________

General Meeting

 September 23, 2017 

 

The meeting was called to order by President Erika Maslan at 4:30PM.   The minutes from the Board Meeting on July 29,  were read by the secretary,  Jeanette Cole.  Eight members were present.

Treasurers report by Kathy D.  We are still tabulating the proceeds from our Paint Nite fundraiser on September 19.   There were several sources of funds  including button sales, restaurant food sales, silent auction, and ticket sales.  We estimate our donation to Planned Parenthood will be at least $768.00.

Membership report by Karen we have 210 members as of September 2017.

Katia gave the report for the Action Committee.  The Paint Nite fundraiser was very successful and Katia or Kathy will send thank you notes to the others involved including the restaurant, 1515, Tiffany Furrer, the event planner, Planned Parenthood, those who donated for the auction, and any nonmembers and members who attended.  Katia would like to send out a newsletter to members monthly.  Nancy was asking if we could find out how many people are responding to our notices for actions on our website or in postings we send out.

Mary and Phyllis will be on the nominating committee for the chapter board elections.  All current board members at this meeting agreed to being nominated for their current positions again:

President:  Erika M., Vice President of Membership:  Karen S., Vice President of Action: Nancy B., Treasurer: Kathy D., Secretary: Jeanette C.,  Public Relations: Phyllis B.  Erika also nominated Katia S.  to be her Vice President for 2018 subject to Katia agreeing to serve. The committee will also seek nominations from the membership.   Elections will be held in November or  December.

Our next board meeting is scheduled for November 4, from 12pm to 2pm at the Walnut Creek Library.  December 9 will be our next General Meeting from 2pm to 4pm with the Holiday Party to follow at the home of Mary D.   Phyllis is going to look into us making a holiday donation to STAND in December.  She will contact them to find out what items they would want or need.  We are planning to invite Planned Parenthood and Indivisible as well as any other  non-members that attended our Garden Party  or Paint Nite to the Holiday Party.

Kathy made a motion and Jeanette seconded to adjourn the meeting at 5:55pm.

 

Jeanette Cole

Secretary

__________________________________________

 Board Meeting

 July 29, 2017 

The meeting was called to order by President Erika Maslan at 2:08 PM.   The minutes from the General Meeting on June  3rd  were read by the secretary,  Jeanette Cole.  A motion to approve after amending the name of the restaurant from 1516 to 1515  and changing the name Karen to Nancy for the Art & Wine Festival, was made by Phyllis B. and seconded by Jeanette.

245 members as of June 2017.

Report was given by Phyllis on the Garden Party which is August 19.  So far 8-10 people have sent their RSVP.  Phyllis reported on basket donations for the raffle. Tickets will be 6 for $5 or arm’s length for $20. There will be buttons and T-shirts donated by Mary.  Nancy will invite women’s groups. Katia will send an Evite reminder.  Phyllis will invite Planned Parenthood to speak about their program.

Katia gave the report for the Action Committee.  Attendance at meetings has decreased. She reported we joined the East Bay Action Coalition. She reported on the Paint Nite fundraiser on September 19 at 1515 Restaurant in Walnut Creek.  The goal is to raise $1,000 part of which will be donated to Planned Parenthood.  A minimum of 35 tickets need to be sold at $45 each maximum for the event is 47 people. We receive $15 each from tickets.  1515 is donating 10% of restaurant sales.  We have donations for a silent auction from publicizing it on Nextdoor. We are promoting it on Walnut Creek E Blast and Erika will ask Indivisible to alert their members. .  Tiffany Furrer the event planner at 1515 is assisting us with promoting the event. Katia asked for volunteers. Erika and Nancy will be at the check in table, Sally will handle the silent auction, Kathy and Katia will do set up.  Kathy will research getting a credit card account for paying the chapter.  Photographer is TBD.

Diane and Kathy attended Activist Unite in Orinda on June 8 in Orinda.  Mainly the groups talked about their work in voter registration and targeting the close races in other California districts. Diane created a NOW display to be used at other tabling events.

Mary D. emailed the board a report on the state conference. Erika and Jeanette reported on their attendance at the National NOW conference in Orlando, Florida.

August 12- Home Front Festival,  Rosie the Riveter Rally, Richmond, CA.

August 19- Garden Party Fundraiser and General Meeting

September 16&17- Art and Wine Festival in Lafayette

September 19- PaintNite  7PM at 1515 Restaurant in Walnut Creek

September 23- General Meeting 4:30PM at Walnut Creek Library.

 

Kathy made a motion and Diane seconded to adjourn the meeting at 3:50 PM.

 

Jeanette Cole

Secretary

_____________________________________________________________________________

 General Meeting

 June 3, 2017 

 The meeting was called to order by President Erika Maslan at 2:05PM.   The minutes from the Board Meeting on May  20 were read by the secretary, Jeanette Cole.  A motion to approve was made by Kathy D. and seconded by Phyllis.

We discussed the 2 slates of candidates for the National Election in July. Toni Van Pelt for President and Gilda Yazzi for V.P.  or China Fortson-Washington for President with Monica Weeks for V.P.  Members were encouraged to share their reasons for supporting one or the other slate so we could vote on who would be supported by the chapter.  The members voted in favor of the China/Monica slate although all agreed that either one of the candidate slates were qualified to serve.  Mary suggested that we meet the candidates at the convention and if we decided differently we could change our vote.

We discussed plans for Paint Nite.  Katia will request one of the Tuesdays or the last Wednesday in September.  The painting will be the green path.  The restaurant is called 1515 Restaurant in Walnut Creek.  Mary made a motion and it was seconded by Nancy to have Katia finalize the arrangements.  We would like to advertise it as a fundraiser for support of Planned Parenthood but have not been able to get any response from them.

Mary gave a report on the state organization.  California NOW will be having the state conference on July 22 at AFSCME in Los Angeles from 10AM to 4PM.  Mary will try to attend.

The Garden Party date was changed to August 19th due to a conflict with the Rosie the Riveter Home Front festival on August 12.  (motion by Mary seconded by Erika)  Phyllis, Erika and Karen will organize the event with help from Katia.

Karen will look into tabling at the Art & Wine Festival in Lafayette on September 16th & 17th.

There is a Conference call on Tuesday, June 6 with Emily Imhoff from National NOW regarding the 2018 conference in California.  Mary, Erika and possibly Phyllis plan to participate.

A report was given on the Planned Parenthood Capitol Day in Sacramento on May 22 by Diane.  Members went to Catherine Baker’s office but since the legislature was in session they did not meet with her.  P.P. is asking the governor to release $50 million of tax money collected for healthcare to Planned Parenthood.

June 8- Activists Unite- 7PM to 9PM Orinda.

July 29- Board Meeting at Walnut Creek Library 2 to 4 PM.

August 12- Home Front Festival, Rosie the Riveter Rally, Richmond, CA.

August 19-Garden Party fundraiser.

September- Paint Nite

Mary moved and Katia seconded a motion to adjourn.  The meeting was adjourned at 3pm for a program by Alissa Levy from the Contra Costa County Indivisible Organization.

Jeanette Cole

Secretary

______________________________________

Board Meeting

 Saturday, May 20, 2017  

The meeting was called to order by President Erika Maslan at 2:25PM.  Five board members and one general member were present.  The minutes from the Board Meeting on April 8 were read by the secretary, Jeanette Cole.   The minutes were adopted with one change to add Erika’s name to the part regarding contacting Planned Parenthood for the June 3rd meeting.

Due to concerns from the General Membership we have decided to leave attendees names off the minutes but keep the sign in sheet in the binder with copies of the minutes.  The general meeting on May 6 where we visited the Rosie the Riveter Museum was discussed.  Everyone agreed it was very worthwhile and we should plan to do it again in the future.

The Lafayette Wine and Art festival would cost $250 for a table for 2 days.  We decided that it was a reasonable expense and Erika will have Nancy Bocanegra register our chapter for the event.  We also discussed the reimbursement for the National NOW conference attendees.  At the April 8 meeting the amount was to be $750 each for 2 attendees.  Erika said she would lower it to $500 if both attendees agreed that would be sufficient.  Kathy said we should keep it at $750 and the checks were written for that amount.

We discussed the fundraising activities proposed at the last meeting.  Due to needing an 8 week advance notice for the Paint Nite, a September date was suggested.  We will submit a request for the last Wednesday in September, the 27th or any Tuesday night in September.  We also discussed the 501c3 status and if we qualify.  It was determined that we do qualify without that status so will go ahead.

We are also planning to use the Garden Party in August for fundraising by having a silent auction or raffle on items donated by members.  We also wanted to plan some activities or games.  The date of the party is August 12 which Jeanette brought up is the same date as the Rosie the Riveter Picture Event.

Karen Severud gave the membership report.  We are looking for ways to increase member participation.

Erika asked that board members read the information on the  NOW presidential candidates for National Elections in July.  She would like input on which candidates the chapter wants those of us attending the National Convention to vote for.

We will not be hiring a social media intern this year.  Kathy reports that board members can post items without approval on our social media. They need to be added to the account by her if they wish to do so directly.

The following dates have been planned for meetings:

June 3- Chapter Meeting at Walnut Creek Library 2 to 4 PM.  Planned Parenthood.

July 29- Board Meeting at Walnut Creek Library 2 to 4 PM.

August 12- Garden Party at home of Mary Davis.

September- Paint Nite

Phyllis moved and Jeanette seconded a motion to adjorn.  The meeting was adjorned at 4:55pm.

Jeanette Cole

Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________

Board Meeting

Saturday, April 8, 2017  

2:00 to 4:00 P.M.

The meeting was called to order by President Erika Maslan. The minutes of the April 1, 2017 meeting were read by the Secretary, Jeanette Cole  and approved.  Members present Kathy DeFabio, Karen Severud, Jose Flores, Katia Senff, Erika Maslan, Jeanette Cole, and Mary Davis.

Officer reports:  Membership-Karen Severud is obtaining a new membership list from National NOW. She is also going to obtain an at-large list composed of zip codes in our area so we can ask if some of them would like to affiliate with our chapter.  She thinks we have approximately 260 members.

Treasurer-Kathy DeFabio presented us with a copy of the budget from December and a copy of the 2016 expenditures.  We worked on a proposed budget for 2017. Kathy is going to check into setting up an interest bearing account for our chapter at Mechanics Bank.  A stipend of $1500 was approved to be divided by the National Conference attendees.

Action Committee-Katia Senff reported on a fundraising idea of a Paint Night.  Tickets would cost $45 with $15 per person going to the chapter. Guests would buy food and drinks separately and usually there is a 2 drink minimum. There is a minimum of 35 guests.

The Tea Time fundraiser was mentioned.  The chapter would purchase tea bags and mail them out to members asking for a donation.  This was used in the past to raise funds for a scholarship.

Mary suggested using the Garden Party Meeting at her home on August 12 as a fundraiser.

Katia also talked about having a social media intern for the summer.  Kathy has been managing all the social media sites which include Facebook, Twitter, Contra Costa Now and Survey Monkey.  She is requesting that others be allowed to post appropriate  events etc.  It was agreed that if board members wanted to post something they would send it out to the board first and if there were no objections it would be posted.

Katia would like to do a survey to find out more about our membership including areas of interest and how often they would like to hear from us.  This would help us determine which members would like more frequent contact and hopefully get an increase in active membership.

We talked about the National candidate for President from our area Mona Lisa Wallace.  Mary has talked with her.  Erika would like us to be prepared with questions when she attends our next board meeting on May 20.

We talked about the 2018 National Conference in California.  National will choose the venue.   Mary said we would probably be asked to sell ads to local businesses for the program.

Mary reported on the California State NOW organization.  So far there is no information about a state conference for 2017.

Due to time constraints we will discuss further plans for the chapter at a future meeting.

The following dates have been planned for meetings:

May 6-General Meeting-Rosie the Riveter Museum – 3PM.

May 20- Board Meeting at Walnut Creek Library from 3 to 5 PM. Guest Mona Lisa Wallace

June 3- Chapter Meeting at Walnut Creek Library 2 to 4 PM.  Planned Parenthood.

July 29- Board Meeting at Walnut Creek Library 2 to 4 PM.

August 12- Garden Party at home of Mary Davis.

Erika made motion which was seconded by Kathy to adjourn the meeting at 4:10PM.

Jeanette Cole
Secretary

_________________________

General Membership Meeting

Saturday, April 1, 2017  

2:00 to 4:00 P.M.

 

The meeting was called to order by President Erika Maslan.   The summary of the March 18 meeting with Guest Speaker Heidi Goldstein was read by Kathy DeFabio.

Introductions of members was done. Members present: Diane Bell-Rettger, Phyllis Bratt, Karen Severud, Jose Flores, Jeanette Cole, Kathy DeFabio, Katia Senff, Sally LoGrasso, Nancy Bocanegra, Erika Maslan, and Karen Brockwell.

The treasurer’s report was discussed.  Kathy will put together a report of expenses from last year so that a budget can be formulated at our board meeting.  We discussed the EIN number for reporting federal taxes and the Association number for state taxes which is 199.

The Action Committee chair Nancy Bocanegra gave a report on the Sonoma County presentation she attended and suggested we do something similar.  She will contact them for help in setting this up for our area.   Katia Senff gave a report on the Action Committee meeting  held that morning April 1, 2017.  Postcards were handed out with addresses for some Senators.  Members were encouraged to write a postcard regarding either Equal Pay for Women Day, opposing Neil Gorsuch, or HR861. She also told us about upcoming action events on 4/15 is a Tax March in Walnut Creek (Civic Park)  starting at 11AM.  On 4/22 is the science march in honor of Earth Day also in Walnut Creek (Civic Park) at 10AM.  On May 15 is Planned Parenthood Capitol Day in Sacramento.  Registration is required to attend.  Jeanette suggested that Kathy send out an email, one time only, to all members that are on the reminder list for meetings asking if they would like to receive notifications regarding chapter actions.  This would help give the Action Committee an idea if there are people they  need to reach out to.

Membership reported we currently have 237 members.

We discussed the May 6 general meeting at the Rosie the Riveter Museum in Richmond.  There is a limit of 48 to attend and they would like an estimate of how many will be attending.  For those who want to come early there is a boat tour which requires a reservation.  A sign up list was passed around.

We discussed  scheduling the next Chapter meeting after May.  June 3 was selected and the Las Trampas Room at the Walnut Creek library is available.  Planned Parenthood was mentioned as a possible speaker for the meeting.

The National Conference is June 30-July 2, 2017 in Orlando, Florida.  Erika and Jeanette have registered to attend.  The chapter will contribute to their expenses after the budget is finalized.  The amount is to be determined.  Erika also brought up that a San Francisco NOW member Mona Lisa Wallace is running for National NOW president.  Erika will ask her to attend our May 20 board meeting from 3-5 at the Walnut Creek Library.

The location of the 2018 National NOW Conference is to be in California and we discussed preferred locations.  Most of us would like Oakland or Walnut Creek due to transportation on BART being available for both.  However  hotel costs need to be considered and we are working with National NOW and would need their approval.  Mary Davis been communicating with National through emails and kept the board informed.

Nancy talked about the five initiatives listed on the National NOW website. They are the ERA, Sex abuse to Prison Pipeline, Reproductive Justice, Advancing voting rights, and Protecting Immigrant Rights.  She suggested we pick which ones we would work on as a chapter, but Erika felt it was not necessary at this time.

Some of the members think we should have a table at the Lafayette Wine and Art Fair in September.  We need to find out more details regarding the cost before we can make a decision.

The next board meeting is April 8, 2017 from 2-4PM location is to be determined.

Jeanette moved and Nancy seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting at 4:00PM.

Jeanette Cole

Secretary

 ______________________________

National Organization for Women

Contra Costa County Chapter

P.O. Box 4794, Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Chapter Meeting

March 18, 2017

Heidi Goldstein gave a presentation on how students and parents are working together to change the culture of sexual Harassment in high schools.  Ms. Goldstein is an Adult Advisor to the grassroots student organization BHS Stop Harassing (https://www.instagram.com/bhsstopharassing/ and http://www.stopharassing.com/) and sits on the Sexual Harassment Advisory Committee (SHAC) at Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD).  She became involved in issues around sexual harm at school when her younger daughter suffered sexual battery at her middle school in 2014.  In this session Heidi described the fluid model underway for advocacy to make change at BUSD to provide both meaningful support for students who suffer sexual harassment or harm; as well as corrective options and remediation strategies for perpertrators.  She presented examples of how students, parents, and the larger community are working with multiple stakeholders to leverage elements of policy, practice, training, and public awareness to improve the climate and culture at BUSD and to raise the bar from the appearance of compliance to that of substantial programmatic engagement.

She was assisted by a student from Berkeley High who provided a competent perspective from the students’ point of view how blaming the victim is still well and alive even in an open-minded community such as Berkeley

Erika Maslan
President

____________________

 

National Organization for Women

Contra Costa County Chapter

P.O. Box 4794, Walnut Creek, CA 94596

 Board Meeting

February 25, 2017

 

The meeting was called to order by Mary Davis.  Members present were Phyllis Bratt, Kathy DeFabio, and Jeanette Cole.  Later we were joined by Erika Maslan, and Nancy Bocanegra.   Bobbi Ausubel was also in attendance.

We reviewed the meeting times for the general membership and board meetings.

March 18 from 2-4PM is the Stop Sexual Assault in Schools (formally called the Sexual Assault to Prison Pipeline) presentation in the Oak View room of the  W.C. Library.   Kathy will make sure that a membership e-mail blast will be sent out before the meeting.  Phyllis is contacting various neighborhood newspapers that will publicize it for free.  Mary is contacting other nearby chapters of NOW and Planned Parenthood  to invite them to attend.  There is also a website people can visit in preparation for the meeting:  http://stopsexualassaultinschools.org.

April 1 from 2-4PM  was scheduled for a general meeting in the Las Trampas Room of the W.C. library.

April 8 is a tentative board meeting with location TBD.

May 6 is a field trip to the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park  in Pt. Richmond.

June 30-July 2 is the National Now Convention in Orlando, Florida.

August 12  Garden Party at the home of Mary Davis.

We briefly discussed annual reports for 2016 that need to be completed by last year’s board. Board members should finish them asap.  Mary Davis has sent the 2016 report for our chapter to national NOW.

We talked about offering scholarships for high school students as was done in 2016.  It was decided that we should have a fundraiser in the next few months similar to the Tea Party that was done previously.  If we are offering any scholarships it would be for the 2018  Seniors in order to provide enough time for the notification to the high schools in the county.   Further details need to be worked out.

Bobbi Ausubel attended the meeting and gave us some information regarding her meeting with some members of National NOW.  She reported that there is a Coalition for Women’s Health Equity which NOW is a member of working in response to pervasive gender disparities throughout the healthcare system.  We suggested that she present a workshop at the National NOW conference in 2017 (Orlando, FL.) or 2018 when it will be held in the San Francisco area.

On March 10 CCNOW will be tabling at an event at Rossmoor for Women’s History Day.  There will be 2 performances of the play “Bold Women Brazen Acts”.  Mary and Phyllis will table at 1PM for the 2PM performance and Karen and Mary will table at 6PM for the 7:30 performance.  Tickets are $10 each and Bobbi is to provide the location and directions.

On March 8 Mary and Karen Brockwell will be speaking to the W.A.C .organization at Campolinda High School in Moraga.  They are expecting 30-40 students to attend.  They plan to bring membership brochures and will also invite students to the general meeting on March 18 about Sexual Assault in Schools.  Mary said she has agreed to be a community advisor for the group.

We discussed the East Bay Women’s Conference in San Ramon on March 6.  It was decided that due to the cost ($500) we would not be tabling there this year.

Mary will be ordering supplies for tabling, presentations, and meetings.  We are out of coloring books so she is ordering 100 @ $5.00 each, chapter business cards for board members and some specifically for Erika as president.   She is also ordering pamphlets and 10 NOW logo circular signs in a smaller size( 12”-16”) for future actions.

Jeanette and Erika have registered for the National NOW conference in Orlando, Florida and will reimbursed for some of their expenses by the chapter.

Nancy VP of Action gave a brief report on the initial meeting of the Action Committee.  They are meeting again at 10AM, March 5 at Panera in Alamo.  Phyllis mentioned some ideas for Actions such as sending cards to thank representatives on St. Patrick’s Day.

Meeting was adjourned at 4:05 PM.

Jeanette Cole, Secretary

___________________________________________

Chapter Meeting, Saturday, Jan 28, 2017

The meeting was called to order by President Erika Maslan.  There were 15 people present.  The minutes of the January 7, Board Meeting were read by Jeanette Cole and approved.

A motion was made by Erika and seconded by Kathy DeFabio to make Phyllis Bratt VP of Public Relations. It was approved unanimously.

Future dates for Board and General Membership meetings through June 2017 were discussed.  Erika has confirmed Heidi Goldstein for the March 18 meeting on “Sex abuse to prison pipeline. “  Kathy will confirm the Oak View Room for this meeting.  The next Board Meeting is scheduled for February 25 from 2 to 4 PM in the Las Trampas Room at the Walnut Creek Library.

Mary  and Karen will be speaking to the Feminist Club at Campolinda High School on March 25.

The date for the field trip to Rosie the Riveter Museum will be May 6th at 3 PM.  Up to 48 people can attend for free.  The California NOW state conference in Fresno is also the same weekend.  Although it was mentioned that most members would not be attending (the California NOW State conference) except Mary.

The VP of Membership Karen Severud reports 235 members with new members joining every day.

The VP of Action Nancy Bocanegra reported on the the Women’s March in Walnut Creek  which was attended by several members.

There was a discussion led by Erika regarding the formation of an action committee which will recommend and lead actions for the membership to implement.  The following people signed up Jo-Anne Lyons, Beth DeBoer, Sally Lo Grasso, Mayumi Yamamoto, Katia Senff,  Diane Bell-Rettger, Nancy Bocanegra and JeanetteCole.  Erika will verify email and phone numbers so the committee can set up their first meeting.  Mayumi Yamamoto volunteered to host the first meeting.

Upcoming events are March 8, International Women’s Day and March 6 is the East Bay Women’s Conference in San Ramon which we will post on our website for those interested in attending.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:50 PM.

Jeanette Cole

Secretary

____________________________________

Board Meeting, Saturday, Jan 7, 2017

The meeting was called to order by President, Erika Maslan.  Members present were Nancy Bocanegra- VP Action, Karen Severud- VP Membership, Kathy DeFabio- Treasurer,  Jeanette Cole- Secretary, Phyllis Bratt- Chapter Member, and Joe Flores-member – Chapter Member.

Minutes from the December 3, 2016 meeting were read by outgoing VP Public Relations, Kathy DeFabio.  A motion was made by Phyllis Bratt and seconded by Erika Maslan to approve the minutes.  Motion was approved.

Nancy Bocanegra (outgoing treasurer) gave the treasurer’s report.  Nancy  and Kathy DeFabio discussed the transfer of treasurer duties.  Phyllis reported on a donation from Joan Buchanan of $500 to our treasury as the result of the chapter giving the last 55 of the CA Women’s History Coloring Books to Joan Buchanan for her grandaughter’s school.

Karen Severend gave  the membership report. She reported we have 235 members.  We have had several inquiries regarding membership.  Karen reported she had emailed or called all the new member names she had from past meetings.  She handed out copies of the current membership list provided by national NOW.  Kathy will obtain an EXCEL list that can be emailed to the board members.  As treasurer Kathy will obtain the checks and registrations for new members from the P.O. Box so she can deposit the check and forward $15 per member to national.  She will send the new member information to Karen for contact by membership.  Karen discussed surveying new members regarding their interests in regard to NOW but the discussion was tabled for a future meeting.  We have several (40) flyers that we will hand out at the Women’s March in Walnut Creek on Jan. 21.  Erika will place a new order for 100 membership flyers from Theresa Kaufman at Minute Man Press to replenish our supply.  Erika will also check into ordering NOW business cards for board members.

At the general meeting on October 15, 2016 Ms. Bobbi Ausubel had requested that Contra Costa NOW send a letter she had written to the NIH regarding their apparent lack of commitment to the disease of myalgic encephalomyelitis, a.k.a. chronic fatigue syndrome. As a local chapter this is not something we could do without approval from national.  Erika Maslan had some resources and suggestions she could offer to their group so she wrote a letter with this information to Ms. Ausubel. Phyllis and Erika read us the letter that she was sending to Ms. Ausubel.

Future meetings were discussed. The next general meeting will be January 28 at 2PM in the Las Trampas Room at the Walnut Creek Library.  March 18th was discussed for the Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline meeting with Rhonda Haney and Heidi Goldstein. Kathy will reserve the Oak View Room for this meeting since we are expecting a larger group.  Other meeting dates are February 25, and May 6 for general meetings and April 8 and June 3 for Board Meetings.  All at the Las Trampas room from 2-4PM if possible.

Karen said she would look into a trip to the Rosie the Riveter Museum in Richmond for the May 6 general meeting.

It was decided that we would attend the Walnut Creek Women’s March on January 21, as a chapter.  Everyone is to meet at the Walnut Creek Library in the coffee shop at 10:20AM, with the March starting at 10:30AM at Civic Park next door.

Selma King a long time member, officer and activist of Contra Costa NOW passed away recently and Phyllis will notify us when the family has planned a memorial for her.  We also talked about a scholarship or donation to the library in her name.  Discussion was tabled for a later time.

Karen Brockwell and Mary Davis will be speaking at a symposium on Women’s Issues?? at Campolinda High School on March 25. We briefly discussed renewing our college scholarship offering for high school students.  This was tabled for a later time.

Mary Davis will be filing our 2016 chapter report to National NOW

We have decided to make women’s health and specifically Planned Parenthood one of our focuses in 2017.  Erica will speak to their representative  to find out what kind of support they need or want from our chapter.

Meeting adjourned at 5:30PM

Jeanette Cole
Secretary

__________________________________________

Chapter Meeting & Elections

Saturday December 3, 2016

 

Members in attendance:  Erika Maslan, Phyllis Bratt, Karen Brockwell, Nancy Bocanegra, Jeanette Cole, and Kathy DeFabio

 

  • Dates for chapter and board meeting were set for the first 3 months of 2017
  • Discussion of the Women’s march on 1/21/17 was discussed. Various locations were San Francisco, Sacramento, and Oakland.  The pros and cons of each of these locations and times were discussed.
  • Discussion took place as to who CCNOW might partner with in 2017 and what sort of projects we would want to be involved with. A few possibilities were Planned Parenthood and “Sex Abuse, Pipeline to Prison”.
  • It was mentioned that Joan Buchanan is interested in our coloring books for her granddaughter’s elementary school class
  • Elections took place: Results were:

President:  Erika Maslan

VP Action:  Nancy Bocanegra

VP Membership:  Karen Severud

Treasurer:  Kathy DeFabio

Secretary:  Jeanette Cole

State Board Representative:  Mary Davis

Board Advisor:  Mary Davis.  As president in 2016, Mary becomes the board advisor in 2017

__________________

Chapter Meeting Saturday, October 15, 2016

The meeting was chaired by Nancy Bocanegra.  Board members present were Nancy Bocanegra, Karen Severud, and Kathy DeFabio

Also in attendance were 2 people who each have a child with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), along with their supporters.  In all, there were 8 people at the meeting who wanted to discuss ME with CCNOW.  The 2 whose children have the condition explained the symptoms of the disease and how debilitating it was.  They gave personal experiences of what their children were going through, and it was quite distressing.

They wanted  CCNOW’s support/endorsement of a letter to HHS, NIH, CDC, etc stating that we support efforts to fund research for this disease.  This disease has also been called “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”, but after the meeting, through emails, we agreed that ME was not the same chronic fatigue syndrome that we first heard about in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.

The group was asking for CCNOW’s support because about 75% of ME sufferers are women.

We (board members and chapter members) suggested that it may be better if the endorsement came from National NOW, but it may take some time for that to happen, if it would happen at all.  Several members mentioned that ME might be a good topic for discussion at the national conference in 2017.  One of the people whose daughter is afflicted with the disease didn’t care if endorsement came from National NOW or CCNOW.  She just wanted commitment from us right away.

After much discussion, during and after the meeting, it was decided that NOW is not the best platform for disseminating information and activism for this condition.  However, we, as individuals, could write letters to the various government agencies who are responsible for funding research for understanding and treating diseases.

Treasurer’s Report:

Nancy Bocanegra gave the status CCNOW’s bank account.

Meeting Schedule for the first half of 2017:

It was decided to determine the meeting schedule in January of 2017, after the chapter officer elections in Dec 2016.

Elections:

An election committee was established with members being Jaqi Thompson and Karen Brockwell.

Nominations for officers were:

President:  Erika Maslan

VP Action:  Nancy Bocanegra

VP Membership:  Karen Severud

VP-Public Relations:  Open (Jaqi Thompson was nominated for this position, but after some thought she declined.  She is willing to help out with public relations on a case-by-case basis, but doesn’t want to commit full time to the position.)

Treasurer:  Kathy DeFabio

Secretary:  Jeanette Cole

___________________

 

National Organization for Women

Contra Costa County Chapter

P.O. Box 4794

Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Meeting Minutes – Chapter Meeting

Walnut Creek Main Library

Saturday, June 4, 2016, 2:00-3:36pm

 

Board members in Attendance: Nancy Bocanegra, Sabrina Larez, Mary Davis, Karen Brockwell, Karen Severud

Other Chapter members in Attendance: Joe Flores, Jaqi Thompson, Jeanette Cole, Scarlett Arreola-Reyes

Administration

A discussion of the scheduled meetings for the upcoming months concluded that that meeting on August 20th should be cancelled. The agreed upon schedule is as follows:

  • September 17
  • October 15
  • November 5
  • December 3 – Holiday Party

A financial report of the Terry O’Neil fundraiser was also presented with a profit of $1521.15; that will be split with National. Also there are two W.E. members who have not paid their full ticket price from the event.

Kathy updated the group on the scholarship candidates.  The committee is to announce the winner on June 15. Some suggested the possibility of splitting the money or giving two $1000 scholarships. However this was not favored by anyone and it was decided to choose one winner to give $1,000.

Discussion

Mary discussed being in contact with a woman named Deyanira from Planned Parenthood and the possibility of phone banking for Hillary. After some discussion of the routines of phone banking members decided it would be a good idea.

The group discussed the Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline that National is working on. Ways of which getting involved were discussed and Mary suggested inviting Heidi Goldstein to a meeting to discuss what CCNOW can do. The group wants to work with Contra Costa county schools to bring a more fair disciplinary system for girls.

The National Conference was discussed. Andrea is no longer going and actions of what to do next for her ticket were discussed, however no action was taken.

Scarlett then provided the group with much knowledge of Twitter and pulled up CCNOW Twitter account. She explained the uses of twitter and how it is a global platform to communicate and share information.

The meeting was adjourned early.

________________________

National Organization for Women

Contra Costa County Chapter

P.O. Box 4794

   Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Meeting Minutes – Chapter Meeting

Walnut Creek Main Library

Saturday, April 30,  2016, 2:00-4:00pm

 

Board members in Attendance: Mary Davis, Kathy Defabio, Nancy Bocanegra, Erica Maslan, Sabrina Larez, Karen Severud,

Other members in Attendance: Joe Flores, Jaqi Thompson, Silvia Yong, Lynda Kilday, Geanette Cole, Phyllis Bratt

Administration:

The meeting began with introductions because there were new members in attendance. The meeting minutes from March 19 were approved followed by a treasurer’s report.

Updates

Phyllis provided the group with updates on the fundraiser with Terry O’Neil. Congressmen and women will be in attendance and is a good point of discussion to get people to come. More people are needed to register in order to make money. She also showed the awards that will be given and who would be given them. The agenda was provided with a brief description and the sign-up for volunteers was passed around. To make calling people for the fundraiser easier a script was discussed.

Sabrina updated the group on the symposium with an agenda for the event and a speakers list. She announced the funds for the event had been secured and the merchandise for the event had been ordered. A tabling schedule, for N.O.W to table the event, was passed around. A list of things that will be needed for tabling was made and consisted of flyers, brochures, voter registration, and possibly pens to give out.

Miscellaneous

Mary discussed the N.O.W activist brunch with Terry. Only members from CCNOW were planning on going.

The scholarships were discussed and when the deadlines for submissions were.

Mary and Sabrina discussed the certificates of recognition that NOW gave WE members in Spring 2016 semester. Yet Sabrina said it was too late in the semester to begin to plan.

There was a motion to donate $100 to the National Women’s Law center. This was approved.

Discussion and Long Term Goal Planning

The topic was introduced with a discussion of how some people have not heard of N.O.W and during the ERA campaign it was all over the news. Social media, specifically Twitter and Facebook, were discussed as ways to promote N.O.W and decided that Sabrina and Silvia would demonstrate a Twitter tutorial at the June 4th meeting. Silvia explained what a hashtag was and the group broke off to post on social media and independently discuss.

 

___________________________

 

National Organization for Women

Contra Costa County Chapter

P.O. Box 4794

Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Meeting Minutes – Chapter Meeting

Walnut Creek Main Library

        Saturday, March 19, 2016, 2:00-4:00pm

 

Board Members in Attendance: Mary Davis, Sabrina Larez, Kathy Defabio, Erika Maslin, Andrea Corrigan, Nancy Bocanegra, Karen Severud

Other Chapter Members in Attendance: Karen Brockwell, Joe Flores, Phyllis Bratt

Administration:

After brief view of the Meeting Minutes from February 27, 2016  it was approved. The members then began discussing the approval for CCNOW to host the National Conference in 2018. Venues were discussed such as the South Sacramento Center, and the Berkeley Marina. The space number of attendees that the conference needs to hold is 700. However the area that was approved was the San Francisco Bay Area so it must fall within that space.

Phyllis updated the group on that status of the Terry O’Neill fundraiser. She provided a handout with a summary of the event. It will be held at the Hacienda de las flores in Moraga and catered by Sunrise Bistro. The venue will allow us to being our own servers and bartenders to save money. So volunteers will be needed for serving as well as set up for the event. The cost will be $75 and $40 for students. There will be a celebration of sisterhood with awards given out. There was a sponsorship list that was reviewed. Food and types of deserts were discussed. The silent auction items and raffles were reviewed and some members made more suggestions. Then the budget was updated when Erica suggested that flowers would cost be $200 instead of the $100 on the budget.

Symposium Update

Sabrina discussed the symposium and how planning is going. The club had broken into committees for the event and submitted its first round of paperwork. Also Sabrina had mentioned some worry about getting speakers. A suggestion has been made to play the feminist documentary.

Discussion

The discussion of the organizations 1, 3, 5 year goals began with Andrea discussing her vision. The first year goals consisted of getting funding for lobbying, a push for the ERA with specific chapter assignments, enhancing the National Website, and starting a media campaign for more internet activity. The three year goal was to increase membership numbers, but a specific number was not given. At 4 years N.O.W has a strong lobbying presence in politics. And at 5 years the ERA is ratified.

The group then went around and said what they believed the goals should be. The suggestions included a stronger web presence, a rejuvenation of activity, focussing on intersectionality, stronger fight for reproductive rights, stronger membership number, and a focus on the next generation of feminist.

A meeting with Terry during her visit was discussed so WE members can converse about the future of the organization. It was decided to do the meeting after the speaker portion of the symposium at Mary’s house.

Andrea and Sabrina discussed inconsistencies with the brochure and with the website. Mary asked Andrea to make a bullet point list of changes that she thinks need to be made to the website.

There was also discussion of an app that can be created for the chapter and that could then be created for National in which would include possibly legislation updates.

The meeting concluded with a discussion of upcoming events, which led to discussing carpooling to the state conference.

____________________________

National Organization for Women

Contra Costa County Chapter

P.O. Box 4794

Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Meeting Minutes – Chapter Meeting

Walnut Creek Main Library

Saturday, February 27, 2016, 4:00-6:00pm

Board Members in Attendance: Mary Davis, Sabrina Larez, Kathy DeFabio, Erika Maslin, Andrea Corrigan, Nancy Bocanegra, Karen Severud

Other Chapter Members in Attendance: Karen Brockwell, Joe Flores, Phyllis Bratt

Guest in Attendance: Maureen Hamm

Administrative

Meeting minutes for January 23, 2016 were approved.

Article IV section A and F of the bylaws were discussed. Article IV Section F was motioned for approval and accepted. While Article IV Section A was discussed further. Mary had suggested to only have the treasurer file an annual report, however with some discussion other board members felt that all the officers should submit an annual report and Mary’s suggestion was not approved.

There was a suggestion to change the March 19th meeting from a general meeting to a retreat, possibly at Mary’s house to plan 1,3, and 5 year goals. Instead the March 19th meeting was changed from a general meeting to a focused meeting about the chapters 1,3,5 year plan.

Conferences

An update on the California N.O.W grievance was discussed. Also the qualifications for people to run and how the elections are run were discussed.

An introduction to everyone in the meeting was done because there was a new guest.

Sabrina asked for a list of the W.E. members who were also N.O.W members to facilitate in organizing people for the April 2 conference. To eliminate the cost of the van Andrea said that W.E. will be able to take the responsibility to get there without the help of CCNOW.

Stipends for the National conference were discussed and no other member requested money, however it was said that no one needed to step forward at the meeting and could discuss it privately with Mary.

Symposium

Everyone was updated on what the symposium was a the changes that have taken place. Such as the date changed and structural changes to the agenda.

Another symposium planning meeting was arranged for March 21.

Terry O’Neill visit

Discussion about her visit and the Friday fundraiser began by Mary telling everyone what her and Phyllis had been planning. A possible wine sit down dinner at the Hacienda was a suggestion.

Maureen asked Mary to invite their chapter of N.O.W and ways to promote the event were discussed. Andrea suggested to contact Diablo Magazine to get the event in their magazine.

To lower cost of fundraiser volunteer servers and bartenders were discussed.

Mary discussed the program for the fundraiser, which included a chapter history, sponsor names, and list of recipients.

Special Guest

Maureen Hamm was a guest invite by Mary and is a member of the ACT NOW chapter. She expressed her concerns with California N.O.W and a discussion about the grievance and what happened last election began. The bylaws were also discussed and which ones were being updated and how. After the discussion about the problems with California N.O.W Maureen’s chapter was discussed.

She expressed that her chapter no longer spends energy to recruit people, and instead focuses their energy on the core group of members who are currently involved. Some Contra Costa members expressed concerned with this and offered to help with recruiting younger members as well as improving their website.

________________________________

 

National Organization for Women
Contra Costa County Chapter
P.O. Box 4794
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Meeting Minutes – Chapter Meeting
Walnut Creek Main Library
Saturday, January 23, 2015, 4:00-6:00pm

Board Members in Attendance: Mary Davis, Sabrina Larez, Kathy DeFabio, Erika Maslin, Karen Severud

Other Chapter Members in Attendance: Karen Brockwell, Joe Flores, Carlyn Obringer

Guest in Attendance: Diane Bianchi

Administrative
Meeting minutes from the 10/3/15 Board meeting, 11/7/15 Chapter meeting, and the 12/5/15 Chapter meeting were motioned for approval and accepted.
A motion was suggested for Sabrina Larez to become chapter secretary. The board voted and approved this motion.
Mary Davis Presented the Treasurer’s report. There was $1902 in savings, however no one knew what it was. So Mary will clarify with Nancy Bocanegra on the amount.
Mary Davis brought up the selling of coloring books. Carlyn Obringer suggested looking at a larger market to sell to, such as adults who are now using coloring books as a form of therapy. Discussion of possibly donating them to an institution was discussed, but no decision was made.
A vote was taken and passed to change the Operating rules so that the election of  officers will occur in the fourth quarter of the year, preferably in November.  The Operating rules had read ”the Annual meeting elections shall be in November”. The other proposed changes to the Bylaws and Operating rules were not voted on and no other changes were made.
Erika suggested amending the budget for conference stipends from $2,000 to $2,500.This was approved.

Women’s Empowerment/ Symposium 
A tentative budget of speakers and additional costs was presented by Sabrina Larez. A motion was passed to loan Women’s Empowerment club $635 for sweatshirts. It was understood that NOW could possibly take a loss with this loan. A meeting was discussed for Sabrina Larez, Mary Davis, and Andrea Corrigan. No date was set.

CC NOW Representative
A discussion took place as to who would be CC NOW’s representative on the Elections and Nominations committee. Mary suggested Erika, but Erika was concerned about serving because of an email she accidentally sent to various officers of CA NOW. It was discussed about asking Phyllis if she would be interested.

Terry O’Neil’s visit
Terry O’Neill’s possible visit to our chapter was discussed. The type of event and the timing were discussed. Perhaps there could be two events, a small one such as a luncheon with the WE DVC students, and then have a larger event with more of the public involved. And would Terry be speaking?
Also discussed was the timing of Terry’s visit. Diane Bianchi, a guest and possible new member from St. Mary’s college (recently retired), mentioned that it needs to be done before finals week. The reason being that students will be too busy studying and after finals most students leave for the summer. Mary will contact Terry to see about her availability and what ideas she may have for events.

Chapter Goals
A discussion took place about setting 1, 3, and 5 year goals. Because this could take some time, we discussed having a “retreat” at Mary’s house as we did in 2015 to set our goals. There was discussion about changing the Feb 27 meeting to the retreat, but it was not formally set.
Joe Flores mentioned that all people should be given a chance to speak, especially at a retreat. He noticed that in most situations only a few people speak, but everyone should have a chance. He suggested going around the room, person by person, and let them speak if they desire.

_________________________________________

 

 

Meeting Minutes – General Meeting

Walnut Creek Library

Dec 5th 2015

 

Board members attending:

  • Mary Davis – President, Erika Maslan – Vice President, Kathy DeFabio – VP Public Relations, Rebecca Tally – State Board Rep, Nancy Bocanegra – Treasurer, Phyllis Bratt – VP Membership, Karen Brockwell – Acting Secretary

DVC Representatives

  • Scarlett Arreola-Reyes, Sabrina Larez , Quinn Bornemann, Andrea Corrigan, Lauren Wardle

Other members

  • Joe Flores & Karen Severud

Summary of Meeting Minutes

  • Introductions were made around the table
  • Elections Committee
    1. Ballot distributed to all members in good standing (>90 days)
    2. The nominations were as follows:
      1. President – Mary Davis
      2. Vice President – Erika Maslan
  • VP Action Andrea Corrigan
  1. VP Public Relations – Kathy DeFabio
  2. VP Membership – Karen Severud
  3. Interim Secretary – Sabrina Larez
  • Treasurer – Nancy Bocanegra
  • State Board Rep – Mary Davis
  1. The motion to elect the new board was passed
  • Update on DVC WE Symposium (March 18th/19th)– can’t request meeting room space until late Jan, guest list ready to go, Speakers identified. Will send digital invite for speakers and guests ahead of time. NOW will meet with WE organizers Jan 9th so can discuss expenses and NOW contribution.
  1. Quinn suggested approaching the Margaret and Dean Lesher Foundation as they may provide grants for this type of event. Quinn and Scarlett will follow up.
  • Voter Registration continuing at DVC (word of mouth). Will be more important next semester
  • Planned Parenthood – we want to help them locally after the Colorado Springs shooting. There was a lot of discussion around this issue and a strong desire to help PP but also a concern that we should co-ordinate any demonstrations or political lobbying with PP first. Should we be more visible and go out with banners at PP locations? “Stand with Planned Parenthood” Been very frustrating as we haven’t got a lot of feedback from PP. WE also need to broaden the scope of conversation re: Planned Parenthood (not just Abortion)
    1. As the newly elected VP Action Andrea will follow up with PP and map out a plan of action
    2. The Board approved a $100 donation for Planned Parenthood
  • Recognition Certificates – DVC have list of people who qualify (8). NOW will present to recipients Karen B will attend a meeting at DVC to recognize recipients 2-4pm Dec 9th
  • Grievance against State (filed with National). Conference call on Dec 15th with Grievance Committee. Key issue is never got a chance to weigh in on Fresno. Grievance Committee will set up the meeting. Also there is a State Board Mtg on Dec 17th at 7pm
  • Future Meetings Symposium Planning Mtg – Jan 9th,2-4pm Walnut Creek Library, Chapter Mtg – Sat Jan 23rd, Roe v Wade Jan 22nd – how do we want to commemorate?

Post Meeting Note: Mary sent out a more comprehensive list of meetings for the first half of 2016:

  • Board – Saturday, January 9th (may be canceled)
  • General – Saturday, January 23rd
  • Board – Saturday, February 6th
  • General – Saturday, February 27th
  • DVC Symposium –Friday and Saturday, March 18/19
  • State Conference – Saturday, April 2nd
  • General – Saturday, April 16th
  • Board – Saturday, June 4th
  • General – Saturday, June 11th
  • National Conference –June 23 (Board Meeting) – 26th

Board/General (Garden Party) – July 23rd

____________________________

 

Meeting Minutes – Chapter Meeting

Walnut Creek Main Library

Saturday, November 7, 2015

 

Board Members in Attendance:
Erika Maslin, Rebecca Talley, Nancy Bocanegra, Phyllis Bratt, Kathy DeFabio

Voter Registration “Training”:
Eren Mendez, Election Outreach Coordinator for Contra Costa County Elections Division and Paul Burgarino, Community Education and Development for Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder-Elections Department provided training for voter registration. The training was very thorough and detailed. A line-by-line explanation was provided for each box/line in the voter registration form. Also discussed was what we need to do if we help someone fill out the form OR if we return the form.

Discussion took place as to whether we should suggest to people that they mail in the form (therefore, we don’t need to do anything) or to submit the forms for people (thereby we have to sign the form in 2 places and provide our phone number and then tear the form and give the bottom half to the registeree). We’ll probably do both.

Operating Rule Changes:
A motion was proposed and passed to strike the change that states that only the Treasurer is required to submit a written financial report at the close of his/her term. This part of the operating rules will be left unchanged so that each board member will submit a written annual report at the end of his/her term. See text of Proposed Change and Unchanged below.

Proposed Change to be Struck

Only CCNOW members of a least 90 day duration at the time of the election may serve as officers. No officer shall be eligible for more than two consecutive terms in any one office. Exceptions to the two term limit may be overridden by a two thirds (2/3) vote of the members voting in an election. Each Board member The treasurer shall present a written financial annual report to the membership at the close of her/his term. It is suggested that other board members also present an annual report at the close of his/her term. Any person who is appointed to fill a vacancy or who assumes the office of President due to a vacancy shall be eligible to serve two full consecutive terms in that office.

Unchanged:

Only CCNOW members of a least 90 day duration at the time of the election may serve as officers.  No officer shall be eligible for more than two consecutive terms in any one office.  Exceptions to the two term limit may be overridden by a two thirds (2/3) vote of the members voting in an election.  Each Board member shall present a written annual report to the membership at the close of her/his term.  Any person who is appointed to fill a vacancy or who assumes the office of President due to a vacancy shall be eligible to serve two full consecutive terms in that office.

The vote to approve the Operating Rule changes was postponed until the correction to the change has been completed.

Recognition Certificates:
Andrea Corrigan of WE DVC gave input for the certificates, which CCNOW approved of. There will be certificates for 3 different categories: empowerment, education, and activism. The WE DVC leaders will decide among their membership who will get each type of award. The qualifications for the certificates are 40 hrs of volunteer time (which includes attending WE DVC meetings), a 2.5 or better GPA, and taking at least 6 units.

The WE DVC leaders have ideas for the design of the certificates, which they will share with CCNOW. If there are any edits or changes, Andrea will make them. The changes can be made very quickly, and Andrea stated that she could bring her laptop to our next chapter meeting (12/5) and she could make any changes then.

The certificates need to be ready by the last WE DVC meeting of the semester where they will be awarded.

State Board Representative:
Concern was expressed about the lack of a CCNOW representative for the NOW CA State Board now that Rebecca has decided to step down. At this point we don’t have anyone who is nominated for the position. It was discussed how important it was for CCNOW to have a presence at CA NOW. Erika suggested that if no state board rep is elected then CCNOW board members may need to alternate attending the CA NOW Board meetings. Usually the meetings are held by conference call.

Andrea asked what the duties of the State Board Representative are.

Donation Button:
It was reported that the donation button on the website wasn’t working. Kathy will investigate.

_____________________________

 

 

Meeting Minutes – Board Meeting

Walnut Creek Main Library

Saturday, Oct 3rd, 2015, 2-4pm

Board Members in Attendance:

Mary Davis, Erika Maslan,, Kathy DeFabio, Phyllis Bratt

Other Chapter Members in Attendance:

Karen Brockwell (acting Secretary) Karen Severud, Joe Flores, Sabrina Lorez (VP – WE)

Administrative

  1. Meeting minutes from the 3 previous Chapter Meetings (9/12, 8/22 and 6/13) were reviewed and approved
  2. Mary provided a very brief update on the finances on behalf of the treasurer. Current account balance = $9378.52. Income is lower than expected but so are the expenses.
  3. Membership Update – Phyllis – currently 171 active members.

Scholarship Update (provided by Rebecca in advance)

The next stage of working on the CCNOW Scholarship won’t hit the committee until May (Spring semester)… so between now and then we will periodically touch base with the counselors at the two high schools. Timeline as follows:

May   1, 2016 . . . . .  Student Submission of Scholarship Application OPEN

May 29, 2016 . . . . .  Student Submission of Scholarship Application CLOSED

May 30 – June 14, 2016 . . . . Scholarship Committee to read, rate, select WINNER

June 15, 2016 . . . . . CCNOW College Scholarship Recipient ANNOUNCED

A question was raised regarding whether a celebration should be planned for the award of the scholarship, with some publicity (perhaps a picture in the local newspaper)? Will discuss this at next scholarship committee meeting.

Grievance Update

CA NOW Elections Conference was not conforming to the bylaws as they held the State Conference in 2 locations – very clear that the conference has to be in one location. So CC NOW filed a grievance to National. Voted on Nov date for new election. Missed all deadlines to notify members. Sitting with interim officers. Not moving very fast at National.

Erika, Mary, Rebecca and Janice Rocco met to strategize on what to do. Mary was going to draft a letter to national. However she received a call from one of the members of the committee (Mariion Bradley) last week so held off. Since that time she hasn’t been able to connect with her so If she doesn’t hear back she will send out an e-mail next week.

Erika is still planning on completing the transcripts from the July 25th State Board Mtg re_ Grievance and interim documents. May need this information for the Grievance filing.

Schedule for remainder of the year

  • General Mtg – Nov 7th, incl vote on operating rules changes and voter registration
  • Elections Mtg & Holiday Party, Dec 5th
  • Tentative new Board Mtg , Dec 12th

Elections Committee

Board approved Elections Committee – Phyllis Bratt, Karen Brockwell & Diane Bell-Rettger

 

Action Items:

  1. Tea Party Mailing – Erika will send out later this month
  2. WE Symposium Update – Sabrina
    1. Budget still under development. Need to drill down on catering costs (food trucks, bag lunches, snacks etc. Speaker fees or not? Also need to decide if there will be a registration fee. NOW will contribute but need a budget before approving the full amount. NOW approved $500 as seed money
    2. Title is “In Bloom – A Symposium for Feminist Unity”
    3. A number of diverse groups have been invited and a website has been created http://wesymposium.strikingly.com/
  3. Recognition Certificates – Mary
    1. Categories – Education, Activism, Empowerment
    2. Criteria – At least 6 Units, 2.5GPA
    3. Need further discussion at the Nov 7th NOW Meeting regarding the application process and Recognition Committee
  4. Voter Registration Update – Rebecca sent this in advance.
    1. Communication is ongoingwith Andrea and Sabrina on coordinating voter registration efforts on the DVC campus (Fall semester) and select high schools (Spring semester). The high schools being considered are Las Lomas, College Park, Concord High, Carondelet, De La Salle, and Ygnacio Valley. Kathy DeFabio has joined our voter registration effort and will assist as her schedule allows. Contact has been made with the Contra Costa County Election Board regarding the registration process and applications. Specific dates for setting up voter registration tables on community college and high school campuses is pending.
    2. Suggest that next NOW General Meeting – Nov 7th, includes voter registration training
  5. DVC Schedule
    1. Oct 7th – WE Meeting 2-4pm, discussion between WE and NOW members
    2. Oct 14th – Campus Event (Womens Day Celebration) which has now been postponed to a later date

6. Stickers for Events – NOW will order 600 stickers to be distributed at future NOW/WE Events. Cost $250

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Meeting Minutes – Chapter Meeting

Walnut Creek Main Library

Saturday, September 12, 2015

 

Board Members in Attendance:

Mary Davis, Erika Maslin, Rebecca Talley, Nancy Bocanegra, Kathy DeFabio

Other Chapter Members in Attendance:

Karen Severud

Joe Flores

Women’s Empowerment (WE) from DVC (also NOW members) present:

Andrea Corrigan, President of WE

Sabrina Larez, VP of WE

IRS:

We have re-obtained our non-profit 501(c)4 status and have successfully filed our 2014 e-postcard.

Voter Registration Drive:

Rebecca Talley will be spearheading this effort. Our chapter will be targeting the fall semester for voter registration of DVC students and the spring semester for voter registration of high school students. Planning has begun to have a voter registration table at Las Lomas High School. The spring semester was chosen for high school students because that is when seniors will be turning 18. Rebecca also suggested that perhaps Andrea and Sabrina would like to have a voter registration table at their former high schools. We can get all the info and packets at the County election office in Martinez.

September 22 is National Registration Day.

Women’s Empowerment (WE) DVC Sponsored Organization:

WE supports activism, education, and empowerment. Pressing for ERA. Peer counseling, has trained various WE members for peer counseling. Sexual assault crisis straining (SAACT). Starting the “4th wave of feminism.

October 14, 2015 WE is having a Women’s Day celebration at DVC. A motion was passed that Contra Costa NOW have a table at the event. A motion was passed to allow $250.00 for “stickers” or other type of graphics printed.

The members of WE also suggested they would like to have a “symposium” with our chapter. A motion was passed to have this symposium. A symposium planning committee was formed which include Mary Davis, co-chair; Andrea Corrigan, co-chair; Nancy Bocanegra, and Sabrina Larez.

The WE members in attendance requested that perhaps our chapter could offer certificates of recognition for volunteer work done on behalf of NOW. Recognition from a nationally recognized organization such as NOW would be beneficial for resumes, college applications, etc. A motion was passed to create a certificate of appreciation. Further discussion will take place to implement this.

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Meeting Minutes – Chapter Meeting

Walnut Creek Main Library

Saturday, Aug 22, 2015

Meeting Schedule for the Reminder of the Year Was Determined:

  • Chapter Meeting 9/12/15, discuss actions in which CCNOW would like to be involved.
  • Board Meeting 10/3/15
  • General Meeting 11/7/15. Originally elections were to be held at this meeting, but elections were postponed until 12/5/15.
  • Chapter Meeting plus Elections, 12/5/15. To be held at the Walnut Creek Library. After the meeting and elections, the holiday party will be held at Mary’s house.

A garden party in support of Hillary Clinton for president sponsored by Phyllis Bratt and Mary Davis will be held at Mary’s house on 10/10/15.

Miscellaneous

Voter registration at high schools was discussed. CCNOW plans to set up a voter registration booth at Los Lomas High School during the 2nd semester, when seniors will be turning 18.

“What Women Want”, Patricia Ireland (not sure what this is referring to)

We finally were re-granted our tax exempt status by the IRS.

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Meeting Minutes – CHAPTER MEETING

Walnut Creek Main Library

June 13, 2015

Board members attending:

  • Mary Davis, President
  • Kathy DeFabio, VP Public Relations
  • Nancy Bocanegra, Treasurer

Members and guests attending:

  • Karen Severud
  • Joe
  • Diane Bell-Rettger
  • Naznen Akbar (guest)

In the discussions we also discussed possible/best person to spearhead and/or lead efforts in the action areas.  Persons identified as potential leads are noted beside the items. It is requested that the named individuals consider if they would like to work on the project and get back to Mary or others to confirm.

Discussion:

  1. Options for attempting for continued outreach to DVC – Mary to spearhead DVC outreach activities
    1. Mary will send an email to Andrea and Naznen to try to arrange for a NOW presence at the first WE DVC meeting of school year (likely in September).  It will likely be during the school day (last spring they met Wednesdays from 4 – 6).  Mary will make every attempt to be available for a September meeting, hopefully other NOW officers can attend (those with flexibility).  Goal is to continue discussions to try to identify possible areas in which the NOW and WE DVC can work together.
    2. Discussed doing voter registration on campus, either jointly with WE DVC or just as NOW.  Best probably contact to arrange this would be with Student Life (if NOW goes it alone) or through WE DVC if we do it jointly.
    3. If initial discussions (assuming they occur) are productive, consider holding some NOW general meeting on campus to encourage ongoing participation.
    4. Consider/volunteer having NOW speaker to volunteer for other Brown Bag Lunch presentations.  Think about discussion topics and who might be interested.
  2. Chapter Action Ideas
    1. In parallel with voter registration at DVC, organize voter registration as outreach to the general public
      1. At general public location – Need a volunteer(s) to spearhead
      2. At area High Schools – Suggested that Rebecca had discussed this in the past and might be good to spearhead this
    2. ERA Ratification Effort – Nancy and Kathy volunteered to do follow-up to see what the exact status of this is and where we might be able to influence or assist.
    3. Reproductive Rights – Phyllis has had some ongoing discussions with Planned Parenthood.  This might be a good fit for her.
    4. Domestic Violence – Was suggested that Erika might be a good fit for this.  May also be able to dovetail with WE DVC who worked on this in April, and Erika attended.

                e. Monitoring of California Legislation, spearheading lobbying of Steve Glazer and Catherine Baker.

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Meeting Minutes – Board Meeting

Walnut Creek Main Library

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Board Members in Attendance:
Erika Maslin, Phyllis Bratt, Rebecca Talley, Nancy Bocanegra.
Mary Davis was ill and could not attend

Financial Report
There was some question as to what had been donated to the scholarship fund based on paypal deposits to the MechBank account. Kathy will check and get back to Nancy.

Nancy has been receiving the hard copy bank statements as opposed to them going to our PO Box. From now on, Nancy will set it up with MechBank so that the hard copy/paper statements will be mailed to the PO box and she will get the statements online.

State Board Meeting Update
Rebecca reported on the California NOW elections

Scholarship Fund
Rebecca presented the final web version of the Scholarship application and the CCNOW Scholarship Committee Report with timelines. There were some minor corrections to the scholarship application, and a vote was taken and passed to accept the scholarship application with corrections, pending Mary Davis’s approval.

Tea Party Event
Erika downloaded MailChimp so that she could send an email blast for the Tea Party event, which all donations would go to the scholarship fund. Rebecca indicated that she has already sent MailChimp up for CCNOW and she would share that info with all board members. Rebecca or Erika will send the blast regarding the Tea Party event.

DVC Meeting, May 16, 2015
The meeting with CCNOW and the DVC students was discussed.

NOW 2015 Strategy Summit and Bylaws Convention
Erika requested we look at the various proposals to the NOW bylaws and give input so she could accurately represent CCNOW at the National Conference in June.

Garden Party
Due to various scheduling conflicts, the 8/22 Board Meeting will also be the Garden Party. Board Meeting agenda will be discussed, then we will adjourn for the Garden Party.

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Minutes – CHAPTER BOARD MEETING

Walnut Creek Main Library

Saturday, March 21, 2015, 4:00 – 6:00pm

 

Board Members – Mary, Rebecca, Kathy, Phyllis, Nancy, Erika
Non Board Member – Karen B

Minutes

1)    Feb 21st Board Meeting minutes were approved

2)    2015 Budget was approved

3)    CA NOW State Board Meeting – Rebecca reported out:

  1. Janice Rocco is considering running for President – she has been very involved for 2 decades with PAC and the National Board
  2. Concern regarding the state elections process was discussed. Rebecca is following up with a letter to the current President. Mary will also try to send an e-mail before she leaves for vacation on Monday March 23rd

4)    Scholarship

  1. Discussion on whether to offer the scholarship to Feminists or Women only
  2. Voted for Scholarship to be for Women Only
  3. Chair is Rebecca

5)    Bag the Tea Party Invitation

  1. Erika tested out the donate button on the e-mail and it looks like it works
  2. She will look at an Evite communication
  3. She will send out next week

6)    Follow up from February Retreat

  1. Phyllis made a contact with Planned Parenthood (Susannah Delano) to see whether there are any opportunities to work together on a reproductive rights in 2015. She seemed very enthusiastic and has forwarded our request onto Marsha Donat.
  2. Phyllis and Nancy went to the East Bay Women’s Political Caucus on March 2nd – Phyllis said it was a great opportunity to make good contacts
  3. Mary contacted Melissa Donald to see if there are any opportunities to partner with Community Violence Solutions or STAND. Waiting to get a response.
  4. Phyllis and Mary went to DVC on Wednesday March 18th for Linda Gordon’s presentation as part of Women’s History Month. They were very impressed with her presentation. Thursday 19th there was a brown bag forum which Mary, Erika, & Phyllis attended ( 50-75 students). Mary gave a presentation on NOW and received a lot of enthusiasm from the students. After the presentation lots of young women were very interested in getting involved with NOW. Many want to get active on women’s issues. There is already a Women’s Empowerment Club at DVC. President and Vice President will become members of NOW. Propose that next chapter meeting in May will be a discussion group with these young women to see what we can do as a chapter to get more women involved (especially the younger generations).
  5. Report on research into violence on campus (St. Mary’s, DVC) – Erika. April is Domestic Violence Awareness Month –DVC has a number of events the last 3 weeks in April including (tee shirts, paint everything red in last week). How can we get active with this? Start with watch The Hunting Grounds (victims of campus violence who later became lawyers) Erika will follow up with more specifics on our involvement once she has more details.

7)    Women’s Suffrage Display put on by Contra Costa NOW at the Walnut Creek Library has had very positive reviews. Only issue is that it’s very difficult to find the display in the library

8)    Approved $750 for Erika to attend the NOW National Conference (hotel and airfare)

Next General Chapter Meeting is May 16th 2-4pm. Erika will send out agenda as Mary is away for the next 6 weeks

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Minutes – CHAPTER BOARD MEETING

Walnut Creek Main Library

Saturday, February 21, 2015, 3.30 – 6:00 pm

Agenda

Meeting Minutes

  • Reviewed and approved board meeting minutes from Jan 10th Board Meeting

Administrative:

  • Finances – Nancy

o   Reviewed 2014 budget (income and expenses)

o   Established chapter Budget for 2015 – budget approved

o   Voted and passed to allot Phyllis $100 for printing membership brochures

  • National NOW budget Webinar (January 15) – Erika – 4 proposals
  1. National to States to Chapters
  2. Require Chapters to participate in State or National Action Campaigns
  3. Make grassroots activism easier, streamline version of Rhode Island model. State manages finances, bookkeeping, finances, etc
  4. Implement state wide action plans through task forces, not chapters

Action Items updates:

  • DVC Linda Gordon presentation, update on events – Mary. A number of events associated with this presentation. Melissa Jacobsen will send more details.

o   “Meet and Greet “Wed 18th March (11am, (Presentation by Linda Gordon with lunch 12.30pm-2pm)

o   Brown Bag Lunch Thursday 19th March, 12.30-130pm – will present info on NOW

o   Film night at San Ramon DVC Thursday 19th March

  • Library Display Update – Phyllis, Mary and Erika & 2 women from historical society met last week to discuss. Good suggestions, Historical Society will be there to set up display at Walnut Creek Library in early March. Display is lockable.
  • Coloring Books – Phyllis sent update. Sent 2 e-mails to contacts from school districts. Were excited but now has not heard anything back from them. Rebecca knows a few teachers from Park Mead Elementary and she can donate them to the 4th grade teachers. Will donate as many books as they need but they can also copy if they need more. (Post meeting update – Phyllis has received an email from the Mt. Diablo Unified School district to arrange receipt of the coloring books. Therefore, we can give the books directly to the district who will then arrange to distribute to all of the schools.)
  • Update on Bag the Tea Party fundraiser – Erika. Will send out the request for donations as an Evite via CCNOW Gmail. Can select different donation levels and select a choice of different Peet’s Teas. Need to sort out details of the donate button off line – Erika and Kathy
  • Scholarship Fund – Rebecca presented plan and schedule. Schedule for completion of scholarship application information to the target High Schools (Los Lomas and Richmond) is Sept 2015 and student submissions will be May 2016. Erika is going to check with National to see if we can have a “women only” scholarship
  • Update on results of “Call to Commit” Letter, discussion on Survey Monkey – Mary. Only had 3 responses

Retreat Discussion:

Discussed the agenda for the NOW Retreat scheduled for Saturday Feb 28th 2-6pm. More details will follow after the Retreat

_______________________________________________________

Minutes – CHAPTER GENERAL MEETING
Walnut Creek Main Library
Saturday, January 31, 2015, 2:00 – 4:00 pm

Board Members – Mary, Phyllis, Kathy, Karen B (interim Secretary), Nancy, Erika

Guests – Karen Severud, Joe Flores, Darnell Shore, Melissa Donald, Amy Greenlaw, Maggie Tai, Candace Medina

 Meeting Minutes

    • Reviewed and approved meeting minutes from December 4 2014 General Meeting

Administrative

  • Financials – decided to postpone review of 2015 budget to Board Meeting on Feb 21st

o   Only pressing issue is whether to allocate funds for the East Bay Womens Conference? No decision made at this time.

  • Membership Update – 170 active members. Discussion followed later in meeting (see below) on how to attract new members

Action Items Updates

  • Womens History Month (March) Library Displays – Karen S and Phyllis

o   Organization Party at Phyllis’s house Sunday Feb 8th

o   Two display cases at San Ramon Library, will display materials late Feb thru 3 weeks in March

o   Walnut Creek Library, One display case – focus on Women’s Suffrage

  • Coloring Books – Phyllis

o   Contacted the Superintendant of Mt Diablo Unified School District. Will be donating 100 books

  • Update on Bag the Tea Party fundraiser – Erika

o   Different levels of contribution, based on categories

o   Need to work out how to donate through website – link e-mail to website donate button

o   Contributions should go straight to scholarship fund

  • Scholarship Fund update – discuss details next time when Rebecca is present

Networking Presentation– using business networking concepts to help grow a volunteer, non‑profit organization

Speaker:  Melissa Donald, President, LDI Growth Partners

Melissa led a lively interactive discussion on networking, specifically focusing on how we might grow the membership and improve the engagement of our local Chapter. Given the time constraint of the meeting we decided to schedule a follow up ½ day off site sometime late March/early April where we can come up with specific ideas and action items to improve the effectiveness of the local chapter. We will finalize these details at our next Board Mtg on Feb 21st.

_____________________________

Chapter Board Meeting
Walnut Creek Main Library
Saturday, Jan 10th 2015
2:00 – 4:00

Attending – Board Members – Kathy, Erika, Rebecca, Nancy, Phyllis, Mary

Non Board Members – Karen Brockwell, Karen Severud, Joe Flores

Prior Board Meeting Minutes : Board reviewed and approved board meeting minutes from Aug 23rd Board Meeting

Administrative

  • 2015 Budget –

o   Fewer members (167) so rebates will be less

o   Draft Expenses – PO = $100, Bank Fees= $25, IRS=$400, Stipend/Conferences= $1000, Action/Events/Outreach = $1000, Scholarship $1000? Membership $400

  • National NOW budget webinar (Jan 15th) – Nancy is signed up for this Webinar
  • National NOW Webinar Series – Bylaws and structure Erika will attend these but would like one other member to be there. She will let us know the dates/times

Membership Update – 167 active members

  • Mary is going to review her letter to membership and then send out as e-mail blast (before the end of Jan).
  • We will not remove non renewing members from e-mail list.
  • Phyllis will send out an email blast to the “at large” membership (who belong to National NOW but no local chapter) inviting them to join chapter (at no additional charge)

Membership Meetings (Chapter and Board)

  • Chapter Mtg Jan 31st, Feb 28th, March 28th, May 16th, June 13th, Aug 15th (Garden Party), Sept 12th, Nov 7th, (Elections), Dec 5th (Holiday Party)
  • Board Mtg Feb 21st, March 21st, June 6th, Aug 22nd, Oct 3rd, Dec 12th
  • So far have 2 speakers and a movie

Action Items/Updates

  • Melissa Jacobsen DVC – wants to bring Linda Gordon (author) out for Womens History Month week of March 9th. She needs a sponsor.. Would like $500. Board voted and approved to send $300. Mary will send funds, and request exact days and additional event information. The Chapter will be able to staff a table at the event..
  • Library display for Women’s history month – Walnut Creek & San Ramon Libraries (displays need to be lockable). Phyllis needs to have a group look over the materials and then we can decide how much can be displayed. Meet on Sunday Feb 8th 11.30am
  • Coloring Books – Remaining books will be donated to Solano and Mt Diablo School Districts. A letter to the 4th Grade Teachers will be inserted into each Coloring Book. Phyllis will send out by early next month (Feb).
  • Tea Bag Fundraiser – Erika will send the letter out for review to the rest of the board. Donations for this fundraiser would be for the NOW Scholarship Fund. Send out in March. Have a party to put together the mailer. Will schedule the Tea Party mailers on March 21st.
  • Scholarship Fund- Rebecca presented her research on scholarship grants from other organizations. Target 2 High Schools, one in more affluent area and one less affluent (Los Lomas & Richmond High School). Approved motion to sponsor a Scholarship Fund for Contra Costa Residents for 2-4 year college programs. Need to get to counselors by mid-Feb. Committee will be Rebecca (Chair) Phyllis, Kathy, Karen B, Karen S
  • Mary will review bylaws to understnd how to appoint an officer during the calendar year.