IN THIS ISSUE
Did you know?
Celebrating Silver with Gold
WREI Fellows - Announcing the Class of 2003
A Fourth Edition of Women in the Military: Where They Stand
WREI Launches New Program on Women and Citizenship
Check out WREI events on-line
Call for Papers: "Women Working to Make a Difference"

DID YOU KNOW?

Nearly 70 percent of the people employed in the private, nonprofit, sector of our economy are women. Indeed, women workers are more than twice as likely as men to be employed in that sector-7.7 percent vs. 3.0 percent.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Celebrating Silver with Gold

On October 2nd, WREI celebrated its silver anniversary with a gold medal winner. At its annual American Woman Award Dinner & Gala, WREI honored Chamique Holdsclaw of the Washington Mystics. The event was held in the ballroom of the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.

Susan Scanlan, WREI's president, began the program by observing that Ms. Holdsclaw and WREI were born in the same year-1977-when Title IX was in its
infancy.

"I am of the generation that was relegated to the sidelines of sport, Ms. Scanlan noted. "When Baby Boomer women were young, it did not do for us to perspire and strain to kick a ball, capture a rebound, or ace a shot into the net. All that changed in 1972. . . . Chamique Holdsclaw's victories on the basketball court don't belong to the Mystics alone. They are the result of decades of work by individuals and organizations like WREI to expand women's opportunities and make every girl a champion."

Susan recognized a number of the notables among the guests, including Bernice Sandler, WREI's Senior Scholar and one of the mothers of Title IX; Martha Burk, the president of the National Council of Women's Organizations who is leading the effort to bring women to the Augusta golf course where the Masters tournament is played; and Carla Shipp, a gold medal-winning Special Olympian. Sally Jenkins, sports columnist for The Washington Post, introduced the guest of honor. In an inspiring speech about what makes Chamique Holdsclaw such a superb player, Ms. Jenkins recalled her father's remark after seeing Ms. Holdsclaw play as an undergraduate at the University of Tennessee: "She's Mozart." But, Ms. Jenkins made clear, more than athletic talent is involved-Ms. Holdsclaw's courage, determination, and character stand far above her scoring and rebounding.

WREI board member Evy Dubrow, tiny as Chamique Holdsclaw is tall, presented the American Woman award to Ms. Holdsclaw, as "a leader who has blazed the trail for women both on and off the court."

The American Woman Award, which is presented annually at a dinner and gala, honors individuals who have achieved great distinction and who, by conscious
effort and example, promote equity for women. The evening always begins with a silent auction. WREI uses the funds raised through this event to continue its work as a respected resource for Members of Congress and other policymakers who need timely, reliable, policy-relevant information on issues that affect women.

WREI Fellows - Announcing the Class of 2003

WREI is pleased to announce the outstanding scholars who have been accepted
in the Class of 2003:

Jolein Anderson, a native of Idaho Falls, Idaho, received her B.A. in political science from Idaho State University. That's where she is currently pursuing an M.A. in political science with an emphasis in international/comparative politics. Her research focuses on international women's rights. This interest grew during her six months in a Working Abroad program in Dublin, Ireland. Jolein has worked her way through high school, college and graduate school as a point of sales supervisor at a local discount store.

Originally from State College, PA, Melanie Donohue is pursuing her master's in social work at the University of Houston with a focus on the intersection of race, class, and gender. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of St. Thomas, graduating magna cum laude. Melanie has worked actively at the grass roots level against domestic violence as a member of the Harris County (TX) Domestic Violence Coordinating Council. She is currently employed at The Women's Home, a local battered women's shelter. Melanie recently ran her second marathon.

Jessica Donze is working on her master's of public health at the University of Maryland. She received her BS from the University of Wisconsin in Nutrition and Dietetics. For five years prior to returning to graduate school, Jessica worked in pediatric nutrition and health promotion in Delaware, where she appeared on local television in Philadelphia to discuss consumer issues. Among Jessica's more unusual credentials: in high school, she finished second in the American Legion's
national patriotic speech competition; she worked for a year training dogs to assist the disabled in independent living; she finds time to sing in local theatrical productions; and she's currently coaching first grade basketball.

Youlanda Michelle Gibbons is a PhD candidate in sociology at the University
of Massachusetts/Amherst. Her dissertation investigates the adoption of diversity strategies in America's leading Information Technology corporations. Youlanda is a Georgia native who attended Mercer University in Macon, majoring in English and human development. She has earned four master's degrees from Boston University and the University of Massachusetts/Amherst in social work, public health, education, and sociology. Youlanda served as a speaker's bureau coordinator at the Massachusetts Bay chapter of the American Red Cross, promoting HIV/AIDS education in 45 cities and towns.

Sonia M. Kandathil majored in theater and drama at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. After graduating in 1993, she spent one year in India working for the Kerala Kalapeetom, an independent organization dedicated to the advancement of art in living. Upon her return to the United States, she worked for Dane County's United Way as their Community Resource Specialist for First Call For Help, an information and referral service. In 1997, Sonia was selected for the Peace Corps in Antigua and Barbuda. There, sheworked with HIV positive students and young adults to create prevention programs. This led to her interest in Public Health. Currently, Sonia is a third year doctoral student at Oregon State University in the Department of Public Health, where she co-produced a film, "The Feminist Itch: Examining Contemporary Feminism on College Campuses."

A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Dana McGrath, received her B.A. in sociology from Rice University, where she conducted a telling assessment of the climate for women on campus. After graduation she went to work for the Feminist Majority in Los Angeles and, later, the California Women's Law Center. That's where she researched, wrote, and co-produced "Revelations: Exposing the Radical Right," a short but powerful documentary for Feminist Expo 2000. Dana is currently pursuing a master's in public policy with a concentration in women's studies at the George Washington University. She is also working as a teaching assistant for the Women's Studies program at GWU, and as a research consultant at the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

Elizabeth Vogel is currently a doctoral candidate at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, in urban services management with a minor is health economics. She holds a master's in health services administration from the University of Michigan and received a BA in Hospital Administration from Loretto Heights College in Denver. Elizabeth's multi-faceted career includes thirty years of work in corporate health care, owning her own business, and teaching overseas. Her resume includes such diverse activities as livestock judging, numerous first place speaking awards in the Virginia Toastmasters, and scholarly travel to Addis Adaba, Ethiopa and Xian, China. To relax, Elizabeth gardens, rock climbs, paints and sails. She has two grown sons and will be commuting regularly to Virginia Beach to visit her husband, who is in the same doctoral program at Old Dominion University.

The Class of 2003 will arrive in Washington to begin orientation on January 13th.

A Fourth Edition of Women in the Military: Where They Stand

In October, WREI received a $30,000 grant from the McCormick Tribune Foundation to produce and disseminate a fourth edition of Women in the Military: Where They Stand. This useful handbook provides both historical background and up-to-the-minute statistics on women's evolving role in the armed services. It will be of particular interest as Congress and the Administration debate the issues of
gender-segregated training, the nature of combat, and the activities of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service (DACOWITS).

WREI Launches New Program on Women and Citizenship

WREI has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation for an immigration project that will be run by Senior Fellow, Marjorie Lightman. Immigration and Women - From Scholarship to Policy will link activists and researchers to examine the new nature of citizenship in the 21st century, specifically how women are and are not represented in gender-differentiated laws. This grant marks our first successful effort for a large project in this new WREI program area.

Check out WREI events on-line

Want to see photos from WREI events or order a new publication on-line? Take a fresh look at www.wrei.org. Our website now boasts a new, more streamlined design that makes it easy to move from project to project. We also offer links to nearly 200 public policy organizations.

Call For Papers: "Women Working to Make a Difference"

The Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) has called for papers for their seventh International Women's Policy Research Conference, "Women Working to Make a Difference."

The conference, co-sponsored by the Women's Studies Program of The George Washington University and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, will be held June 22-24, 2003, at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

IWPR welcomes proposals that focus on policies affecting women and that make connections between research and policymaking. Proposals for panels (groups of three papers) and roundtables comprising members of diverse communities, e.g., researchers, policymakers, and advocates, or women of different generations, nations, or cultural communities are particularly welcome. Abstracts of proposed presentations are due by December 6, 2002.

For furthur information, see the IWPR website: www.iwpr.org.