Commission for Women

The twenty second meeting of the DC Commission for Women was held August 7, 2014 in Room G-9 of the historic John A Wilson building at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.

The following members were present:

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by the Chair, Nona Richardson at 7:03 pm.

Debrief from the NACW Conference/Share NACW 2014-2017 Strategic Plan

The meeting began with a debriefing of the 2014 National Association of Commission for Women Conference from Chair Richardson.  The Chair of the DC Commission for Women along with the Executive Director of the Office of Women’s Policy, Latisha Atkins attended the NACW conference in Sarasota Florida from July 23-26.   Chair Richardson mentioned that she and Latisha came back from the conference with insight as to great ideas for the DC Commission for Women.  A copy of the NACW’s 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, Cultivating a Sustainable Organization was shared by Ms. Atkins.  Latisha stated the NACW is at a crossroads with capacity building barriers; we were referred to read the Strategic guide for strategic choices in the hand out.  Latisha further shared that an estimated 26-29 Women Commissions are not a part of the NACW. 

Latisha and Chair Richardson believe that the DC Commission for Women should reactive its membership with the NACW for $275/yr but make certain they meet the 2014-2017 Strategic objectives laid out in the current strategic plan. 

One important highlight of the conference- 1 in 4 women will be impacted by domestic violence within their lifetime, is a figure that has not moved in 40 years- sparked a discussion around best practices and our focus on the issue during the upcoming Women’s policy conference.  Commission Princess McDuffie indicated that domestic violence is inter-generational and that children are impacted as well.  She further mentioned that men can also be victims of domestic violence.  Because of her background, Commissioner McDuffie indicated that she would be willing to assist with flushing out the panel discussion around domestic violence with the public safety committee (Anne Garcia and Lorraine Carter).

Dr. Mary Ivey asked how the Commissions were formed; Commissioner Cynthia Harrison shared background information and the Commission was directed to the NACW strategic guide pages 3-4 for a more detailed background of the inception of President Kennedy’s Executive Order establishing the first Women Commission on the Status of Women in 1963. 

A regional meeting for Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, DC and West Virginia is in the planning phase currently.  A conference call is scheduled for Friday, August 22^nd @ 9am to discuss planning. 

Listening Session Debriefing

Commissioner Harrison shared that the next listening session is scheduled for August 21, 2014 from 1pm-3pm at the Iona House around senior services.  She continued to focus on a discussion around how to frame the session; and there would be three critical areas of concentration: 1) health, 2) concerns of aging women- aging in place, and 3) caring for elderly parents.

Commission Lorraine Carter mentioned that she is currently working on setting up a listening session around public safety concerns with Courtney’s House for early September.

2014 Women’s Policy Conference Planning Updates

Kaiser Permanente has agreed to serve as the conference presenting sponsor the conference with a financial donation of $5,000.00.  This will allow for the purchase of breakfast, lunch buffet and a networking reception at the conclusion of the conference. 

Discussions were held around exhibitors for the conference.  Space only allows for 6-8 exhibitors, so Chair Richardson suggested that the various committees focus on a narrow group of invitations to exhibitors and participants.  A follow up meeting will be scheduled with each Chair of the Committees to flush out the invitation and participant list in the next couple of weeks. 

Latisha asked that the Commission focus on data collection and how we will capture data from each breakout session.  It was suggested that we look at partnering with a University or other policy think tank to assist with data collection. 

Committee Updates

Commission Bennett stated that the Committee on Title IX will host a conference call on August 7^th to focus on the conference panel.  She further shared that Title IX looks at violence on college campuses and that the focus of the panel discussion will look at: 1) what is Title IX, 2) what can and cant be done under Title IX and 3) STEM.  Possible panelist will include Vanessa Santos, Helen Boyer, Katherine Layman and Kaya Henderson.

Adjournment

The Commission adjourned at approximately 8:45pm. The next Commission meeting is September 4, 2014 in Room G-9 of the historic John A Wilson building at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.