President's Message
Happy New Year, dear Branch Members,
I hope you took a break and had time to relax with family and friends this holiday season. It has been wonderful celebrating together at all the various branch holiday events all through December.
Now that the elections are over, I want to give a shout-out to our exceptional and inspirational branch members who ran for office this election season, and won too! Congratulations Yvonne Martinez Beltran, Gail Pellerin, Nancy Altman & Katherine Napoli! We are fortunate to have you as our community leaders. While just the experience of getting into the fray exhibits grit and determination, winning confidence and trust is even more commendable!
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Our branch continued working hard even after our four successful candidates’ forums and the elections were over, when we partnered with the city-wide 1st Morgan Hill United Against Hate Week (Nov 13-19). Branch members took part in the moving and powerful kick-off event held at the Library on November 13 – click here to see the event. Additionally, our fabulous DEI team of Janet McElroy, Kat Napoli and Sousan Manteghi Safakish hosted the thought-provoking DEI discussion on privilege, elitism, and allyship in the library as part of the UAH week’s events.
That same week we also celebrated our Philanthropy Night honoree, Janet Wright, on November 18 at the beautiful MH Community Foundation event. Janet’s wonderful video displayed little known facets of AAUW and our branch to all present.
Last but certainly not the least for 2022, our branch was part of the STEM Night at Live Oak High organized by the Tech Trek Team (thank you Krisse) and was a great success.
As we welcome 2023 with eager anticipation, we are grateful for the incredibly successful and memorable year we’ve had so far. Our AAUW year began on July 1, 2022, and started with the excitement of becoming a National AAUW 5-Star branch – a culmination of all the work we did together the previous year!
We have moved along fantastically ever since because of you, our fabulous members.
Kudos to our hardworking board, committee chairs & committee members who work countless hours every month! Our interest group chairs and members put in a lot of hours too – enriching our lives together! Thank you all! Whether you planned or attended programs and events or showed your support through donations or your branch membership, I am so appreciative of you! Along with fun times together, our three generations of members are a superb collective force for good, making a difference towards equity for all.
As the Nominating Committee and Leadership Development Team look for our new leaders, please help by taking part in upcoming events, especially the Wildflower Run, and taking on a new role in the branch. It’s by constantly evolving and adding new perspectives that we continue to be the relevant and thriving branch that we are. Happy New Year, and welcome 2023!