See Jane Do...

The Truth about Women in Politics

Meeting Marie Wilson, founder and president of The White House Project was a life-changing experience.  My general assumption was that women had made progress over the last ten years and that America would rank fairly high amongst other progressive nations in regards to female elected representation.  I was shocked to discover that women represent only 17% of the elected officials in the United State and those numbers haven't changed in ten years!  The United States actually ranks at 71% in the world when it comes to women serving in politics.

Of all the stories See Jane Do has covered this one has become a personal passion.  Balanced leadership is necessary if we truly want to create a country that supports the essential needs of women, men and families.  See Jane Do has taken measures to bring awareness and action to this issue by sharing the stories of women like Kristy Pagan, a White House Project graduate who plans to run for office, Joan Blades co-founder of MoveOn.org and MomsRising.org and Passion into Action Keynote speakers, Linda Tarr-Whelan, former UN ambassador for the Status of Women and author/activist Gloria Feldt.

Our mission, to capture the stories of everyday women who are taking the lead continues as we travel to New York City to partner with The White House Project at their 2010 EPIC Awards.  In order to match their funds we are hosting a benefit to support the enhancement of women in American culture. 

We are honored that Vice-Mayor Christina Billeci (running for California State Assembly against Dan Logue), Councilwoman Sally Harris, and Mayor Reinette Senumare participating in our next Soiree into Action.  

Enjoy wine, music, a silent auction and meet local representatives this Thursday, March 25th, 2010 at the Nevada City Winery from 5:30-7:30 PM. 

Top Twelve See Jane Do Stories of Extraordinary Women in 2009

"May the dreams of your past be the reality of your future"

In 2009 See Jane Do connected with everyday women who are fulfilling their dreams to create a better future for the planet and generations to come.  Despite a year of transition and change the women we met are consistent with their message; to persevere, to have hope, to connect with others, and to follow your passion.  

With over one hundred women we interviewed this year, we've shared our top twelve stories of everyday women who are doing extraordinary things for the planet and the lessons we learned from each of them.  We look forward to more stories and inspired action in 2010!

1.  Millions of people can come together peacefully to create change.

The See Jane Do team attended President Obama's inauguration and the Peace Ball in Washington D.C.  We also interviewed incredible women at the SYRCL's Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival

Extraordinary Jane's:  Woman's National Democratic Club, Multi-Racial book club, Rachel Barge of Campus in Power, Emma's Revolution, plus interviews with teachers, mothers, musicians, veterans, teen agers, soldiers, students, business owners, activists, and other concerned Americans.

2.  Renewing our relationship with food can also renew our community.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Wendy Van Wagner of In the Kitchen, Jo McProud of Riverhill Farm

3.  Sharing our stories can link generations and inspire a movement.

See Jane Do participated in Gather the Women's International Women's Day event.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Gather the Women and Jean Shinoda Bolen

4.  When you operate through your heart and passion, positive change is possible and others will join you.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Goldman Environmental Prize winners (four of which were women), Green Moms Carnival, Mable Yee, founder of Engage Her, Gloria Steinem  and Amy Goodman.

5.  I will not raise my child to kill another mother's child.

See Jane Do was invited to cover CODEPINK's annual mother's day peace event in Washington D.C.

Extraordinary Jane's: Medea Benjamin, Colonel Ann Wright, Iraq War Veteran and mother, Lindsey Cambpell, Women for Women Director in Afghanistan, Sweeta Nori, mother of Iraq Soldier, Cynthia Benjamin, Jodie Evans, actress and activist, Mimi Kennedy and many other incredible women.

6.  Our planet, our life, our health, our children are worth more than gold and coal.

See Jane Do features women who are taking planet earth off the market.  

Extraordinary Jane's:  Maria Gunnoe and Judy Bonds fighting Mountain Top Removal.  Lydia Olympic, tribal council member fighting open pit gold mining and preserving the largest salmon run.

7.  You're one click away from changing policy, sharing your story and connecting with community. 

See Jane Do attends BlogHer and features the pioneers of the online revolution.

Extraordinary Jane's:  BlogHer founders and Joan Blades, co-founder of MoveOn.org and MomsRising.org.

8.  The traditions of the past will support us in the future.  

Grandma Jane is rockin the world!   Standing up for conservation and peace these grandmothers are taking on multi-billion corporations to protect their health, the planet and their grandchildren.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Grandmothers for Peace, Alla Ivanovna Gafner and other participants of Pacific Environment.

9. We need to challenge assumptions that just because something has been done for many years (traditional school lunches), doesn't make it right.  One person has the power to create an impact (and kids love brown rice). 

We revisit school lunches that kids actually line up for and how the Slow Food movement can help.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Renegade Lunch Lady, Chef Ann Cooper, Aimee Retzler, Tania Carlone, and Erika Lesser, Director of Slow Food USA.

10.  With our purchase power we can change the world.

We featured women who are making the planet less trashy with less plastic.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Beth Terry of Fake Plastic Fish, activist and artist, Kathleen Egan, and educator Anna Cummins of Agalita.

11.  I want you to run for office!  Women might make up half the work force and half the population but we still don't have balanced leadership in the United States.

The United States is a long way from balanced leadership but we're half way to reaching the tipping point (30% representation is needed).  Numerous organizations have formed to train women to take the lead and run.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Marie Wilson, president and founder of The White House Project, Kristine Pagan, White House Project alumni and aspiring candidate, Mayor Reinette Senum, and Gloria Feldt, author, activist, and former CEO of Planned Parenthood.

12.  In order to have a healthy planet we must have healthy people.  

Women are taking their health into their own hands and putting the hope in healthcare.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Kim Robinson and Eileen Schnitger of Women's Health Specialists

Women's Hope in Healthcare

Paid leave for new parents, gender rating, Stupak Amendment, and maternity coverage; these are the issues women and families are currently facing in the United States.    Whether you're for universal healthcare or not, pro-choice or anti-choice, most might agree that women's health needs often take the back seat in the America.   As a result, many women are standing up and moving forward for their healthcare rights.  On See Jane Do we feature women who are putting hope into healthcare.   Clinical manager, Kim Robinson and director Eileen Schnitger of the Women's Health Specialists are empowering women to take their health into their own hands.  Serving over 55,000 women and men per year, this organization is serving the thousands of Californians who do not have adequate healthcare coverage or the proper services and resources in their community. We also feature Joan Blades, co-founder and president of MomsRising.org.  MomsRising now has over one million members and is making headway in policy changes around paid leave for new mothers and fathers and healthcare coverage for children. Of course we also share the stories, your stories of everyday women who are voicing the need for universal healthcare and better care for women overall.   If we are to have a healthy planet we need healthy people.  Click here to listen to this moving episode of See Jane Do. Elisa and Jesse

Extraordinary Jane: Joan Blades

Joan Blades is an everyday woman living in Berkeley, CA.  She is the Co-founder and President of MomsRising, an online organization for moms and the people that love them to connect on issues like healthcare, flexible work options, paid family leave, childcare, and living wages. 

Since its inception in 2006, MomsRising has grown to a staggering one million members.  Incited by eye opening statistics such as 20% of children in the US live in poverty or despite being the wealthiest nation in the world, the US is one of four countries that does not have paid leave for new mothers, these folks are doing more than changing diapers. 

MomsRising are helping to empower their online community to take on the big issues that impact families with email petitions, information on national and state campaigns and more.  They have already played a key role in securing paid family leave in New Jersey, Washington, and paid sick days in Milwaukee and their efforts have helped pass legislation to remove highly toxic phthalates from young children's toys and products.  Since moms don’t have a lobbyist on their behalf, MomsRising serves as a platform for their voices.

Tell us about MomsRising

I actually had the concept when I wrote the book Motherhood Manifesto after learning that there is a huge wage gap between men and women.  Where that wage gap really happens is when women become mothers.  If you’re a single mom your likely to make 60 cents to a man’s dollar.  That explains why there are so many women and children in poverty.  That’s got to be dealt with.  We need to make it possible for parents to take care of their children and that’s what this is about.

We use the acronym M.O.T.H.E.R.S. from the Motherhood Manifesto.  M is for maternity and paternity paid leave, O is for open flexible work, T is for technology and programs after school, H is for healthcare, E is for excellent childcare, R is for realistic and fair wages, and S is for sick days paid. 

Where does the United States currently stand in providing paid leave for new mothers?

Out of 170 countries worldwide there are 4 that have no paid leave for new mothers.  That is Papa New Guinea, Swaziland, Liberia, and the United States of America.  In this country we have women going back to work days or weeks after giving birth.  It’s not because they love their job so much.  Most women work to take care of their children. 

What impact is the lack of paid leave creating for women in the United States?

Having a child is one of the top reasons for being in poverty at old age and the top cause of cause of poverty in this country.  We can do better than that.

How are you using online organizing to accomplish your goals?

I’m also the founder of MoveOn.org and have become a deep believer in the power of grassroots participation.  It’s an anchor that should lead our elected officials and our organizations. 

Online petitions are one of our core ways of enabling people to participate.  I’ve gotten messages from single moms that say “thank you” this I can do.  An online petition gives people the opportunity to stand up and be a part of a community.  You have real people delivering these messages and saying why this is so important. 

It’s friends telling friends and together we can make an impact.  Leadership does want to hear from constituents and I’ll tell you moms are trusted voices.  What we’re trying to do is to make it as easy as possible for members to get heard by the right people.

How can women support the work you’re doing?

One of the things everyday women can do is join MomRising.org and participate in your own local community.  It’s a real opportunity to not feel isolated and make things better.  There is a classic understanding that the squeaky wheel gets the grease and we’ve had too much of a tendency to say “this is my problem don’t bother”.  It’s our family’s problem and for that reason we need to stand up.  We actually need to stand up, not just for ourselves, but for other families too.

What would your message be to women around the world?

We are voices that have a special legitimacy.  We show up sometimes and a few of us have little kids with us.  You see them and you want to protect them and you ask why aren’t we. 

Sidebar - Get Involved!  Five things you can do today build a more family-friendly America!

1. Become a member of MomsRising.org.
2. Read the Shriver Report to learn how the way women live and work are changing the face of the nation. http://www.awomansnation.com
3. Voice your opinion and sign a MomsRising petition to send to congress.
4. Volunteer with a local organization that supports women and children.
5. Host a MomsRising house party for healthcare.

Jesse Locks and Elisa Parker

Women Take the Lead in Health Care Crisis

What's your health care story?  Everyone seems to have one.  My husband and I recently paid $3,000 for my daughter to receive the most common surgery for children last month and we're insured.  Thank goodness for credit cards! 

As we celebrate Labor Day today I can't help but think that most Americans are hard working people....some are just compensated more than others, a few can pay for their health care costs, while it seems many can't. 

This is an issue that effects us greatly as women.  Not only are we impacted for the lack of benefits and fair pay we receive but as mothers our children are greatly effected too. 

My story is a far cry from some of the other women I recently interviewed.  Last Friday in my small rural town over a thousand proponents and opponents of health care reform showed up at our local veteran's hall for a town hall meeting hosted by congress person Tom McClintock.  "Tea Party" members, primarily senior citizens, arrived early to take their seats.  Health care advocates marched outside with their signs urging President Obama to retain a public option and follow in the steps of other industrialized countries, all of which who have some form of universal health care for their citizens.

In interviewing attendees of the event, I heard both sides, one "Tea Party" supporter said "health care is not a citizen right" and when I questioned the medicare he received, he responded that he earned his government health care by working for it.  I can't help but wonder, in a country where citizens can seem so generous and kind to each other in times of strife, how can America turn the blind eye in ensuring that all Americans including children and the middle class receive care that could save our country millions?  Let us not forget that one of the leading causes of bankruptcy in the United States is the result of personal health care expenses.  And as Michael Moore pointed out in his movie Sicko, the insured are paying exorbitant amounts to maintain their insurance out of pocket expenses. 

Many of us are saying enough is enough.  Over 150,000 women are working to change this (you might be one of them), women who are members of the progressive organization, MomsRising.   Their mission supports M.O.T.H.E.R.S:  maternity and paternity leave, open flexible work, T.V. and after school, healthy kids (health care for all children), excellent childcare, realistic and fare wages, and sick days paid. 

Through on-line petitions and activism that speaks to women and parents, MomsRising has created significant shifts for America, one of the only countries in the world (besides PaPa New Guinea and Swazi Land) that does not have paid leave for mothers. 

Members of MomsRising are demonstrating that each and every one of us can make a difference.  These women are nourishing the system and ensuring a healthier future.  Real women with real solutions.

Who are the extraordinary Jane's in your life that are enhancing the planet by advocating health care for all?  Share with us at [email protected].

Click here to listen to the interview with Joan Blades and MomsRising members.

Elisa

A Movement for Mothers: Joan Blades of MomsRising Suggests our Next Steps

How does a small group of moms change the world?  They start an online revolution of course.  Yesterday on KVMR See Jane Do featured the "godmother" of the online movement, Joan Blades. As co-founder of MoveOn.org and MomsRising.org., Joan took the intent of two and transformed it into the power hundreds of thousands to become one of the fastest growing web-based organizations. 

We met Joan in the Bay Area.  She welcomed us into her home, showed us photos of her children and the lovely jewelry she makes as a side hobby.  I couldn't help but think how this kind, creative woman literally changed the face of politics and is inspiring the transformation of policies that supports social justice in the United States.

One of the commonalities I'm discovering amongst all of the everyday extraordinary women we have met is that the passion they possess to make a difference supersedes any sense of ego.  It's not about them; it's about doing what's right for the next generation. 

It gives me goose bumps to think that woman like Joan Blades represent the leadership that our country needs so much right now. The strengths we carry as women, such as compassion, passion, nurturing, listening, intelligence, empathy, and the ability to multi-task are the talents that will guide us towards a better life for our families, community, and the planet.

Following, we met MomsRising members and staff members at the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) celebration.  MomsRising submitted over 135,000 comments and signatures from members to support SCHIP. 

To find out more about MomsRising and the great work they are doing (with the help of over 150,000 moms and caregivers) check out www.MomsRising.org.

Click here to listen to our interview with Joan and MomsRising.org members.

Tweeting, Twurling and Blogging: Women Change the World with Social Media

As women, telling stories comes naturally to most of us.  We also know how to get the word out fast.  Incorporate social networking and the on-line movement and there's potential for a social change explosion. It seems women are starting to renew our communities and the planet at an extremely rapid pace with the support of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook in addition to women oriented organizations like BlogHer and MomsRising.org. 

In pursuit of the next episode of See Jane Do we have been extremely inspired by the incredible women we've met who are taking new media to a new level.  As mothers, we were thrilled to meet the "godmother of the on-line movement" (as her staff refers to her), Joan Blades.  You know Joan, she is the co-founder of MoveOn.org.  She wanted to provide a voice for women in the White House so several years ago she co-founded MomsRising.org.  MomsRising has created an on-line movement that is transforming issues often prevalent to women, families and caretakers including; health-care, family leave, fair wages, and childcare.  "With over 250,000 members MomsRising is creating change we can see", says staff member and mother Anita Jackson. 

I met Anita at the SCHIP celebration in Sacramento.  I spotted the MomsRising group in the ballroom immediately as Jackson was bouncing her adorable 4 month old daughter on her lap.  MomsRising circulates numerous petitions, one of which was for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), bringing health-care to 11 million children.  MomsRising members contributed 135,000 letters to support this program.  Jackson was thrilled, "creating change is one click away.  MomsRising makes it easy for women to have a voice and make a difference in policy that effects family, children, and caregivers".  See Jane Do will feature more on MomsRising in our upcoming episode on March 25th, 2009 on KVMR.

New media is a wonderful way to bring issues concerning women to the table for discussion and action.  I recently read about entrepreneur Sheila Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television and now co-owner of the Washington Mystics who is utilizing Twitter to create the first "Tweet-a-thon" according to the Washington Times.  Johnson produced the film A Powerful Noise which highlights the stories of three women who are persevering through severe living environments. 

Adrienne Washington reports that during the Tweet-a-thon "NCM Fathom will donate 10 cents for each Tweet - up to 50,000 Tweets - to CARE, which helps 65 million people in 70 countries become self-sufficient but focuses on women and children, who disproportionately suffer from poverty."  A Powerful Noise will premiere March 5th in theaters across the nation in celebration of International Women's Day on March 8th.

 

At See Jane Do we love a good story.   We want to the share the stories of everyday extraordinary women we've interviewed with as many people as possible, so... we've been getting friendly with Facebook.  According to iStrategy over half of the Facebook users are women.  And yes, we've taken to tweeting on twitter. 

 

We're always looking for new friends and followers.  How are you using social networks to create positive change?  Share with us at [email protected]. 

 

Elisa