Program: Sunday, June 2, 2024

12:00 PM EDT

Martha Collins
WILPF US Board
Welcome and Introduction

Martha Collins is an experienced nonprofit leader and human rights activist.  For nearly two decades, she has fought on the front lines to enhance the lives of low-income children, families and communities throughout Wisconsin. In her previous work experiences, she has excelled in empowering, organizing, and mobilizing people from diverse economic, social and cultural backgrounds to work together for positive change.

Martha is a proud graduate of Milwaukee Public School with a primary study of Information Technology at George Washington High School. She attended Cardinal Stritch University and received her Bachelor of Science in Business Management. 

Currently, she is  pursuing a Master of Legal Studies at Trinity International University.  

12:00 PM EDT

Cee Cee Anderson
WILPF US Board

Cee Cee Anderson is a former registered nurse and Special Education teacher as well as a healthcare consultant and women and children's advocate. She currently works with Fast Panel and serves as a Mediator, a Mentor and a Conflict Liaison Officer for both Fulton and Clayton Counties. Cee Cee also serves as a board member to several organizations including: Georgia WAND, Fast Parole Juvenile Justice and CASA. She serves on the Steering Committee of the Coalition for the People's Agenda, as a Chairwoman on WIN (Women in NAACP), and as the CEO of Women Changing the World, One Woman, One Child at a Time. During Cee Cee's tenure with Georgia WAND, she has demonstrated tremendous pass ion for the health and well-being of women and children affected by environmental injustices. She has been a strong advocate focally and nationally, traveling with Georgia WAND across Georgia and across the country to share her passion as well as her expertise in public health: advocating for radiological environmental monitoring as well as strengthening radiation standards so that the standards reflect the differences in vulnerability to radiation in women's and children's bodies. 

12:15 PM EDT

Laura Dewey
Lloyd Legacy Foundation

President of the Detroit Branch, Laura joined WILPF in the early 1990s and was immediately put to work writing and designing the newsletter. She served on the WILPF US Board for three years, the Nominating Committee for several more, and coordinated the 2014 WILPF US Congress in Detroit. She grew up in a left-wing activist labor and peace family and has been active in various social justice movements since she was a teenager. As an undergrad at Wayne State University, Laura was active in the Committee against Registration and the Draft (CARD). She participated in weekly SANE/Freeze anti-nuke vigils during the early 1980s, marched in many a Labor Day parade, and helped organize buses for the Women Marches. She continues to struggle for a better world for her two grown daughters and all young people. The younger generations give her hope.

1:00 PM EDT
Feeding Two Birds with One Scone: Taking Action to Address Both Climate and Nuclear Weapons

Summary
Timmon Wallis will share insights from his new book, Warheads to Windmills: Preventing Climate Catastrophe and Nuclear War and Vicki Elson will outline some of the steps we can all take to get us out of this mess. Despite the continued increase in global carbon emissions and the collapse of disarmament treaties, all is not lost! The companies responsible for nuclear weapons and for the continued burning of fossil fuels are calling the shots in Washington. But these companies themselves are surprisingly vulnerable to legal threats emanating from the Nuclear Ban Treaty and from the global movement for a Fossil Fuel Treaty. They are also vulnerable to public disapproval and investor anxiety as more and more faith communities, financial institutions, colleges and cities divest, boycott and stigmatize these companies for their actions. By working together to pressure these profiteers, we can get them to change the policies that are threatening the whole planet.

Timmon Wallis

Timmon Wallis, PhD is the National Coordinator of the Warheads to Windmills Coalition. He has spent his life teaching, writing, directing organizations, and campaigning on peace and environmental issues in colleges, war zones, and with governments around the world. With his colleagues at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, he shares the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. His newest book is Warheads to Windmills: Preventing Climate Catastrophe and Nuclear War.

Vicki Elson

Vicki Elson, MA is the Creative Director of NuclearBan.US, which facilitates the Warheads to Windmills Coalition. After a long career in childbirth education and labor support, she has shifted her focus to supporting human well-being with total nuclear abolition and converting the resources wasted on WMD's to science-based climate solutions. 
 

2:00 PM EDT

Osprey Orielle Lake
Conversation on Climate Change

Founder and executive director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), Osprey works internationally with grassroots, BIPOC and Indigenous leaders, policymakers, and diverse coalitions to build climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a decentralized, democratized clean-energy future.

She sits on the executive committee for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and on the steering committee for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Osprey’s writing about climate justice, relationships with nature, women in leadership, and other topics has been featured in The Guardian, Earth Island Journal, The Ecologist, Ms. Magazine and many other publications.

She is the author of the award-winning book Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature. Osprey holds an MA in Culture and Environmental Studies from Holy Names University in Oakland and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area on Coast Miwok lands.

3:00 PM EDT
The Way of Water

Kim Poole

Kim Poole is a Soul-Fusion Performing Artist and Founding Fellow of the Teaching Artist Institute, providing an opportunity for artist to learn techniques for social transformation while fostering outlets for socially engaged art.  Operating in the USA, Ghana, Liberia,Jamaica, Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia through TAI Kim Poole and an international team of Teaching Artist are originating the Art for Social Transformation: Teaching Artistry in Action curriculum & workbook for change agents and universities interested in exploring the “Art of Possibility.”  

Under the TAI umbrella Poole serves as Chief Visionary of the ARTIZEN conference philosophy aimed at connecting sustainable development to art culture in emerging economies.

As a performer, Ms. Poole has quietly become an international power house with regular headline performances on the festival circuit in Ghana and South Africa. As a demonstration of Art for Transformation, she uses music and cultural narrative to empower African Women in health and business. 

Locally in her hometown of Baltimore, Poole has recently established the Artist in Residence program(TAI Air) for Community artist in need of housing and authentic opportunities for community service with future locations slated for Gambia, Tanzania,  and Uganda

Coining the philosophy "Culture is the New Currency" Poole began curating reparatory  institutions and experiences that promote and preserve the African identity in the Diaspora.  In response to what she refers to as Cultural Genocide against Black and Brown people living in America aka Turtle Island,  "We are the Rhythm People," Freedom Rides, and Stolen Land,  Stolen People Coalition are amongst the numerous initiatives created that she vividly describes as "Art as a Way of life."

Www.facebook.com/teachingartist  
Www.facebook.com/TAItours1 
Www.kimpoolemusic.com  
@KimPooleMusic Instagram and Facebook

Maureen Taylor

Maureen Taylor- M.S.W. (Masters in Social Work), BA Social work- is a tireless advocate for the voiceless with a career that has spanned over 30 years. Her work has been featured in films such as "The Water Front" (an award winning documentary) and "Whose Water", which is currently in circulation. Among her many credentials, she holds a Poverty Scholar Certificate from Union Theological Seminary in New York.

Maureen was the co-coordinator for the 2 nd U.S. Social Forum (2010) performed the task of the National Logistics Chair for same, an event that secured a permanent position with the World Social Forum process. She also served as Project Coordinator/Program Development Officer for the ‘NEW CHANCES/JET’ program, a welfare-to-work project initiated by the Governor’s office. Currently, Maureen is as Parent Coordinator at Detroit Community Schools and holds a position as State Chairperson for the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, where her duties include active representation of public assistance recipients in disputes with government agencies.

Please see the following for more information about Maureen Taylor and her work:
Detroit News. Maureen Taylor: Champion of the poor
Detroit News video

Theresa El-Amin

Theresa El-Amin is the founder of the Southern Anti-Racism Network, 1998 to present. Theresa says her "aha moment" was meeting Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) in Jean Wiley's classroom at Tuskegee in 1966. She joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) where she volunteered at the Atlanta SNCC office with the support of John Lewis, SNCC Chairman before Stokely Carmichael. She worked at the phone company for nearly 20 years. She was active in CWA Local 3204. Became a union organizer for SEIU in 1986. She's been on the Freedom Trail for 55 years. 

4:00 PM EDT

Rickey Gard Diamond
Women's Waterways vs. Financialization

Rickey Gard Diamond, author of Screwnomics and a column at Ms. Magazine, Women Unscrewing Screwnomics, got her early education in economics at a welfare office in the 70s. A newly divorced mother of three, she just couldn't make her budget work despite a fulltime job, and believed it was her fault. Since then she's made a study of how our economy works—and doesn't work—for women and people of color. Most recently, she  started an alliance of feminist activists and organizations to spotlight women already working on transforming a patriarchal system never designed with women in mind, except as property. An Economy of Our Own (AEOO),is finding solutions to growing inequality from the bottom up. AEOO is grateful that WILPF-US and its Women, Money and Democracy  committee is one of its strongest partners in this work. 

Program Summary   
What are women's waterways, and what on earth is financialization? We may feel ourselves in a fight for Earth's survival, and we are, in fact, being hammered by new mystical weapons of an economy waged as war. Come learn how Elinor Ostrom and others point to more powerful water solutions, freed for peace and life.  

5:00 PM  EDT

Mary Sanderson and Fernanda Lugo
Can We Rescue Water From Financial Trickery?

Program Summary
"Can We Rescue Water from Financial Trickery?"  is another big piece of Women, Money & Democracy Committee work. Monetary reform activist Mary Sanderson (WILPF, Madison WI) and biologist Fernanda Lugo (AFJM, El Paso) will show us exactly where these looney financial schemes come from, and outline a surprising, but traditional and necessary, strategy to rescue water from the financiers.

Mary Sanderson

Mary Sanderson is a veteran Raging Granny, postal worker, farmer, interpreter, peace activist, mostly veteran at this point.  Growing up among dying family farms, then spinning wheels as a WILPF activist for 3 decades, brought me eventually to study monetary reform. We'll sketch out the argument that Just Money (public-purposed and debt-free) is a pre-req for rescuing water and food, for peace, for respecting our living Earth and rebuilding trust.

 Program Summary
"Can We Rescue Water from Financial Trickery?"  is another big piece of Women, Money & Democracy Committee work. Monetary reform activist Mary Sanderson (WILPF, Madison WI) and biologist Fernanda Lugo (AFJM, El Paso) will show us exactly where these looney financial schemes come from, and outline a surprising, but traditional and necessary, strategy to rescue water from the financiers.
 

Fernanda Lugo

Fernanda Lugo is an activist and artist, and works as the Social Media and Outreach Director for Alliance For Just Money, and as an educator for sustainable solutions in her local desert region, El Paso Texas. She graduated with a Master's in biobehavioral health, a field at the intersection of health psychology, promotion, and policy. Her research at the intersection of sustainability and health led her to find that one of the missing links is simply the power to organize people with resources. She believes that the power of money can help us meet the goals of a just society, and advocates for monetary reform to reprioritize the wellbeing of the earth and human health. 

5:45 PM EDT

Member Plenary

Jan Corderman
The WILPF US CSW Program - Local To Global

The UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment, the Commission on the Status of Women forum, took place this year from March 11 - 22 under the priority theme, “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”.

António Guterres, the UN’s General Secretary, notes that there has been backsliding on women’s rights Guterres said “Women's rights are being abused, threatened and violated around the world as progress won over decades is vanishing before our eyes. In Afghanistan, women and girls have been erased from public life. In many places, women's sexual and reproductive rights are being rolled back. In some countries, girls going to school risk kidnapping and assault. In others, police prey on vulnerable women they have sworn to protect.” He went on to say, “The patriarchy is fighting back. But so are we. And I am here to say loud and clear, the United Nations stands with women and girls everywhere.”

The Local To Global Program, one of two CSW Programs, sponsors four members who participate in the first week of the session from both inside the UN and in the parallel sessions held outside the UN. WILPF US also offered support to other interested members who attended and, as the host Section, we sponsored a reception for WILPFers from around the world. We were especially excited this year because the UN’s youth program took place during the week giving us a chance to meet members of our Miami Mujeres Branch.

Please attend our session for more info about how you can participate next year! Also keep your eye on the website for updated info: www.wilpfus.org/our-work/wilpf-us-programs-un-commission-status-women
 

Ellen Schwartz

When she joined WILPF in 1969, Ellen was the youngest member of the San Jose branch. Now she is nearly the oldest member of the Sacramento branch, and can’t figure out how that happened.

In between, she has served as branch chair, branch newsletter editor, chair of WILPF US Policy Committee, WILPF Western Region newsletter editor, occasional Triennial Congress newsletter editor, Congress Registrar, chair of CongressCommittee, WILPF US Treasurer for ½ a term (finishing an unfinished term),WILPF US Program Chair (finishing another ½ term) and starting in 2024, chair of the WILPF US Nominating Committee (finishing another unfinished term!).

Ellen was born in Chicago, and while in college was involved with the campus chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality. Her greatest admiration was for an artist named Sophie Wessel, who produced silk screen designs for protest signs.

Ellen would think, “Look, Sophie makes these signs, everybody worships her, and she doesn’t have to actually go to the protests, never mind the planning meetings. That’s what I want to be when I grow up.” It hasn’t worked out that way, but it is still her ambition.

River of Peace Panel
There is no shortage of bad news. But a focus on obstructions limits our perceptions to seeing obstacles! As visionaries of a new way of being in the world, we are called to see and create progressive actions and movements. As institutions and beliefs in the way things have been are falling apart (as some of our speakers attest to) there is a call from multiple areas to rebuild in a transformative way. This can be seen in the environmental realm in an absolute way, but is also present in the economic realm, in the peace paradigm, in racial justice, in climate justice, in brain science, in the reframing how nations interact as people envision a UN that functions better, and ultimately how people movements are acting in intersectional ways to build capacity across areas.  Join us for a discussion of a River of Peace as we increase our perceptions of what is and what shall be!
 

7:00 PM EDT
River of Peace 

Program Summary
There is no shortage of bad news. But a focus on obstructions limits our perceptions to seeing obstacles! As visionaries of a new way of being in the world, we are called to see and create progressive actions and movements. As institutions and beliefs in the way things have been are falling apart (as some of our speakers attest to) there is a call from multiple areas to rebuild in a transformative way. This can be seen in the environmental realm in an absolute way, but is also present in the economic realm, in the peace paradigm, in racial justice, in climate justice, in brain science, in the reframing how nations interact as people envision a UN that functions better, and ultimately how people movements are acting in intersectional ways to build capacity across areas.  Join us for a discussion of a River of Peace as we increase our perceptions of what is and what shall be!
 

Tina Deshotels Shelton

Tina Deshotels Shelton grew up in Louisiana, has lived in Texas, Oregon, and in Pennsylvania, where she learned about WILPF. She works in the mental health field, and is an advocate for better services. In addition to WILPF, she is active in her community, with Girl Scouts, and local community activism. She and her husband have three children, and they have been involved in Scouts, band, and other activities. Finding WILPF after 9/11, she has been active in local leadership, in coordination with many dedicated and interesting women and men. She is passionate about living peaceably, anti-militarism, anti-racism, immigration concerns, sustainability, creating a nuclear-free world and building relationships to sustain us and move us toward our goals. She is gaining practice in developing a thick skin to make the world less racist and she practices rational thinking skills. She is excited about the transformative movements we see all around. She currently serves on the National Board of the US S Section, as an At-Large Member.
 

Chara Armon, Ph.D

Chara Armon, Ph.D is the founder of The School for Humans and Earth. She is a thought leader and teacher who believes we’re ready to renew Earth and heal ourselves in the process. Through the Humans & Earth podcast, courses, and coaching, she supports people who are exploring how their own well-being connects to the natural world’s thriving. Chara emphasizes the practical value of feeling hopeful about our future, then crafting your creative contributions to regeneration for yourself and all life. Find her work at www.humansandearth.com
 

Hannah Lee

Hannah Lee is a student at the University of Pennsylvania studying PPE (Philosophy, Politics, Economics) and Psychology with a minor in Music, and concurrently pursuing a Master's in Education Policy. She was an inaugural Feminist Korea Peace Fellow at Women Cross DMZ in 2021 and a member of their 30 Under 30 group during the 7.27 mobilization last summer that commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice. She is currently a co-coordinator for the Philadelphia Chapter of Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network and an active member in campus divestment movement efforts, ultimately striving to center radical, liberating peace in the various aspects of her professional and political life.

Rhetta Morgan

Reverend Rhetta Morgan is a singing healer, spiritual activist, and interfaith minister who has been gathering tools for healing and inspiration for over 40 years. Through her gifts of prayer, poetry, facilitation, and sermonizing, she cultivates hope and nurtures connection in her community as a pathway back to belonging and wholeness. As a facilitator, Rhetta is known for her ability to support others to be bold, heal their self-limiting beliefs, and integrate their social movement work. As an active facilitator in the Philadelphia region and beyond, Reverend Rhetta currently works with Pendle Hill Quaker Retreat Center, the UU National Ministers Association, the Anti-Defamation League, among others. She also founded Ritual for Change Makers, an 8 month program for activists seeking to renew their spiritual connection to the transcendent and to land. She is known for her jubilant tone, visionary thinking, and beautiful singing voice. You can see the intersection of her spiritual and artistic powers in Grounded While Walls Fall, a film directed by Zein Nakhoda in which she is a featured actor. https://www.reverendrhetta.com/