events

On Thursday Feb. 21 (3-5pm), the National Council for Research on Women is putting on a fantastic panel that I’m very sad I’ll be out of town for, “Translating Women’s Agendas to the National Agenda in 2008.” If you are in the NYC area, can attend, and are interested in guest blogging about it here on GWP, please email me!

Hosted by Merrill Lynch, the event is co-sponsored by Barnard Center for Research on Women; Center for Research on Women and Society, CUNY; Demos; Legal Momentum; Shirley Chisholm Center, Brooklyn College;WEDO; The White House Project, and the Women’s Media Center.

Speakers:
Linda Basch,National Council for Research on Women
Subha Barry, Merrill Lynch
Carol Jenkins, Women’s Media Center (moderator)
Johnnetta B. Cole, Bennett College, Spelman College
Ruth Mandel, Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University
Monique Mehta, Third Wave Foundation

Location: 222 Broadway, 23rd Floor, New York City

To RSVP, please call 212-785-7335 x100 or email jdudley@ncrw.org.

This program will precede the Council’s Making a Difference for Women Awards Dinner at Cipriani Wall Street on February 21, 2008. For more information, please contact the National Council for Research on Women Benefit Office, c/o CMI Events 212.763.8591, ncrw@cmevents.net, or visit the website.

I’ve just GOT to tell you all about this crazyamazing event I went to yesterday to celebrate Susan Morrison’s new edited collection, 30 Ways of Looking at Hillary, thrown by More magazine, at the swanky restaurant Daniel. I’m still trying to figure out how to write about it–and not just the nine herb ravioli with Jerusalem arthichoke puree and parmesean emulsion.

In the meantime, check out coverage in New York Daily News. An NPR interview with Susan is downloadable here.

(PunditMom: Did you get your copy?)

Join the National Organization for Women Foundation, National Council of Negro Women, and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research for the 2008 Summit on Economic Justice for Women, April 11-12 in Atlanta, Georgia. The summit is dedicated to “Bringing Together Research and Advocacy–from Local to Global–to Advance Economic Justice and Empowerment for Women.” To register, click here.

Goals for the conference include expanding the body of knowledge on critical economic issues; increasing our understanding of the global economic challenges women face; building and strengthening alliances in the economic justice movement; developing recommendations and strategies for enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and informing policies globally and locally, including helping to shape the 2008 U.S. presidential election debate.

It’s not too late to submit a workshop or research paper. Workshops will blend research and grassroots action, offering participants an opportunity to hear from experts and apply action strategies to address economic inequality. The deadline to submit a proposal is Feb. 15 (hey–that’s my birthday!!)

And hey, while we’re on the subject of economic justice and just economics, do check out the latest HuffPo piece from PursePundit, called “Quickfixonomics.” PursePundit suggests we check out what George Soros has to say about the current financial crisis, too. How is this all affecting women? Stay tuned. More on that very soon.

Frank F. Furstenberg, Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and Senior Fellow at the Council on Contemporary Families, has just released a briefing paper intended to stimulate discussion among researchers and clinicians in advance of the Council’s 11th annual conference, April 25-26, University of Illinois at Chicago–where I’ll definitely be! Join me?

Here’s the jist, via AScribe Newswire:

Teen Pregnancy and Poverty: 30-Year-Study Confirms That Living in Economically-Depressed Neighborhoods, Not Teen Motherhood, Perpetuates Poverty

— In fairy tales, there are two possible outcomes for a young girl. In the Disney version, the handsome prince rescues her, then marries her, and everyone lives happily ever after. In the dark version, the heroine makes a dreadful mistake that leads to disaster. For the past 15 years, political pundits have been telling us a dark fairy tale about American teens, blaming America’s high poverty rates on the actions of teenage girls who have babies out of wedlock. This assumption guided the welfare reform act of 1996, which promised to write America a happy ending by getting teens to stop having babies, get married, and thus end poverty.

But a new longitudinal study by Frank Furstenberg (University of Pennsylvania) shows that fairy tales have no place in the realm of policy-making. His data reveal that teen childbearing is NOT the reason that many Americans have been trapped in poverty over the past three decades….Furstenberg reports that

– teen motherhood tends to occur among people ALREADY trapped in poverty

– postponing motherhood does not make much of a difference to people’s chances of escaping poverty.

– impoverished girls who bear children as teens do almost as well educationally and economically — or as poorly — as the girls who postpone childbearing.

Preventing and reducing teen pregnancy is a valuable social goal, says CCF Fellow Furstenberg. In fact the United States had a dramatic decline in teen pregnancies–and abortions–from 1991 to 2005. But, using observations from his Baltimore study, and supplementing it with current reports from demographers, economists, and demographers, sociologist Frank Furstenberg reminds us that the phrase, “it’s the economy, stupid” is not yet out of date. For details and policy recommendations, check out Furstenberg’s full briefing report at www.contemporaryfamilies.org.

The Conference Board/Families and Work Institute Work Life Conference on March 5-6, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia will explore the critical business issue of how employees work and live today, and what the impact of these changes is on employee engagement and talent management. Highlights include:

· New Research: Families and Work Institute and Catalyst will release for the first time ever findings from our 2008 study, Leaders in a Global Economy: Developing Talent in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

· Company Best Practices: Senior business executives from leading companies will discuss their approaches to talent management and promoting employee engagement.

· Individual Strategies: An expert panel will discuss the latest thinking on how individuals can develop their careers in holistic ways to thrive at work, at home, and in their communities.

Speakers include executives from Accenture, Bon Secours Richmond Health System, Bright Horizons, Deloitte & Touche, Hay Group, IBM Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, KPMG, LLP, Marriott International, MetLife, PricewaterhouseCoopers, RSM McGladrey, Singapore’s Employer Alliance and many more.

To reserve a space, call The Conference Board Customer Service Department at 212-339-0345 or click here.

Questions? Please contact Tyler Wigton, Conference Coordinator, at 212-465-2044 x224 or twigton@familiesandwork.org.

Wrote he:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

“I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”

Amen.

Come one, come all!!!

(I publicly excuse my man Marco for not coming just this once, because I know how excited he is about seeing Cloverfield the day it premieres. He’s been talking about it for days.)

In case you missed it, here’s another chance!

An Afternoon at the Movies
National Council of Jewish Women
See “I Was a Teenage Feminist,” winner of the Ellie Award for Best Film in the 2006 Jewish Women’s Film Festival. Light lunch will be served.

Why is it that young, independent, progressive women feel uncomfortable identifying with the F- word? Armed with a video camera and an irreverent sense of humor, Therese Shechter talks with feminist superstars, rowdy frat boys, liberated Cosmo girls and Radical Cheerleaders, all in her quest to find out whether feminism can still be a source of personal and political power.

Screening in NY January 16th @ 12:30pm

Eleanor Leff Jewish Women’s Resource Center
NCJW NY Section
820 Second Avenue (bet. 43rd & 44th)
New York NY

212-687-5030 x10
info@ncjwny.org
$15/members, $20/non-members

Calling writers near Berkeley! Brooke and Krista are from Seal Press, and I imagine this workshop will be pretty amazing.

CREATIVITY WORKSHOP FOR WRITERS with KRISTA LYONS-GOULD and BROOKE WARNER

Sat., January 26, 2008 10am to 5pm
At Northbrae Church in Berkeley, CA

For more information, click here. To Register: b.warner@earthlink.net.

I am freakishly proud of–and inspired by–my two friends:

Film Premiere!

Praying with Lior, a film by filmmaking genius Ilana Trachtman, opens at Cinema Village in NYC on February 1st. I saw Lior at the Margaret Mead Film Festival in November and, like the rest of the sold-out crowd, was moved to tears. The film has inspired standing ovations, sold out screenings, Audience Awards for Best Documentary, op-eds and rave reviews. Ilana will do Q & A at all evening screenings opening weekend. Cinema Village is at 22 E.12th St. Buy Individual Tickets here. Group tickets: Joe or Minos, CV 212-924-3364.

On January 15, the Jewish Museum will screen Praying with Lior at 3:00 and 6:30. Lior’s parents will do Q & A after the 6:30 show, followed by panel on disability in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Distinguished panelists are William Gaventa, M.Div, Editor of Religion and Disability, Rabbi Dan Grossman, Adath Israel Congregation, and Sarah Lawrence Professor of Islamic Studies Kristin Zahra Sands. NYU”s Professor Faye Ginsburg will moderate. My mom and I will be in the audience too 🙂 Tickets.

Lior is also playing at film festivals around the country–Atlanta, L.A., Minneapolis, Tampa, Denver, San Diego, Houston, Hartford, Ithaca, Seattle, Cherry Hill, West Orange, Westchester, and Boston. And Caracas! Dates and tickets. You can watch the trailer here.

CD Release Party!

Superstar Sarah Ann Corkum will be jamming on tambourine with her band Corduroy Days tonight at R Bar (218 Bowery). The night starts off at 7 with an open bar (until 8pm) and the band goes on around 9. Of course, if not in NYC you can check out the music at their website and get your groove on, too.