AAUW is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. AAUW’s Public Policy Program, updated every two years, identifies the social, educational, health and public policy priorities of the organization. After approval by the entire membership, this Program becomes the framework for AAUW advocacy at the local, state and national levels.
AAUW San Jose Public Policy Committee
The Public Policy Committee advances equity for women and girls through an active program of advocacy that engages all Branch members in every level of the political process. Collaboration with other community organizations increases our effectiveness.
- Legislative advocacy with AAUW CA
- Legislator Visits with local Lawmakers
- Voter registration drives
- Voter education forums
- Programs to inform members and the community
AAUW San Jose Title IX/Sports Equity Group
AAUW strongly supports Title IX and opposes any efforts that would weaken its effectiveness or undermine its enforcement. Title IX has made it possible for girls and women to be educated in, and prepared for, careers in athletics, law, medicine, science, and many other fields of interest. Sports Equity partners with the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI). The BITS program encourages women to “Be In The Seats” at local women’s and girl’s sporting events as a visible demonstration of support for and interest in sports. Athletics are promoted as a way to enhance all aspects of the lives of girls and women.
AAUW National and AAUW CA State Issues
- Pay Equity – AAUW on Economic Justice, The Simple Truth
- Student Loans – Deeper in Debt: Women and Student Loans
- Health Care
- Violence Against Women Act
- Reproductive Rights – BONFIRE article “AAUW Opposes Attacks on Reproductive Rights“
- Education
- Women’s Health
- Human Trafficking – BONFIRE article “Human Trafficking in Your Neighborhood“
Become a Two-Minute Activist.
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Legal Advocacy Fund
Nationally, with local Branch support, the AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund (LAF) works to combat sex discrimination in higher education and the workplace. Each year AAUW San Jose presents a program focused on an issue highlighted by this fund’s research. In 2013, Elizabeth Kristen, Director of the Gender Equity Program and senior staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center in San Francisco spoke about the LAF efforts of AAUW.
LAF initiatives include community and campus outreach programs, a resource library and online advocacy tools, a Legal Referral Network, and various research reports. LAF also provides support to workplace sex discrimination cases that have the potential to make a difference for all women.
The Legal Advocacy Fund (LAF) supported plaintiffs and their legal team for the case Mansourian, et al. v. Regents of the University of California, et al. The case settled in favor of the plaintiffs in February 2012.
AAUW has sponsored a wide variety of research reports to highlight the needs of women and girls, for example:
- Women in Community Colleges: Access to Success: This report recommends policies and practices to help women succeed in community colleges.
- Behind the Pay Gap: Just one year out of college, women already earn less than their male colleagues.
- Crossing the Line: Sexual harassment in our nation’s schools, focused on grades 7-12.
- Why So Few?: An in-depth profile of eight key research findings that point to environmental and social barriers that continue to block women’s participation and progress in science, technology, engineering, and math.