Get women on board

Guest Post by George Entenman

Orange Politics folks would should be very interested in a project sponsored by the Orange County Democratic Women to get women on local boards and commissions. Read on...

Orange County Democratic Women announce an important public meeting
topic:Opportunities for women to serve on boards and commissions
guest speaker: Elaine Marshall, N.C. Secretary of State
date: Thursday, February 3, 2005
time: 7:30 pm
place:The Exchange at Meadowmont, Chapel Hill

About 5 months ago, the Orange County Democratic Women decided that it would launch a new initiative, the Boards and Commissions Project. Our goal would be to increase the number of women serving in a policy-making role in county government.

Over the last 3 months, our research committee has identified more than 40 permanent boards and commissions with more than 400 members appointed by the Orange County Commissioners. These boards have a great influence on the lives of the citizens living here. They make decisions every day about how to spend large amounts of public money, about what land will be developed and what land preserved; about who will be eligible for housing assistance and health care; about who will get help finding a job and starting a business.

The Orange County Democratic Women want to help women learn more about these boards and want to encourage their members to have a voice at the table.To accomplish this, they have scheduled two important meetings, the first on Thursday evening, February 3rd in Chapel Hill and the second in the following month on March 33rd in
Hillsborough.

On February 3rd, there will be a discussion of the OCDW research findings regarding the opportunities there are for talented women to serve on volunteer boards. Current vacancies will be publicized. Applications for board membership will be distributed.

Then N.C. Secretary Elaine Marshall will be on hand to give the keynote address, motivating women to get involved in the policy-making process. She will address the following topics: Why should women get involved? Why do we need gender balance on boards and commissions? Why do we need racial equity on appointive boards? Are women qualified to serve? What lessons has Secretary Marshall taken from her own life and political career that will help Orange County women who are just learning about public service? A question and answer period will follow Secretary Marshall's speech.

The meeting will be held Thursday, February 3rd at the Exchange at Meadowmont on Raleigh Rd. Beginning promptly at 7:30 p.m., the meeting will adjourn about 9:30.

George Entenman blogs at entenman.net