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NOW's purpose is to take action to bring
women into full participation in society --
sharing equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities with men, while
living free from discrimination.



Community Shares of Illinois
communitysharesillinois.org
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Illinois NOW President runs for
National Office
Help the Illinois NOW LEF
Donate to Illinois NOW
IL NOW Conference
National NOW Conference
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IL NOW Annual September 12, Conference, DuPage County,
National NOW Conference, June 19-21, Indianapolis, IN. |
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Illinois NOW President runs for
National Office
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
Aurora, IL
In an email released today Bonnie Grabenhofer
announced that she is running for Executive Vice President of
the National Organization for Women. She is running as a member
of the Feminist Leadership NOW slate which includes:
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Terry O'Neill, President
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Bonnie Grabenhofer,
Executive Vice
President
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Erin Matson, Action Vice President
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Allendra Letsome,
Membership Vice President
NOW's moral imperative
is clear and urgent.
As long as women earn between 78 and 58 cents for each
dollar paid to white men, we are not equal.
As long as some women lack access to
reproductive
health care, including
birth control
and abortion services, justice is not ours.
As long as women account for only 16% of Congress, 16%
of governorships and 19% of the top cabinet posts, we
do not have political parity.
NOW MUST TAKE ACTION TO CHANGE THAT. We are
ready to lead the continued struggle for equality and
justice for all women. We are dedicated to the elimination
of sexism and all the other -isms that divide us. We know
that it is our common struggle that makes us strong.
NOW's trailblazing feminism
is all about taking action, and there should be more of it.
Our organization is facing unprecedented challenges, but we
are ready to meet them. We will lead
national
action campaigns that attract, empower and
mobilize local activists to produce results. We will
revitalize NOW's
direct
marketing - our primary revenue generator - and
develop new approaches to ensure NOW activists have the
resources they need to demand equality and justice. We will
use cutting-edge technology to amplify activist voices,
increase collaboration and place
social justice
for women at the center of political discourse.
We pledge to be transparent
and hold ourselves accountable. We will listen and respond
to chapters, and support local activism with online tools,
training and networking in addition to the cash rebates
chapters receive. We will also provide meaningful support
to NOW's national committees and task forces, linking them
to one another as well as to the National Board and State
Presidents. How we work together is important to the
results we achieve. We will define goals and form the
relationships and connections we need to reach them.
To all of these tasks we
bring passion, skills and a track record of success. We
don't pretend that the path ahead will necessarily be smooth
or easy. But with your help and support, we'll make NOW the
unstoppable force for equality that is has been and can be.
We hope you'll join us.
Terry, Bonnie, Erin and
Allendra
Sisterhood.
Collaboration.
Action. Results.
P.S. We note there are only three letters
standing between challenge and change.
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Help the Illinois NOW
LEF -- Share a Meal
Pull up a chair and join us again this year for the
6th annual Share a Meal
event.
On Tuesday, May 19*,
restaurants in Chicago and suburbs donate a portion of their
proceeds to Community Shares of Illinois and more than 70 member
charities serving the communities and people of our state. One
of those charities is the Illinois NOW Legal Education Fund.
Join us in making a difference--it's as easy as lifting a fork.
For more information and to find a restaurant go to
www.communitysharesillinois.org
Donate to IL NOW
Contribute to Illinois NOW's work by donating on-line
now.
IL NOW is a 501(c)(4) non-profit
membership organization and donations are not tax deductible because of
NOW's political work.
More
about IL NOW
To
find your legislators click on voting information.
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National NOW Conference.
The National NOW Conference will be held in
Indianapolis, IN. Our NOW Midwest Region director, Marion
Wagner, is hosting the conference. She was here to help with a
wonderful conference we had in Chicago so let's all go to
Indianapolis to make sure her conference is just as exciting.
There are rumblings about car-pooling. When
contacts are available they will be listed here. Contact
illinoisnow@juno.com if
you are interested in forming one.
For more information and to register for both
the conference and hotel please go to
http://www.now.org/organization/conference/2009/ .
Illinois NOW Conference
This conference is also an election
conference. At this conference we will be electing all IL NOW
officers. Officers run individually. If you would like to be an
officer please call or email for more information.
More details will be provided here as they
become available.
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Voting at the National NOW Conference
You must be both a
current member and a delegate in order
to vote at a National NOW Conference.
To qualify to be a
delegate, you must have: 1) an
expiration date of 0903 (March 2009) or
later for renewing members; or 2) proof
of payment of dues to NOW by March 21,
2009, for new members.
Contact your local
chapter to request a delegate slot. If
your local chapter does not have open
slots or you are unable to reach a
chapter in your area, call your state
NOW organization. You can find
local and state NOW chapters
online.
As a delegate,
you must register
for the conference (either in advance or
on-site). Our conference fees are on a
sliding scale.Don't be afraid to use it
as many of us have at one time or
another.
If you are unable to
secure a delegate slot in advance, you
may attend the conference, and inquire
(as soon as possible) with the
credentialing committee whether any
chapters have open delegate slots they
are filling on-site. Chapters that are
unable to fill their delegate slots
sometimes assign them to attendees at
the conference. Remember, you will need
to show
proof of membership.
If you obtain a
delegate slot, either from your own
local chapter or from another chapter,
you will still need to get
"credentialed" when you arrive at the
conference -- all delegates must submit
proof of membership
and a photo ID to the
registration/credentials committee.
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