Welcome to the Arlington Branch of AAUW of Virginia, Chartered in 1944

Join us Monday for our Stem – AAUW Science Fair Awards

At our April 7 Monthly Branch meeting, the girls whose science projects won awards from our AAUW branch will present a summary of their projects to the attending membership. In the past, we have held this meeting on Zoom. This year, depending on the responses of the girls to our request for them to present in person, we hope for an exciting set of live performances. The meeting will be held at Lubber Run, beginning at 7:00 pm. I am sure we all will be just blown away by the depth of their research and their skill at presentation. We also will have Dr. Heather Spence, Marine Biologist, as our guest speaker. The hope is all of you will attend to hear these presentations. This is our premier STEM event for our branch.

Arlington AAUW Branch meetings  in  2024

Here is some information about programs for the months of April and May 2025:

Calendar

  • Monday, April 7, at 7 pm, Lubber Run Community Center. Dr. Heather Spence, Marine Biologist, will be our guest speaker. An exiting event this year — Arlington Science Fair AAUW scholarship winners will present summaries of their amazing projects in person! See below for further details on the winners.
  • Monday, May  19, 7 pm, Lubber Run Community Center – The winner of our $2,000 Lunch Bunch scholarship will be introduced and will tell us a little about her goals and plans.

Barbara Smith and Barbara Gallagher, Co Vice Presidents for Program

Let’s Talk About Books

Our April meeting is on Tuesday, April 22, 2pm at the home of Barbara Gallagher, bgallag2@gmail.com. Our book selection is Horse by Geraldine Brooks.   Look forward to seeing you then.

In May we will be meeting at 2 PM on May 27.  Our book selection is The New Dominion by John Milliken and Mark Rosell The meeting will take place at the home of Terry Bratt, theresabratt@gmail.com.

Please let the hostess know if you will be attending the session at her home.

Even if you haven’t finished the book, come join the fun!

Barbara Gallagher, Let’s Talk About Books Chair

Officer Elections at the March 22 Annual Meeting

The following slate of officers was elected by the members at the March 22 annual meeting. Thank you for stepping forward to support our branch in important activities and initiatives!

  • President – Candace Lilyquist
  • Co VP for Programs – Jeanine Brundage and Terry Bratt
  • VP for Communications – Rebecca Moscoso
  • VP for Membership – Susan Senn

Terry Bratt, AAUW Branch President

Arlington AAUW Executive Committee 2025-26

Term begins July 1, 2025

  • President: Candace L. Lilyquist (2025-2027) presarlvaaauw@gmail.com
  • Co-First VP for Programs: Jeanine Brundage and Terry Bratt (2025-2027)
  • Second VPs for Membership:  Susan Senn (2025-2027) Memberarlvaaauw@gmail.com
  • Third VP for Communications: Rebecca Moscoso (2025-2027) newsarlvaaauw@gmail.com
  • Secretary: Francesca McDonald (2024-2026)
  • Treasurer: Teri Doxsee (2024-2026) Treasurer4AAUW@gmail.com
  • Public Policy:
  • Book Group: Barbara Gallagher
  • Lunch Bunch: Mary Beth Pelosky and Meg Tuccillo
  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:

STATE CONFERENCE MARCH 29, 2025

AAUW-VA Celebrates 100 Years!
On March 28 and 29, AAUW-VA celebrated its 100th birthday in style with many members coming from all over the state to Alexandria to recognize AAUW’s many achievements in the past century and to look ahead at the challenges facing us in both the long term and the short term. The conference whose theme was Changing the Conversation was subscribed to capacity and packed with great women and lots of ideas to share.

Members Barbara Smith, Meg Tuccillo and Terry Bratt with the centennial conference logo

After a Friday evening social where conference attendees got acquainted and chatted, the next morning the Alexandria Town Crier rang the bell and called everyone in to the Conference Room to hear a welcome from AAUW-VA State President Lane Stone. She, in turn, introduced City of Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins who welcomed us all to Alexandria and told us how much she appreciated the work that our organization has done over the years for women and girls. President Stone next introduced Representative Jennifer McClellan of Virginia’s 4th Congressional District who gave the Keynote Address. She included Virginia history milestones and highlights from her family’s history in the United States before identifying the challenges including voter suppression that lie in the decade ahead. Following her address, VA House of Delegate Elizabeth Parker- Bennett read a proclamation from the General Assembly honoring AAUW Virginia. President Lane also read a resolution that Representative Gerry Connolly read in the US House of Representatives recognizing AAUW-VA’s achievements. The accolades continued when later on in the conference, City of Alexandria Poet Laureate Zeina Azzam read her poem commemorating AAUW-VA’s centennial, Lessons from the Moon.

Other presentations included hearing about community projects funded by AAUW-VA mini grants in McLean, Hampton and the Smith Mountain branches, a panel discussion with experts on Title IX — Emma Grasso Levine from Advocates for Youth and Shiwali Patel from National Women’s Law Center –on how we can continue to advocate for opportunities and safety in education at all levels for women and girls. And that was all before lunch!

After lunch we heard from Rose Dawson, Alexandria City Library Executive Director about the 1939 Alexandria City Library Sit-In and its impact on libraries today. Lisa Varga, Executive Director of the Virginia Library Association spoke about the continuing threats of censorship in schools and public libraries. The last presentation was from Ashley Giordano from the National Inventors Hall of Fame located in Alexandria who spoke about women who innovate and invent.

Every presentation was very informative and interesting and ended with a Q and A where conference attendees had an opportunity to ask for information and advice. I have no doubt that every participant walked away with a wealth of information to share with their branches and friends.

Our basket was won by a member of the Smith Mountain branch

As an added bonus, several local women owned businesses set up mini shops for browsing during the breaks. The conference ended with a birthday cake celebration with the basket raffle that raised approximately $2000 for the Greatest Needs Funds. There were 23 first time attendees at the conference and 5 books were raffled off. VP for Programs Barbara Smith was one of the lucky five to win a book!

Mark your calendars for next year – the tentative date for the conference in the Richmond area is April 17-18, 2026!

This is our ad for the state conference program.

Rewards and Renewal in Membership

We belong! Spring is here with a sense of renewed hope about many things. We can continue to affect the affairs of our nation and the world by working with other members of AAUW. This is why we continue our commitment each year to the mission.

Let’s take a minute to recognize the impact of AAUW. There are significant advances to gender equity; including the passage of the Equal Pay Act, Title IX, and the Family Medical Leave Act. We have awarded over $135 million in fellowships and grants. AAUW is the largest scholarship program for women in the world.

The work accomplished at the national level, mirrors the work of AAUW_Arlington Branch. We have scholarships and STEM activities for students. Plus, we regularly honor the work of educators in our community.

Please remember to renew your membership in the month you last joined. There has been a slight dues increase for the national level membership of $2.00. This is $.16 a month. The new dues rate starts on April 1, 2025.

Please let us know how we can help you with any questions you might have about your membership.

Candace Lilyquist, VP Membership

Arlington AAUW Executive Committee 2024-25

Term begins July 1, 2024

Get Paid What You’re Worth

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Take AAUW WorkSmart Online, a free one-hour salary negotiation course. It is designed to help women negotiate for a new job, raise, or promotion.

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Contact Us

You can reach

In an effort to protect member privacy, personal email, home addresses and phone numbers will no longer be used on the web page or the newsletter posted on the website.  Please check the membership directory for this information.

AAUW Calendar

Our AAUW Calendar has moved to google which means you can check it online from the website or subscribe and see it directly on your phone or laptop! Additional information about the events is available by clicking the item.  Contact Rebecca at newsarlvaaauw@gmail.com if you have any questions.

AAUW Arlington Branch
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The Arlington, VA Branch of AAUW was chartered in 1944. Join this group to get announcements in your Newsfeed. See us on the web https://arlington-v…

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AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research.

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