The American Association of University Women (AAUW) was founded in 1881, as a national nonprofit to foster equality for women and girls through research, advocacy and education.
By 1913, Greensboro established its own AAUW branch because of the efforts made by a few at Women’s College, which is currently known as UNCG. Today, the Greensboro branch is one of 16 branches in North Carolina.
The nonprofit fall's under the 501(c)(3) category, which permits tax-deductible donations that can go to special projects and programs in the city.
The Greensboro branch tends to focus on planning and implementing programming, luncheons, speaker events and fundraising. There are four meetings a year, but the board meets once a month.
At four of the monthly nonmember meetings throughout the year, the Greensboro branch will invite one speaker per meeting. Anyone can attend the nonmember meetings and listen to speakers.
Several forms of programming are offered at AAUW Greensboro.
Both nationally and locally, AAUW focuses on salary negotiation for women in the workforce and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education for women and girls.
There are two workshops offered for negotiating salary: StartSmart and WorkSmart. The StartSmart workshop is geared towards college women about to enter the workforce, while WorkSmart is geared towards women already in the workforce or trying to reenter it. The number of workshops varies yearly, with some of the partnering universities or colleges hosting one or more per year.
A few STEM education workshops are held annually, each emphasizing a different age group. The workshops exist to kindle the desire in women and girls to enter a STEM field to diversify the heavily male-oriented career paths.
“It’s not an ability problem and it’s really not an interest-problem, I don’t think,” said Laura Tew, a former chemist, who is currently the public policy chair and coordinator for STEM and WorkSmart events at the AAUW Greensboro branch. “Because we know the girls come to us and they’re interested and capable, but there is something systemic about the way they are excluded.”
Many women in the Greensboro branch have a degree in the STEM field or are teachers that are very passionate about more women and girls engaging in these fields of study. Libby Haile, the current Greensboro branch president and a former medical technologist, said many women face an “imposter syndrome” in which women do not give themselves credit for their work in STEM fields and are constantly waiting to be told by men that they are not valid.
“Sometimes the men, they have to prove they don’t know what they’re doing. We [women] have to prove we do,” said Lena Murrill, the president-elect for AAUW.
One of the more prominent workshops for the STEM education section at AAUW Greensboro is Triad TechSavvy, which is hosted for middle school-age girls. Students will come from surrounding towns to take part in hands-on science and technology-based projects.
Besides local workshops, AAUW Greensboro sends women to the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL). Anyone can attend NCCWSL, but those who have applied and accepted a scholarship by the Greensboro branch must design a project on their college campus after attending the national conference.
The AAUW Greensboro branch also holds a monthly book club at the Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Branch Library on the first Monday of every month from 1:30 - 3 p.m., except for September and January. The book club reads a wide range of genres from fiction to nonfiction. Both members and nonmembers of AAUW are welcome to take part in the book club. AAUW Greensboro’s major achievement is transferring from a 501(c)(4) nonprofit to a 501(c)(3) in 2016. Also, their branch received a statewide award for “Highest Number of AAUW Programs” for 2017-2018.
To become an AAUW member, you must pay a yearly fee and be a degree-holding woman. The latter requirement is currently up for debate and will be voted on its continuance.
“We have really worked on expanding our reach into the public because...we were viewed as university women,” Tew said, speaking on the current requirements. “There was more of an emphasis on university women than it was community engagement or community service and we have really been trying to rebrand ourselves.”
You can become a member of the national, state or local level, or become a member of all three. Women graduating from college can receive their first year of membership for free.
For more information about AAUW Greensboro, including how to become a member or apply for a scholarship, visit the branch’s website listed above.