Annual Report 2010
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ANNUAL REPORT 2010 Realizing the Vision: A world where women and girls live free from inequality, poverty and violence. Committed to Realizing the Vision: A world where women and girls live free from inequality, poverty and violence. Tawila, Sudan / August 2011 / UN Photo / Albert Gonzalez Farran A woman displaced from Shangel Tubaya rides her donkey on farm land rented for the rainy season by others like her in Dali, close to Tawila in the Sudanese state of North Darfur. She is part of a community that fled heavy fighting in Shangel Tubaya (North Darfur) in early 2011 and set up camp in Dali. MESSAGE from Carol M. Poteat-Buchanan Outgoing President, USNC-UN Women 2010-11 has been a database has been revised to enable us to automatically banner year for those renew memberships and allow for monthly automatic of us who have been contributions, and our membership structure has been long-term advocates streamlined. for women’s rights. It brought the launch of Finally, and on a personal note, as I step down after UN Women, the long- four years as your National President, I am pleased that awaited, enlarged Maggie Forster Schmitz has agreed to assume that role. entity for women at the United Nations. Michelle Bachelet, Maggie’s creativity and energy, along with the support former President of Chile, was named its Executive of her new board, will take the US National Committee Director, at the level of Deputy Secretary General, which to the next higher level. I cannot adequately thank my means that she has a seat at the decision making table board of directors, whose dedication and hard work of the UN. At our January meeting of Presidents of all the over the past four years has enabled us to grow from six National Committees, she outlined the role and potential to eleven chapters, reaching from Southeast Florida to power of the new entity, which is a combination of four Northern California. Our accounting has become more former departments at the UN, all of which focused to transparent, our fund development more productive, our some extent on gender issues. (The largest of these was communications and collaborations more effective and our UNIFEM.) work with chapters more fruitful. The concept of holding national annual meetings in cities with local chapters has In February, at the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter’s International helped invigorate local membership. Film Festival, I had the pleasure of presenting the Impact Award to actress Geena Davis, founder of The Geena Davis The institution of national conferences also has brought Institute on Gender in Media and the See Jane Program, for us many new supporters and enabled us to ensure that her work in making us more sensitive to the lack of healthy our annual meetings will always have quorums. Great roles for women and girls in movies. thanks go to the Georgia, Chicago, New York and North Carolina chapters who have stepped forward to take on In May, I served on a panel in Miami, sponsored by the the challenges of these conferences and make them so East Florida Chapter, which brought together over 20 non- successful. The 2012 conference in Washington, D.C. governmental organizations to discuss the changes over focusing on women and political empowerment, promises the years in women’s and girls’ leadership roles and styles. to be informative and inspiring. This trend toward collaboration has been very evident in our national conferences. In 2010, the New York chapter I have especially enjoyed working with the staff at UN partnered with the National Council for Research on Women Women, in particular Mitushi Das, who so ably serves as the and in 2011, the North Carolina chapter breakout and liaison between UN Women and the National Committees. plenary sessions featured local, national, and international Her responsiveness to our many inquiries and calls for help organizations addressing the topic, “Women and Peace”. has been immeasurable. It was also a year when, despite the national talk about We look forward to the day when women will have recession, our income went up, partially due to contributions economic equality, are free from gender based violence, from foundations and estate grants. After two tough and will have a place at the table in affairs which affect financial years, we were able to restore our level of giving them. In the meantime, there is much more work to be to UN women to $50,000 and to make some infrastructural done. I am confident that the US National Committee will changes which will have long-term benefits. Our office was play a strategic role in enabling UN Women to achieve moved from Arlington, VA to downtown Washington, DC these goals. with expanded space for an intern. We hope in the not too distant future to be able to hire a part time employee to support the work of our Project Director, Susan Cutri. Our Carol M. Poteat-Buchanan USNC-UN WOMEN ANNUAL Report 2010 1 2011-12 Board of Directors Maggie Forster-Schmitz Crystal Lander Kay Colson Francine Brown President 1st VP - Advocacy VP - Fund Development VP - Strategic Planning Terry Bracket Alexis McLeod Carol M. Poteat-Buchanan Ann Trainor VP - Membership Treasurer Bylaws and Rules Finance Immediate Past President Stephanie Block Neale Godfrey Kim Randle Grace Richardson Social Networking Caroline Slobodzian Don McPherson Younghee Overly (appointed 7/11) Alt. Chapter Representative Board Members not pictured: Mary Dailey Rene Kraus Luz Van Meek Secretary Communications Chapter Representative 2 USNC-UN WOMEN ANNUAL Report 2010 MESSAGE from Maggie Forster Schmitz Incoming President, USNC-UN Women I am honored to serve as the new president of USNC- with Michelle Bachelet at the helm engendered renewed UN Women and excited by the challenge to increase our enthusiasm and optimism for women’s development. support for UN Women and global women’s issues. We Internally, thanks to the efforts of Carol Poteat-Buchanan are the voice of UN Women within the United States. over the past four years, our organization is stronger than Our mission is more important than ever, as the key role ever, with two national programs, five new chapters, and that women play in the march towards global sustainable many behind-the-scenes organizational changes. I am development has been widely acknowledged. Gender looking forward to the next year and beyond in which we equality is a central component of all eight UN Millennium will continue to build our presence via strengthened social Development Goals, while the head of the World Bank media efforts, increased national and chapter advocacy simply calls gender equality “smart economics.” UN activities, and expansion of our network of members and Women, with its new mandate and improved status, is well chapters Please join us as we work within the United States placed to continue its unique and invaluable contribution to to better the lives of women and girls worldwide. global gender equality. Sincerely, The upcoming years hold much promise for USNC-UN Women as well. Externally, the creation of UN Women Maggie Forster Schmitz Please join us as we work within the United States to better the lives of women and girls worldwide. USNC-UN WOMEN ANNUAL Report 2010 3 Vision … Determination … Relationships USNC Fund Development By Kay Colson Personal, foundation, corporate and community and panel discussions in support of the issues facing relationships are key to a successful fund development women around the world while charging moderate fees program and the USNC board is proud to report that our for attendance to offset our costs. In 2010, Leslie Wright efforts over the past two years have begun to pay off for UN and the Metropolitan New York chapter partnered with Women. Some of our successes have come as pleasant the National Council for Research on Women, delivering surprises—but most have resulted from dedication and a conference which not only educated the community hard work. Traditionally, the chapters have held varying but also earned $30,000. Building on that effort in 2011, types of fund development programs and their donations Younghee Overly and the North Carolina chapter forged have been the primary source of our annual donation to relationships with two strong corporate partners, GSK and UN Women. While local efforts will always be an important IBM, to deliver a memorable conference earning $27,000 component of our overall fund development planning, over for UN Women. The vision and expertise brought to us by the past year we have begun to develop a new vision. The these dedicated women, their chapters, and their partners first step was a complete analysis of our database. Then have resulted in a second nationally managed, financially we examined what has worked in the past to decide our successful, annual program. next steps. Reviewing the past few years’ efforts and Planned Giving successes have fueled our determination to do more, to Over the years, the USNC has been the recipient of a variety expand our relationships, to raise money in multiple ways, of small bequests, but this year we were both surprised and to become far more productive both at the national as and grateful when Dorothy Dillon left us $57,000 in her will. well as local levels to support UN Women. She had been a loyal member since 1999 and her gift has National Walks to End Violence Against Women inspired us to launch a new Planned Giving program. It will Begun in 2008, the first walks garnered 129 supporters be introduced with new membership collateral in the third and raised $3,000. In 2009, two committed national board quarter of this year. members, Sara Hurwitch and Maggie Forster Schmitz, Quarterly Email Appeals decided to put their collective talents and determination to In 2008, we began to use Constant Contact as an important work to transform this event into a national effort that would email tool to manage periodic appeals with the holiday ensure it grew, prospered and delivered greater benefits for season campaign as an anchor for this activity.