Page 6 - California Woman Fall 2022

National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs:

Board of Directors Biennial Report, California Federation.

The mission of the California Federation is to promote and support equity for
working women in all phases of their lives and to promote personal empowerment
and professional development.

The report period covers the term of the Immediate Past President, Lynn
Brandstater, whose theme was “Advocate, Believe, Communicate.” The report pe-
riod coincides with the Covid pandemic. The COVID affected our communities, our
businesses and our personal lives, as it did worldwide. Therefore, stabilizing and
supporting the Districts and clubs and learning new ways to communicate, i.e.,
Zoom, became the priorities. Member numbers fortunately remained stable.

All of the California Federation members deserve to be recognized for excel-
lence, but particularly those members serving at the National and International lev-
els during the reporting period. They include: Sher Singh, Sandy Thompson, Ashley
Maria, Katherine Winans, Keri Hess, Manjul Batra, Linda Wilson, Barbara J. Davis,
Lynn Brandstater, Marjory Hopper, Michelle Proctor, Jane Taff and this President. A
special accolade is due Linda Wilson, who celebrated 50 years of BPW membership.

The California Federation supports a Public Policy Statement to guide member
involvement in issues and legislative advocacy. The number one item on the State-
ment is the Alice Paul’s Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). For the reporting period,
the focus issue to guide education, programming and advocacy was the elimination
of all forms of sexual harassment. Beginning in May, 2022 and continuing through
2024, there are two focus issues. The first one is reproductive justice for all wom-
en, in particular by increasing access to reproductive and sexual healthcare. The
second one is to protect voting rights for all eligible voters including women.

We received special recognition by the California State Assembly via Assembly-
rd
th
member Laura Friedman, 43 District, in honor of our 100 anniversary. The Feder-
ation was also recognized by the California State Senate via State Senator Anthony
th
th
Portantino, 25 District, for the 100 anniversary.

In March 2022, Burbank club member Gloria Salas was recognized as Woman
rd
of The Year for the 43 State Assembly District by Assembly-member Laura Fried-
man, for her stellar community advocacy.
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