Women are still stuck at the level of the 20% Gender Wage Gap.  April 2, 2019 is the US Date for recognizing this dismal gap.  AAUW Midland MI Branch and Zonta Club of Midland are continuing to try to bring this gap to the attention of their members.  As part of our advocacy for Equal Pay, we are sending our members a link for the free course, Work Smart (https://salary.aauw.org).

Work Smart is a free AAUW online course that teaches all women who are in the workforce or returning to the workforce how to negotiate salary and benefits.  It gives information on women’s salary statistics, why they are at a 20% gender gap, and information helping women to negotiate to close the gap.  The course provides information on where to research salaries for specific jobs in specific locations, suggestions on how to conduct the salary negotiations and practice sessions for the negotiations.

We are asking our members to try the workshop and send it on to 5 more women regardless of their work status.  Even those not working will know working women who could benefit from this course.   All women young and old can profit from the knowledge in this course.

Judy Donahue, Midland AAUW Public Policy Co-chair
Rachelle Ferman, Zonta Club of Midland Advocacy Chair

For nearly 100 years, the members of Zonta International have been champions on behalf of the world’s women and girls. At the Zonta International Convention in Yokahama, Japan in July more than 2,000 members from around the world prepared to usher Zonta into a new century of positive impact as Zonta gets ready to celebrate its centennial in 2019.

Zonta Club of Midland members Trish Steele, 2nd Vice President, and Rachelle Ferman, Advocacy Chair, represented the local club at the convention and accepted an award recognizing the club for its generous support of the Zonta International Foundation (ZIF) during the 2016-18 Biennium. The Midland club hosts several fundraisers each year, including the annual Homewalk in December, with overall funds raised divided between local scholarships, local service grants and ZIF.

In the 2018–2020 Biennium, with the generous support of Zonta clubs and individual club members around the world, Zonta International will contribute more than 5 million US Dollars to projects and programs to empower women and girls. Zonta’s international service projects, including a major international project to eliminate child marriage, will focus on young women as both beneficiaries of the projects Zonta supports and as change makers themselves. Zonta will also expand its existing educational programs with the launch of the Zonta International Women in Technology Scholarship to encourage more women leaders in technology fields across the globe.

Trish and Rachelle participated in business meetings, workshops and cultural events during the convention and brought back new ideas for implementing Zonta’s goals locally. The goals for 2018-20 are to maximize Zonta’s impact through service and advocacy initiatives and educational programs that empower women and girls; strengthen resources to support the mission; and enhance Zonta’s profile around the world through centennial anniversary activities. The club is expanding local activities for the Zonta Says No to Violence Against Women, Equal Pay Day, and Ending Human Trafficking campaigns along with local membership drives to support these goals.
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The Zonta Club of Midland invites all area women to explore what Zonta has to offer members in support of women and girls in the community and around the world at a membership event on Thursday October 25th. For more information please go to ZontaCubofMidland.org or email membership@ZontaClubofMidland.org.

Members Lisa Hulbert, Linda Anthony and Cindy Vickery met up with District 15 officers Cheryl Hall and Denise Quarles and may representatives from other organizations at the Equal Pay Day Rally in Lansing on Tuesday April 10th. Prior to the rally we attended the House Commerce and Labor committee meeting then met with representatives individually to provide information on the cause and express our desire to provide a 30 minute informational session to the committee at a future date. May were successful in connecting with the elected officials, others met with their staff. 

The rally was held on the steps of the capitol and included several speeches from elected officials and a lawyer who specializes in equal pay cases. Everyone present agreed that we would rather not have to rally for equal pay because it was a reality and that we would all work toward that goal.

March Dinner Meeting
Judy Donahue from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) will present Equal Pay issues and activities  during the March dinner meeting on the 20th.  The AAUW of Michigan along with Zonta International District 15 and many other area organizations are members of the Michigan Equal Pay Coalition that organizes the annual Equal Pay Day Rally in Lansing to support legislative efforts towards equal pay.

Equal Pay Day Rally April 10th
Join fellow Zontians at an Equal Pay Day rally on Tuesday, April 10th. This is a full day event. Zontians can register with the link below and pay $15. Our club members will be reimbursed the $15 from Advocacy committee funds after they attend the rally. Registration begins at 8:30 am and we'll finish up around 3:30 pm.

If we have enough people going, we will be looking into carpooling and/or a small bus of sorts to all ride together. 
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We would love as many people to attend as possible! Please wear red!!