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WG-USA Board Elections 2011

Elections for the WG-USA Board will take place online from September 8-15, 2011.

The following WG-USA members are to be elected for the following positions.

Members in good standing will receive an e-mail invitation to vote on September 8, 2011. The invitation will give complete instructions. All voting will be done electronically.

The Annual General Meeting will be held on September 16-18, 2011.

Candidates

Candidate for Treasurer

Jeri Rhodes has been working in financial management for most of her career. After receiving her Masters in Finance, she worked in Corporate Accounting at Marriot Corporation. She served as Treasurer of St. John's College for five years and then moved to the Legal Industry. She has worked in financial and administrative management positions in law firms in DC and is currently Executive Director for Gilbert LLP, an insurance recovery firm.

She has served on several boards as Treasurer and/or President (among other offices), including the local branch of American Society of Women Accountants, the National Educational Foundation for Women Accountants, branch, state and national positions for AAUW, her church and currently for VGIF. The challenges of helping advance the mission in these organizations has been enhanced by getting to know and working with other women in these organizations.

Jeri spent most of her childhood in developing countries (the Middle East and West Africa) as her father was in the Foreign Service and worked for Westinghouse International. She has attended IFUW conferences and participated actively with VGIF.

Jeri sees the Treasurer’s role of identifying ways for the organization to accomplish its goals and to make sure money is managed wisely and effectively. She also wants to preserve the work of the past Treasurer as it is very clear and useful for Board planning.

Candidate for Program

Janet Heinicke has served as Program Convener for the past three years. She is a professional artist with a BA and MA in Art Education; MFA in painting; and an EdD in Educational Administration. She has taught at all levels and is now Professor of Art emeritus at Simpson College in IA. Presently she teaches through the Des Moines Senior College and the Des Moines Art Center Museum.

During a sabbatical, Janet worked at the University of Latvia at Riga; has been a guest lecturer in Japan at a Girls school and an art institute in Ukraine; and also worked as a visiting artist in Tanzania and Malaysia. She has continued her travels in this part of the world through her Evangelical Lutheran church and as president of Iowa Sister States, a quasi governmental organization which carries out state to state commitments with eight states, provinces or governmental entities in eight different parts of the world.

Janet is a fifty year member of AAUW and has held many positions in the organization from State President of Iowa to the chair of the “Design for the Second Century” Committee which devised a new structure for the organization at the time of its hundredth anniversary. She attended IFUW conferences in Scotland and presented a paper at Stanford. She has been a member of WG-USA for four years.

Janet sees her academic work reflected in her role as Program Convener for it gives her the opportunity to initiate new programs. WG-USA is challenged today to shape its program to fit the needs and interest of the membership in the United States. Finally, the program needs to develop a pathway for effective advocacy.

Candidates for Member-at-Large

** Vote for TWO **

Barbara Carey has served as a Member-at-Large on the board for the past two years. She has been a member of WG-USA since its inception. She has a BA and MA from Stanford University and has been a music teacher for 50 years and a professional vocal soloist. Barbara has been a community leader in the arts, civic groups, board member for AAUW on all levels, active in Girl Scouts and the Episcopal Church. She is the founding member and participant in the Carlsbad Chorale.

Barbara has attended several IFUW triennial conferences, participated in UWE conferences in Ireland and England and CFUW conferences. She is a long time member and past President of VGIF. Barbara has been active in AAUW for many years and has held offices on all levels from state president to International Affairs Liaison for New Mexico. Over the years, Barbara has hosted international students in her home and still maintains contact with all of them.

In describing her goals as a Member-at-Large, Barbara envisions advancing the influence of WG-USA in the United States and promoting membership in the organization.

Meg Sheketoff joined WG-USA through her friendship with Louise McLeod and Carolyn Cowgill in the Doylestown AAUW branch. She has spent most of her life in the Philadelphia area with a brief stint in college during the late 60’s and early 70’s attending Quaker College in Ohio. After college she lived in St.Croix, US Virgin Islands. On returning to the Philadelphia area, Meg earned a teaching certificate in Math, English, and a Master’s degree in Education. She is a retired math teacher and taught in the Philadelphia area developing several alternative programs.

Meg attended the IFUW conference in Mexico City and will be attending the WG-USA AGM in Minneapolis. Since retiring, she has done an extensive amount of volunteering, including cooking for poor seniors and MANNAPA.org (cooking for AIDS patients); training for a women’s domestic abuse hotline; mentoring inner city girls on their quest for a college education through Philadelphia Futures.org.; and working with an AAUW group to develop a program concerning trafficking of women and girls in Bucks County, PA. Meg also runs a virtual political organization in her area and spends countless hours campaigning for candidates both nationally and locally.

Meg has travelled extensively including China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica, Mexico, Israel, and throughout Europe. She leverages the expertise of her daughter who has worked in international development.

Meg’s vision for serving on the board is to make the world a little bit better for the female sex and along the way learn and grow personally. She has spent her life working for that goal through teaching math and fostering success for girls in her classes.

Candidates Running Independently 

Candidates who wish to run independently for a position, as they might from the floor in a face-to-face meeting, must send their contact information, biographical data, and a candidate's statement to the convener of the Governance Committee by August 20 kljbmagill@yahoo.com.

If a WG-USA member wants to nominate another person, the same information will be required, along with a permission statement from the proposed candidate that she allows her name to be forwarded by the WG-USA member.

All candidates will then be informed that there will be a contested election. An email blast will be sent to all members with the biographical information and the statement of the independent candidate(s), and if they so desire, a statement from other candidates. Independent candidate's names will then be added to the ballot prior to electronic voting.