The filing period to run for office is January 21-30.

Offices you may be able to run for in your town:

• Select Board
• School Board
• Zoning Board of Adjustment
• Planning Board
• Municipal Budget Committee
• Supervisors of Checklist
• Moderator
• Trustee of Trust Funds
• Library Trustee 
• Cemetery Trustee
• Water Commissioner
• Town Clerk
• Tax Collector
• School Treasurer

Join us for a virtual Women Run event ahead of town elections on Wednesday January 28 at 5:30 PM. You can sign up here!

If you’re thinking about running for office now or in the future, or want to support other women who run, Women Run is for you! Women Run is the Granite State’s only nonpartisan program empowering and training women to run for state and local office. For more information, visit our Women Run page.

*Per the New Hampshire Municipal Association Conway and Merrimack hold town elections in April. Hanover, Moultonborough, Newport, Peterborough, Stoddard, New Castle, and Hebron hold town elections in May. As always, make sure you double check with your town clerk’s office for all official and up-to-date information! 

The post 2026 NH Town Elections — Information for Candidates appeared first on New Hampshire Women's Foundation.

UPDATE 3/25/22, from our NHWF Weekly newsletter:

The U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent data from the 2020 American Community Survey was made available last week and includes important data that provides insights related to New Hampshire women and girl’s health, education, and economic well-being. The New Hampshire Women’s Foundation will be using this data in future briefs, reports, and posts that highlight the trends, disparities, and opportunity for New Hampshire women and girls.

A highlight from the data finds that New Hampshire women continue to face significant economic gender disparities, showing little progress, and in some cases a regression, compared to past years.

Gender Wage Gap Widens in New Hampshire — This new data shows that in 2020, New Hampshire women made 80 cents for every dollar a man made, compared to 82 cents in 2019. This grows the gender wage gap from 18 cents to 20 cents.

******

Original post 3/15/22:

The post Equal Pay Day 2022 — New Hampshire Women Still Face Pay Gap appeared first on New Hampshire Women's Foundation.

The abortion ban, or what’s being called the Fetal Life Protection Act, is one of the most infuriating governmental laws I have seen passed throughout my entire life. Now is one the most important times of the decade to impose woman empowerment and rights. 

So what truly is feminism? 

Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of equality of the sexes. But in this concept, what are the benefits of these actions without the collective advocating of all communities within women?

Black Men could vote before white women because white men saw and still see white women as vessels for white supremacy. They need white women to make more of them and they have no problem stripping you of your rights to make sure this continues. To make sure their sweet controlled and loyal housewife is still at home to cook their dinner and do their laundry. And even after this treatment, white women still seem to ignore racial issues because it doesn’t affect them, or because it was in defense for another man. 

The whiteness you behold does not shield you from the effects of inequality so do not act like it shall. If you want to discuss equality and women’s empowerment within corporations, governmental and political positions, and other subjects pertaining to those ideas, you need to first get your head out of the white feminism mindset and discuss the issues POC women face.

Because if not together we fight, then inevitably the effects will be the same. All the so-called accomplishments created and enforced by these ‘feminists’ aren’t going to do any justice for the Black women who died or their child died in birth because the pregnancy related mortality rate is still 4 – 5 times higher than white women’s. It’s not going to give Black women that 20% of their check back because that’s the pay gap between Black and white women. It’s not going to advocate for women who can no longer wear hijabs in France because they are discussing the passing of laws to ban wearing these articles of clothing, or the women not controlled under the Taliban’s rule being beaten, raped, and ripped from their rights and religion. 

I recognize that we all face misogyny as women here in America, and it’s disgusting. But do not let it persuade you to forget that the type of misogyny women of color face is a whole other type of mistreatment you wouldn’t be able to wrap your heads around if you tried. Be actively intersectional with the work you do and the accomplishments that can come from practicing that one idea might lead to be one of the biggest impacts within women’s history, ever. 

Marginalized women are not included within mainstream feminism so it leads to us creating our own spaces and advocating for ourselves. Feminism without intersectionality and recognizing the issues with women of color is just more white supremacy with a dress on. It’s reinforcing white privilege in disguise. 

Many want to discuss how being more self revealing and showing more of our bodies is a form of liberation. I can see the perspective of this of course, allowing self confidence and comfort within our own bodies is very important. Being able to see and allow others to see ourselves without fear of being sexualized or tormented because of it is much needed. If it’s a form of liberation for you, then that’s amazing, but this also forgets all the women who choose to cover up more whether it’s because of religion or not, and in these instances many of these women are POCs. So again, concepts like this will never truly be reinforced without allowing women of color to step up and out of the hole we are trapped in because of the embedded racism in society and the systems. 

As Angela Davis said…

“Feminism involves so much more than gender equality and it involves so much more than gender. Feminism must involve consciousness of capitalism (I meant feminism that I relate to, and there are multiple feminisms, right). So it has to involve a consciousness of capitalism and racism and colonialism and post-colonialism, and ability and more genders than we can even imagine and more sexualities than we ever thought we could name.”

Woman empowerment and feminism is one of the most significant ways of activism throughout my life, and I am a woman as many of you can see. So continuing this movement and keeping it inclusive of all and educating ourselves is what we need to to to further women’s voices and actions within the world. 

But again, thank you for all of you showing up to this event and showing the tremendous support, and enjoy the march!

I am Saniyah Bolton, and I’m a sophomore at Exeter High School. I am a co-director of the BLM Seacoast Youth Division and a representative of BLM Seacoast.

Watch Saniyah deliver this speech here: https://www.facebook.com/blklivesmatterseacoast/videos/235238818632129 

The post Women’s March Speech by Saniyah Bolton appeared first on New Hampshire Women's Foundation.

With the help of our series sponsor ReVision Energy, NHWF has used the Gender Justice Cafe series to create spaces to explore how various justice issues intersect with gender justice, here in New Hampshire and more broadly. In our Climate Feminism conversation, we teamed up with League of Conservation Voters to address clear themes of gender inequality in climate activism among women and girls locally and regionally, including access to resources and versatility in leadership.

Intersection

When you think of climate activism, you don’t often think that climate activism and feminism go hand in hand. Dr. Katherine Wilkinson, our guest speaker opening up the panel discussion, explained that in order to have climate justice, we have to have gender justice. Women globally are more affected by climate change poverty, rising sea levels and extreme weather events. One example of gender inequality in climate change: climate change is directly affecting the agricultural industry and the overall production and quality of food and in developing countries, women are responsible for 60-80% of producing all food.

Dr. Wilkinson noted that as the earth’s temperature has increased there has been a rise in gender-based violence. She said, “Climate change is deepening existing gender inequalities from domestic abuse to sex trafficking and beyond.” When asked by the event moderator, Daniel Weeks, about the meaning of Climate Feminism, Dr. Wilkinson said, “A gender just world is not possible in the absence of rapidly and radically transforming the global economy and stemming greenhouse gasses…when we think about a feminist future could look like, we have to think about that in the context of a warming world.”

Leadership

In previous conversations on gender justice, we see lack of access to resources and representation in leadership as continued obstacles for reaching gender justice, which is also a topic of importance when we think of climate justice. The inspiration behind writing her bestselling book All We Can Save, Dr. Wilkinson said that the books she read on climate activism were written by “mostly men, mostly white, mostly older” authors, and when we see climate activism in the mainstream media, again it’s presented by “mostly men, mostly white, mostly older” people. She said, “when we’re talking about a planetary crisis, we have look at it with a kaleidoscope…all perspectives are limited, we need layering of experiences, perspectives, analyses and visions to begin to make sense of the problem in a holistic and helpful way.”

In addition to the data set presenting the intersection of climate justice and gender justice, there’s also a positive data set that shows, “When women are present and leading, climate policy is more effective, emissions reductions are more effective, protection of land is more effective.” Dr. Wilkinson states it’s a “very clear necessity of gender privity in leadership.”

We see this impact of leadership in the featured panel, like Maria Perez, NH State Representative (Milford), who is currently fighting for clean water in New Hampshire and recently proposed a bill (SB114), which would require training of NH State Park officials to handle race and gender discrimination on public land and parks. Denise Pouliot is also leading change by stopping the renewal of dam leases that are affecting the local ecosystem.

Climate Feminism Now

When asked what the community of New Hampshire can do now to fight the climate crisis, Julia Dundorf, Executive Director of the New England Grassroots Environment Fund, noted that because New Hampshire is a small state, our community is in a unique situation to “have a lot of impact.” She went on to explain that we, as a society, need to think about how we’re meeting and ask questions like: Who is communicating these meetings? When are we meeting? Are we providing childcare? Do we have systems and protocols to hear divergent and non-traditional voices to lean on differences? Simple implements such as providing childcare during meetings and events can open up opportunities for working mothers, which the NHWF has seen with Women Run! events.

Denise K. Pouliot stressed the importance of speaking up and showing up for your environment and organizations that are working to protect it. “We only have one planet! When we talk about environmental justice, we’re actually talking about survivability of us as a species.”

Representative Maria Perez also championed speaking up for your community and environment and the importance of talking to your regional legislatures. On the topic of water contamination, she said, “The people of New Hampshire do care.” By writing your legislature, leaving voicemails, or even testifying gives more power to the community—the most important decision makers for the environment.

Part of the goal of Gender Justice Cafe is to help answer the question: “How do we move from ‘Just Is’ to ‘Justice’”? When the panel was asked this question, all described the importance having access to resources, and the importance of philanthropy to support environmental programs and organizations such as Grassroots and Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki People. Without the capital to do the work, as Dr. Wilkinson simply stated, “it won’t work.”

The next Gender Justice Cafe conversations in 2021 will discuss topics of racial equity and intersectionality, as well as transgender justice. For more information about this event and future events, please visit our Gender Justice Cafe page.

***

Article by contributing author Samantha Bradbury-Koster

The post Gender Justice Cafe: Climate Feminism appeared first on New Hampshire Women's Foundation.

The Gender Justice Café is a series of statewide conversations around important topics that impact equity in women and girls, and beyond. In our inaugural series event on the topic of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted women and girls globally, there were clear themes among women and girls locally and regionally including unemployment, access to healthcare and an increase of domestic abuse.

Unemployment

Across the board panelists shared the stories of the women and girls they work with that have faced unemployment and financial instability due to the pandemic. Disproportionally women of color were more severely affected by job loss because they’re more likely to work frontline and essential jobs and forced to choose between job security and taking care of their family. Carolyn Musyimi-Kamau, said that many women in their program had to stop working due to home schooling, and their older daughters were more likely to step in as babysitters so their parents could work, which kept those girls from their education. Musyimi-Kamau’s organization ORIS was able to get involved in many cases to help provide access to online learning through education of programs such as Zoom and providing laptops to families in need. Additionally, through their farming program run by the refugees, women and families in need were able to produce 96,000 pounds of food, to help the community and feed their families.

Access to Health Care

Access to health care and job security often go hand in hand. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, many people lost access to their healthcare coverage. Elsy Cipriani shared that many women have put their health on hold to take care of their families, but also out of fear of going to the hospital and potentially getting exposed to the virus. Cipriani also noted that many health care centers only focused on taking care of patients with COVID-19 and put annual check-ups and preventative care on hold, which put many women and families at risk for missing signs of serious underlying health issues. In Kenya, access to health care has been even more difficult for women and girls during the pandemic. Blair Demers and Mary Kiguru both spoke about how there’s limited access to personal health items such as sanitation towels, which causes women and girls to miss work and school. Currently women in Kenya don’t have reproductive rights, however through the work at EFAC, mentors and counselors help to educate women and girls about their bodies and reproductive health. Mary Kiguru stated, “Empowering women with education allows them to take charge of their life, and giving women and girls access to health care is the best thing we can do for them right now.”

Increase of Domestic Violence

Due to necessary quarantine lockdowns around the world to flatten the curve, many women and girls were forced into isolation with their abusers. Statistics around domestic violence show reports have drastically decreased through the pandemic; however, this is not due to fewer cases, but because women haven’t been able to report the abuse. Elsy Cipriani said, “This lack of information makes it difficult to get funding to support women.”

Katherine Kolios noted that through her work with Rain, she’s been able to use the rights to child marriage as a close approximation to determine violence against women saying, “75% of women are married by 18, and 28% are married by 15 and this power imbalance puts women in vulnerable positions.”

Carolyn Musyimi-Kamau has been able to help identify domestic abuse situations through the ORIS online afterschool program designed to help students keep on track. By listening to the kids talk about their home life, ORIS mentors were able to identify hardships such as lack of food and domestic abuse. Similarly, Mary Kiguru has worked with her program counselors to educate women about abuse and to teach negotiation skills that could help women and girls defend themselves in escalated situations.

Although there are many secondary issues that were brought to the surface due to the pandemic, across the board panelists were able to identify silver linings to help women and girls in their programs.  Such initiatives include creative ways of communication online, and developing grassroots partnerships to strengthen support for women.

Part of the goal of Gender Justice Café is to help answer the question: “How do we move from ‘Just Is’ to ‘Justice’”? When the panel was asked this question, all described the importance of philanthropy to support programs and organizations that help women and girls, but also the necessity to include men and boys in the conversation. Katherine Kolios noted, “When everyone is involved in the conversation, change is more sustainable and has a more systemic impact.”

Future Gender Justice Café conversations in 2021 will include topics such as climate justice, racial equity and intersectionality, as well as transgender justice. For more information about this event and future events, please visit https://nhwomensfoundation.org/gjc/.

***

Article by contributing author Samantha Bradbury-Koster

The post The Inaugural Gender Justice Café kicks off on International Women’s Day appeared first on New Hampshire Women's Foundation.

Start your International Women’s Day with a panel talking about global gender justice. The conversation will explore the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on women, violence against women, and global healthcare issues including family planning and access to menstrual products. 

Panelists for this inaugural conversation:

• Elsy Cipriani, Executive Director of New Generation, and New Hampshire Women’s Foundation board member
• Blair Demers, Executive Director of Education for all Children (EFAC)
• Mary Kiguru, Kenyan Country Director of Education for all Children(EFAC)
• Katherine Kolios, Executive Director of Rain for the Sahel and Sahara 
• Carolyn Musyimi-Kamau, Program Manager for New American Africans/ Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success (ORIS)

The post Kick Off International Women’s Day with the Gender Justice Cafe appeared first on New Hampshire Women's Foundation.

To best enjoy our exciting 2020 WBC “She Votes” program, we suggest the following:

• Step One — Set up your TV, computer or whatever device you’ll be watching on
• Step Two — Cue up our live stream video on Facebook or YouTube (see instructions below)
• Step Three — Text some friends to join you (or create a Watch Party on Facebook, see below)
• Step Four — Tune in and be inspired!

*Bonus: Post photos of your live stream viewing party using the hashtag #WomenBuildingCommunity on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter — we’ll be sharing some of them at the end of the live program!

Watching on Facebook?

The event will be streaming Live on our Facebook Page starting at 12pm. RSVP to the Facebook Live event!

Keep an eye on your notifications — if you’re RSVPed to the even, you’ll be notified when the event begins!

Watching on YouTube?

The YouTube livestream will start at 11:58am with some music, and the event will start at 12pm.  Access the YouTube live stream directly.

If you are using the YouTube app on your phone/tablet, smart TV, Apple TV, Roku or other streaming device, you can find our channel by searching “New Hampshire Women’s Foundation” and the video “NHWF WBC 2020”

Be sure to click “Set Reminder” to be notified when the event is beginning — or if it’s started already, just click to join!

Our annual WBC is really all about #WomenBuildingCommunity — so here are five ways you can build community around this event:

#1 — Join the Pre-Event Networking

Upgrade to a paid ticket ahead of time and you’ll be able to register to join the pre-event networking portion of the event on Zoom! We’ll be splitting attendees up into virtual “tables” (breakout rooms) and will lightly facilitate networking leading up to the main program. This is as close as we’ll get to our high-energy milling about in the lobby before the event!

#2 — Create a Watch Party Group on Facebook

Once the event begins, you can create a “Watch Party” post in your feed and invite all of your friends, or tag/invite specific friends to watch with you — you’ll be able to chat with each other live in the comments! You can also create a private Group ahead of time if you want to invite your Watch Party guests in advance (they will only be added if they Accept the invitation). Name it something fun like, “Jackie’s Book Club Watches WBC together!” so your friends know why you’re inviting them to this new Group.

#3 — Text your Friends

Watching on your big-screen TV via YouTube and know others who are as well? Text them throughout the event with your reactions — it’s like whispering to your table-mates in person!

#4 — Post your #WomenBuildingCommunity selfie

Join in the virtual lunch-online stream by posting your selfie using the hashtag #WomenBuildingCommunity! Not only will you join the live conversation around the hashtag on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, we might pick your photo to show at the end of our live program!

#5 — Buy some She Votes swag

Carry the message and spirit of the event into the future by ordering a She Votes mask or Tee with your ticket — who knows what fellow attendee you may bump into on a future Zoom, or once we’re back to socializing in person!

Links to tickets, swag and the Facebook and YouTube livestreams can all be found here: nhwomensfoundation.org/wbc.

The post How to Watch the 2020 WBC event — She Votes: The 19th Amendment & The Road Ahead appeared first on New Hampshire Women's Foundation.

Save the Date for our 2020 Annual GAL|A

Friday, May 15, 2020
6-10 pm
Portsmouth NH

Online registration to open end of March.

For sponsorship opportunities or to learn more, call 603-226-3355.

The post 2020 GALA appeared first on New Hampshire Women's Foundation.

Our 15th annual WBC took place on October 24, 2019. We honored the pioneering women and organizations that were the base on which the New Hampshire Women’s Foundation of today was built. 2019 marked the 50th anniversary of the Commission on the Status of Women and the 20th anniversary of the Women’s Fund – milestones that were reflected and celebrated.

See pictures from the event!

And before the luncheon: Women in the #603

This year’s Women in the #603 program featured Women Run! 2 years out. We heard from a panel of Women Run! alumnae and past speakers, learned what they are doing today and what they took away from being part of the Women Run! program.

Senator Donna Soucy
Senate President, 4th term
District 18, Manchester
Women Run! faculty

Representative Latha Mangipudi
State Representative, 4th term
Hillsborough District 35, Nashua
Women Run! faculty

Representative Sue Mullen
State Representative, 1st term
Hillsborough District 7, Bedford
Women Run! Class of 2018

Councilor Lindsey Williams
Dover City Council At-Large, 1st term
Women Run! Class of 2017

The post 2019 WBC appeared first on New Hampshire Women's Foundation.

The New Hampshire Women’s Foundation was pleased to host 
Ted Bunch of A CALL TO MEN on September 5 in Portsmouth.

Ted Bunch is an educator, activist, and lecturer working to end all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls. Ted spoke about promoting a healthy, respectful manhood, male socialization and its intersection with violence, and preventing violence against all women and girls.

View the event photo album.

Read the nice write-up in Foster’s Daily Democrat.

See an example of Ted in action – watch this video.

The post A Call to Men appeared first on New Hampshire Women's Foundation.