There are many women I admire, both living and deceased. Some are well known by name only and others worked quietly in the background to advance women’s rights and places in society. In America, there were many women who set about to change things, beginning with the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She used the Declaration of Independence as a guideline to present her Declaration of Principles to show women’s subordinate status. Her recommendations for change included the right to vote, a cause that carried forward during the Civil War and afterwards. Stanton established the American Equal Rights Association in 1866 to further the fight for women’s rights. In 1872, Susan B. Anthony was arrested for trying to vote for Uylsses S. Grant in the presidential election. Some years later additional groups were established such as the National Council of Jewish Women and the National Association of Colored Women, among others. Finally, in 1920, the US Amendment was ratified giving citizens of the US the right to vote without regard to sex.

The League of Women Voters proposed the Equal Rights Amendment to Congress in 1923. This effort to eliminate discrimination on the basis of gender did not pass. Almost 50 years later Congress passed the ERA in 1972.

The ERA is simple:
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

Here is the shock: The ERA has never been ratified, in other words, it is still not a part of the US Constitution. Go to http://www.equalrightsamendment.org to learn more.

Some of the women I admire, like the extraordinary women I have already mentioned? Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart, US Astronaut Sally Ride, Jane Austen, Anne Frank, Indira Gandhi, and so many more. Thank you for being brave, curious, creative and committed to the rights of all citizens.

This is the latest installment in a multi-part series that pays tribute to Women’s History Month.

Today’s featured member:

Ellen L. Gilmer

Country: USA (New York City)

Occuptation: Writer/composer and artist

Organization: Crystal Clear Artforms Dedicated to the development and promotion of the thematic arts in multiple forms.

Biography: Ellen Gilmer is owner of Crystal Clear Artforms. Her work includes poetry, prose and article writing, and she is a correspondent for the International Press Association, writing feature articles mainly on arts and culture. Ellen has published two books: La Belle Famille (a novel); and Free Style Run of the Heart, a book of dramatic monologues with songs. Her books were published by Pentland Press Ltd. and Carnegie Publishing Ltd. in England. At present, Ellen is at work on a second novel as well as a book concerning the kinetics of language; and she is currently owner of an Internet informational and educational marketing franchise, Profit with Ellen.com, through Emerald Passport Publishing, Inc.

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Today’s featured member:

Dr. Lady Dhyana Ziegler, Ph.D.

Country: USA

Occupation: Professor of Journalism at Florida A&M University

Biography: Dr. Lady Dhyana Ziegler is Professor of Journalism at Florida A&M University. From 1998-2007, she served as the Assistant Vice President for Instructional Technology and Academic Affairs. From 2006-2007 she also served as the Interim Director of the Office of International Education and Development. Dr. Ziegler came to FAMU in 1997 after she was selected as the Garth C. Reaves Eminent Scholar Chair of Excellence in Journalism. Prior to that appointment, she served as Professor of Broadcasting at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville as well as the Associate Director for Diversity Resources and Educational Services. Dr. Ziegler is the first and only African-American to be elected President of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville Faculty Senate and later was a charter inductee into the University’s African-American Hall of Fame.

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If you read Organize Your Business Cards the Modern Way, I imagine you now have all of your networking contacts’ information stored electronically and easily accessible… right? Great! Now, the question is: are you using that information regularly and to its full potential? To make the most of this valuable archive– and all the time and energy you invested to create it!– you need to put yourself on a regular schedule of following up with your contacts. For those who you communicate with regularly, or are particularly “hot” leads, it’s easy to go the old fashioned route and write “Follow Up with Nancy” on a paper calendar.

But what about those countless people in your email address book or your LinkedIn network that you had forgotten about? People who may have leads that you don’t even know about? It’s important to stay in contact with these people in the outer reaches of your network, but it’s time consuming and difficult to remember to do this regularly.  Well, technology to the rescue once again. Check out Social Minder.  It’s a “social assistant” that taps into your Gmail or Outlook to access your LinkedIn network and keep tabs on who you are and aren’t contacting, and how often. It sends you weekly email reminders to let you know who you are neglecting. Good luck!

Today’s featured member:

Dr. Elisabeth van der Gulik, M.D. 

Country: The Netherlands

Occuptation: Occupational health physician Continue Reading »