{"id":20696,"date":"2026-09-03T15:45:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T15:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=20696"},"modified":"2026-09-03T15:45:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T15:45:18","slug":"aauw-toledo-hosts-equity-in-action-brunch-on-womens-equality-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/03\/aauw-toledo-hosts-equity-in-action-brunch-on-womens-equality-day\/","title":{"rendered":"AAUW Toledo Hosts Equity in Action Brunch on Women\u2019s Equality Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_20697\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20697\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-20697\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Valerie-Simmons-Walston-ThD-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Valerie-Simmons-Walston-ThD-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Valerie-Simmons-Walston-ThD-370x247.jpg 370w, http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Valerie-Simmons-Walston-ThD.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20697\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Valerie Simmons-Walston, ThD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>By Dawn Scotland<\/em><br \/>\n<em>The Truth Reporter<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Toledo branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) held its Equality in Action brunch Wednesday, August 26 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the National Museum of Great Lakes. The event was entitled <em>Women&#8217;s Equality Day: From Progress to Equity in<\/em> Action. The morning served as a time for networking and fellowship for women and featured both a panel discussion and the branch\u2019s inaugural Presidential Empower and Elevate awards.<\/p>\n<p>A room filled with women from different backgrounds, ages and disciplines joined together for brunch at the National Museum of the Great Lakes to commemorate Women\u2019s Equality Day and discuss not only how far women have come but the barriers that still exist.<\/p>\n<p>Women&#8217;s Equality Day commemorates the certification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, a landmark achievement following more than seven decades of organized advocacy for women&#8217;s suffrage. The movement&#8217;s history includes the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, widely recognized as the first women&#8217;s rights convention in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>The event began with a welcome from Kate Fineske, executive director of the National Museum of the Great Lakes and AAUW Toledo president Valerie\u00a0Waltson. Walston is the newly-installed president of the branch and presented her inaugural Presidential Empower and Elevate Awards to the following leaders:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Betty Thomas<\/li>\n<li>Heather Burton, PhD<\/li>\n<li>Suzette Cowell, ThD<\/li>\n<li>Mary Helen Darah<\/li>\n<li>Anita Madison<\/li>\n<li>Kerri Rose-Rochelle<\/li>\n<li>La\u2019Shardae Scott, DSW<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-20698 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/unnamed-1-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/unnamed-1-1-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/unnamed-1-1-370x247.jpg 370w, http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/unnamed-1-1.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>The brunch featured a panel discussion that ranged from topics of mental health to physical wellbeing and more. The discussion was moderated by Lois Bingham Jordan and included panelists Kathryn Tucker (The Fractional Firm), Candice Harrison (SSOE), Rev. Gayle Catinella (Episcopal Church) and Marcia L. Dinkins, PhD, (Black Appalachian Coalition (BLAC). The event concluded with Presidential Remarks from Watson and an Audience Q&amp;A session.<\/p>\n<p>Partners and sponsors included Assets Toledo, Pursuit Magazine, Toledo Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Toledo Chapter of Charms Inc. and the Toledo Chapter of Top Ladies of Distinction. Food and refreshments were catered by Whisk Takers, LLC.<\/p>\n<p>The next event hosted by the Toledo AAUW will be <em>Vision and Vibes AAUW Toledo Power in partnership with Her Evolution Co. and Blac Appalachian Coalition<\/em> on September 17\u00a0 Time: 5:30\u00a0 Location TBA.<\/p>\n<p>The American Association of University Women (AAUW) empowers women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research. The nonpartisan, nonprofit organization has more than 170,000 members and supporters across the United States, as well as 1,000 local branches and 800 college and university partners. AAUW Toledo is a local branch of the American Association of University Women, an organization with a longstanding commitment to advancing equity for women and girls through education, advocacy, leadership and community engagement. Since AAUW&#8217;s founding in 1881, the \u00a0members have examined and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day: educational, social, economic, and political. The learn more visit at www.aauw.org.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about AAUW Toledo visit toledo-oh.aauw.net.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Dawn Scotland The Truth Reporter The Toledo branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) held its Equality in Action brunch Wednesday, August 26 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the National Museum of Great Lakes. The event was entitled Women&#8217;s Equality Day: From Progress to Equity in Action. The morning served [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20699,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[250,17],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[363],"class_list":["post-20696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20696"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20700,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20696\/revisions\/20700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20696"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=20696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}