Join us to meet US Representative Lois Frankel, Fl-21 (West Palm Beach) who has fought her whole career for women's rights and gender equality! Lois is co-chair of the House Democratic Women's Caucus and she will brief us on the current legislation going through Congress. These various bills will provide significant funding for childcare and other priorities for women not only across the country but around the world. Lois is advancing an increase in US aid funding of family planning programs abroad and to get rid of the iniquitous Hyde amendment. Then she’ll address the critical question: will the Women's Health Protection Act get passed to curtail the right-wing Republican state legislatures' attacks on reproductive healthcare?  

Congresswoman Frankel’s career has been dedicated to promoting Democratic values:  she served several terms in the Florida state legislature and as mayor of West Palm Beach before being elected to the House in 2012. We will also ask her to give us an update on what messaging the Democrats need to beat Senator Rubio and Governor DeSantis and elect more Democrats in Florida. 

Time Table Conversion Chart

This week, we will have the distinct honor of hosting Texas state representative Sheryl Cole, who represents Texas's 46th district. Rep. Cole sits on the state's Ways and Means, House Administration and Lifestock & Agriculture committees. We look forward to getting her insider's view of current events (dare we say craziness?) in the Texas state legislature.

If you’re from California—or even if you’re not—you might have heard that a special election is being held on September 14, 2021, in a GOP-led attempt to recall Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. 

If you’re unclear as to why this election is taking place, grab a chair. In 1911, California enacted a law that would allow the state’s voters to pass and repeal laws, as well as recall elected officials, by placing them on the ballot. The idea was to give ordinary Californians more voice and control over their government. This year, enough petition signatures were collected to proceed with a recall election of Gov. Newsom. This year’s recall petition was driven by the state’s conservative contingent, who claimed that the Governor had mishandled the pandemic in addition to preexisting gripes: the ongoing homelessness crisis, high taxes and cost of living, immigration, and rationing of water and energy use. It is important to remember that Gov. Newsom won his 2018 gubernatorial run in a landslide, and that he is up for reelection in 2022. This is a statewide election with nationwide implications - take it from the guys at Pod Save America! If you are a California voter, do not sit this one out! Registration deadline is August 30.

Professor Kanter will unravel questions such as:  Where has there been progress? What challenges and pitfalls remain? What issues are universal, and which vary by ethnicity, race, and social class? How can we “think outside the building” (beyond current structures and constraints) to mobilize activists for a more just and equitable world? Join us on Tuesday, September 21st at 11 am EDT to gain insights from this formidable leader on working towards a more just and equitable world. 

 

RSVP below! You will receive your link with a reminder mail shortly before the event.

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ROSABETH MOSS KANTER 

Rosabeth Moss Kanter holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at Harvard Business School, specializing in  strategy, innovation, and leadership for change. Her strategic and practical insights guide leaders worldwide  through teaching, writing, and direct consultation to major corporations, governments, and start-up ventures. She  co-founded the Harvard University-wide Advanced Leadership Initiative, guiding its planning from 2005 to its  launch in 2008 and serving as Founding Chair and Director from 2008-2018 as it became a growing international  model for a new stage of higher education preparing successful top leaders to apply their skills to national and  global challenges. Author or co-author of 20 books, her latest book, Think Outside the Building: How Advanced  Leaders Can Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time, has won a number of accolades. 

The former chief Editor of Harvard Business Review, Professor Kanter has been repeatedly named to lists such as the “50 most powerful women in the world” (Times of London), and the “50 most influential business thinkers in  the world” (Thinkers 50, and in November 2019 received their biannual Lifetime Achievement Award). She has  received 24 honorary doctoral degrees, as well as numerous leadership awards, lifetime achievement awards, and  

prizes. These include Distinguished Career Awards from the Academy of Management and the American  Sociological Association (Organizations, Occupations and Work Section); the World Teleport Association's  “Intelligent Community Visionary of the Year” award; the Pinnacle Award for Lifetime Achievement from the  Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce; the International Leadership Award from the Association of Leadership  Professionals; the Warren Bennis Award for Leadership Excellence; the Everett Rogers Innovation Award from  the Norman Lear Center for media and society; and several Harvard Business Review McKinsey Awards for the  years’ best articles. Other awards honor her thought leadership and community impact. 

Before Think Outside the Building, her previous book, MOVE: Putting America's Infrastructure Back in the Lead,  a New York Times Editors’ Choice, is a sweeping look across industries and technologies shaping the future of  mobility and the leadership required for transformation. Her book The Change Masters was named one of the  most influential business books of the 20th century (Financial Times); SuperCorp: How Vanguard Companies  Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Good, one of the ten best business books of the year by  Amazon.com; Evolve! Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow, one of the five best books of the year by  the Toronto Star. Her book Confidence: How Winning & Losing Streaks Begin & End, a New York Times bestseller (also a #1 Business Week bestseller), describes the culture of high-performance organizations compared  with those in decline and shows how to lead turnarounds, whether in businesses, schools, sports teams, or  countries. Men & Women of the Corporation, winner of the C. Wright Mills award for the best book on social  issues and often called a classic, offers insight into the individual and organizational factors that promote success  or perpetuate disadvantage for women; a related video, A Tale of ‘O’: On Being Different, is a widely-used tool  for diversity training. A related book, Work & Family in the United States, set a policy agenda, honored by a  coalition of university centers creating in her honor the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for the best work/family  research. Another award-winning book, When Giants Learn to Dance, shows how to master the new terms of  competition at the dawn of the global information age. World Class: Thriving Locally in the Global Economy identifies the dilemmas of globalization for cities, a theme continuing in her book MOVE. 

She advises numerous CEOs and senior executives through her consulting group and also serving as a Senior  Advisor for IBM’s Global Citizenship portfolio from 1999-2012. She has served on many business and non-profit  boards, such as City Year, the urban “Peace Corps” addressing the school dropout crisis through national service,  and on commissions including the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors, the U.S. Malcolm Baldrige  National Quality Award, and others. She speaks widely, and has shared the platform with Presidents, Prime  Ministers, and CEOs at major events, such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and national  industry conferences in over 20 countries. Before joining the Harvard Business School faculty, she held tenured  professorships at Yale University and Brandeis University and was a Fellow at Harvard Law School,  simultaneously holding a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her Ph.D. is from the University of Michigan. --December 2020

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Location	Local Event Start Time
Vancouver, Canada	8:00 AM
Minneapolis, USA	10:00 AM
Washington DC, USA	11:00 AM
London, UK	4:00 PM
Frankfurt, Germany	5:00 PM
Nairobi, Kenya	7:00 PM
Dubai, UAE	8:00 PM
Bangkok, Thailand	11:00 PM
Beijing, China	12:00 AM + 1 day

On March 8, 2021 DA Alicante was proud to host our 1st International Women's Day event.

As Americans living abroad in beautiful Spain, we decided that it was important to find out the past and current plight and struggles of Spanish women.  An amazing panel with diversified backgrounds in education, law, arts and culture, advertisement, activism, journalism, producers, directors, writers, artist, actors, interpreters, housing development, union organizer and administrators participated.

Our goal was to create an international bond of friendship and sisterhood!

The VIDEO of this wonderful event has been reproduced into two parts! Please take some time to listen, learn and possibly lend a helping hand to our Spanish friends.

* Video Length (Part 1): 1 hour 14 minutes
* Video Length (Part 2): 28 minutes

Part 2 of our March 8, 2021 International Women's Day event brings to the forefront some of the struggles of women not only in Spain but all over the world. Goya award winning screenwriter and director Ana Martinez Álvarez shared her short film, Pantalones, on women’s inequality through the discriminatory and sexual harassment practices that many women have faced over their careers. In Spain this 4-minute film was rated for all audiences which would be equivalent to a PG rating in the US. With that said, there are graphic scenes and viewer discretion is advised.

DA Spain Women's Caucus says Hola!

Twenty people attended the preliminary organizational meeting of the Democrats Abroad Spain Women’s Caucus on March 18. 

The meeting opened with participants’ introductions and a presentation by Ann Hesse, Chair of the DA Global Women’s Caucus (GWC). Ann provided a quick history of the GWC and laid out its three pillars: Education; Community Building; and Activism, particularly in the form of get-out-the-vote efforts. Approximately 10,000 women currently belong to the GWC. Over 300 of those members live in Spain.

Next up, moderator Andrea Host-Barth led the discussion, turning the focus to goals and organizational steps for a DA Spain Women’s Caucus. The Caucus intends to focus initially on providing education on environmental issues, and building community with small, local events. Members were encouraged to support the call-to-action initiatives already available on the GWC website. 

The Caucus hopes to play two other roles as well. First, the Caucus can interact with the GWC, helping members in Spain and members of the worldwide group to share ideas and coordinate activities. Second, the DA Spain Women’s Caucus can serve as a template for creating Women’s Caucuses in other countries. 

DA Spain’s Women’s Caucus is moving forward in its organizational process. The Caucus welcomes people of all genders as leaders, members, and volunteers. 

Not already a caucus member? Simply join the GWC caucus and you automatically are a Spain member. To get involved, fill out the Volunteer Information Form. 

Interested in starting your country women’s caucus? Send email to [email protected]