The Wisconsin Women’s Network is a statewide coalition of organizations and individuals working to improve the status of women in Wisconsin. A top priority of the Network is to foster communication among our organizational and individual members to strengthen our voices while working together on issues of common concern.

The Wisconsin Women’s Network is a non stock and non profit corporation under Chapter 181 of the Wisconsin Statutes. The WWN is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The WWN is also exempt from state income taxation.

Programs and Events
The following programs and events were sponsored by the Wisconsin Women’s Network in 2003.

• The 18th Annual Catherine Conroy Milwaukee Legislative Breakfast was held on February 1 at Alverno College, co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County. This year’s program focused on the issues of “Emerging Infectious Diseases: Bio-terrorism and Emergency Preparedness and The Budget Crisis & Health Care: What are the Alternatives?” The Breakfast is a popular event, where participants can hear from greater Milwaukee area state legislators, and discuss and share their views on important issues of the day.
• A biennial Legislative Day, co-sponsored with the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, was held on March 1 at the State Capitol. The day featured Todd Berry of the Wisconsin Taxpayer's Alliance on Wisconsin's Budget Crisis and Helene Nelson, Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Services as keynote speakers, and nine informative workshops on current public policy issues.
• The WWN recognized International Women's Day, March 8, with a reception preceding a performance by the Festival Choir of Madison featuring music by women composers. International Women's Day is celebrated around the world, and in the U.S. was the impetus for the declaration making March Women's History month.
• A reception before the WWN’s May 20 membership meeting featured Georgia Duerst-Lahti, chair of political science at Beloit College, who spoke of a new national effort to get more women into elected office. Duerst-Lahti emphasized that democracy is not democracy without women in office, and presented statistics showing that the U.S. ranks 58th in the world in electing women to office.
• Carrie Chapman Catt was welcomed as the guest of honor for our 2003 Women’s Equality Day Celebration on August 26. Catt, born on January 9, 1859 in Ripon, Wisconsin, was a leader in the women’s suffrage movement and devoted her life to the struggle for equality, justice, and voting rights for women. In her premier performance, Rose Stephenson, a member of the Wisconsin Humanities Council Speakers Bureau, portrayed Carrie Chapman Catt in period costume, drawing on Catt’s own words and writings to offer an authentic interpretation of this important figure in American history. Women’s Equality Day 2003 marked the 83rd anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, which granted women in the United States the right to vote. The celebration, free and open to the public, provided an opportunity to honor the work of our foremothers, to reflect on the progress they have made, and to bring an awareness of the meaning of the day to all generations.
• West Allis Mayor, and former state representative, Jeannette Bell, was honored at our annual Stateswoman of the Year Brunch on November 2 in Milwaukee. Mayor Bell was recognized for the many contributions she has made in her career as a legislator and mayor, especially her initiatives on behalf of women, children and families. Her accomplishments include authoring and sponsoring legislation to established the Children’s Trust Fund, an innovative approach to decreasing child abuse through prevention programs and playing a key role in establishing the Wisconsin Earned Income Tax Credit. She has also been a strong advocate for consumers and the environment, including sponsoring landmark legislation regulating acid rain in Wisconsin in1985.
• The Artful Women Art Show and Sale, held from November 4 through December 5, at the UW Hospital’s Skylounge Gallery, provided a venue for Wisconsin women artists to show their work and introduced visitors to the work of many talented women in our state. Art was offered in a wide range of prices for all levels of collectors. Handblown glass wall vases, commissioned from glass artist Anne Sauer, were a special feature of the Art Show.

The Stateswoman and Other Communications
The Wisconsin Women’s Network publishes The Stateswoman, a quarterly newsletter which includes information on issues of concern to women, a resource section, news from member organizations, and a calendar of events. The Network also publishes an “interim bulletin” between issues of The Stateswoman, which often takes the form of a legislative update, and issues “electronic information sharing,” a well-received bi-weekly e-bulletin with a calendar section, information on current events and new resources on a variety of issues of concern. The WWN also maintains a website to facilitate communication and information sharing. In 2003, we acquired our own domain name for the website, wiwomensnetwork.org, and revamped it to make it more useful and user friendly.

In January 2003, the WWN began to sponsor monthly statewide teleconferences for organizational representatives, with the goal of facilitating networking and increasing information sharing among WWN member organizations, particularly those located outside of Madison. Representatives of WWN member organizations can share plans and solicit support for their projects and agendas, attending the teleconferences by phone or in person. Feedback has been positive, and we plan to continue the teleconferences in 2004.

Publications

• The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Wisconsin provides objective data regarding how much income is needed, for a family of a given composition in a given location, to adequately meet its basic needs without public or private assistance. It differs significantly from the federal poverty threshold, and directly addresses the need of employers, advocacy groups, nonprofit service providers, and policymakers for accurate information. The Self-Sufficiency Standard furnishes a tool to assist direct service providers, policymakers, program providers, and advocacy organizations in their efforts to improve the economic situation of low income individuals and their families.

  The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Wisconsin was first published by the Wisconsin Women’s Network in April 2000, in collaboration with Washington DC-based Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) as part of their Family Economic Self Sufficiency Project. The original report was prepared in consultation with a Wisconsin advisory group chaired by Eileen Mershart, executive director of the YWCA - Madison. Participants included representatives from the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, UW-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty, Madison Area Technical College, the WI Department of Workforce Development, the Center on Wisconsin Strategy at UW-Madison, the Urban League of Dane County, and Wisconsin Early Childhood Association.

  By the end of 2003, the WWN had raised sufficient funds to update the Self-Sufficiency Standard, and in December entered into a contract with Wider Opportunities for Women to do so. We continue to seek funding to print additional copies of the report, beyond the initial publication run of 200 copies, and to publicize the report broadly and use it as a springboard for discussion on important issues of welfare, work, and economic security. Components of our publicity campaign will include press conferences, public presentations, development and distribution of an informational brochure, and a speakers bureau.

• The Wisconsin Women’s Network is in the final stages of publishing a second edition of Uncommon Lives of Common Women: The Missing Half of Wisconsin History, originally published in 1975. The book helps to recover some of the “lost” history of Wisconsin women from the 1700’s through the 1950’s, history lost because it was not deemed important enough to preserve. Author Victoria Brown states, “This book was written in the belief that to appreciate our survival, we must know what we have endured; to take pride in our creativity, we must know all that we have created; and to understand our growth, we must examine our historic roots.”

  Uncommon Lives will be distributed to school districts and public libraries throughout Wisconsin. Publication of this project was made possible by an in-kind contribution from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and support from the Wisconsin Women’s Network.

Task Forces
The task forces of the Wisconsin Women’s Network provide a mechanism for the sharing and coordinating of information on important public policy issues. There are currently task forces focusing on child care, reproductive rights, and women and aging. In 2004 we look forward to reactivating a task force on economic security. All task force chairs and members volunteer their time and efforts to the Wisconsin Women’s Network. The following are examples of task force activities throughout the year.

• The Child Care Task Force tracked budget issues related to early education and care, both at the state and federal levels. They worked to identify ways to restore funding in these areas following significant state budget cuts. At the federal level, issues of special concern included the reauthorization of Head Start, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and the Child Care Development Fund. The focus of one meeting was a discussion on collaborative approaches for four year old kindergarten and community child care programs; another meeting had a guest speaker on promoting health insurance for all families. Planning sessions were held to examine the role of the Child Care Task Force and redefine its niche.

• The Reproductive Rights Task Force supported Wisconsin’s Family Planning Waiver program, working against proposals to make young women age 15 – 17 ineligible. The program allows Medical Assistance to provide reproductive health care services to women who are at 185% of the poverty line or less, but who are not otherwise eligible for Medical Assistance. The task force applauded an informal opinion issued by Wisconsin’s Attorney General that current Wisconsin anti-discrimination law requires employers who offer a prescription health benefit to include prescription contraceptives, and that public universities and colleges that offer a prescription drug benefit, but fail to include prescription contraceptives, violate anti-discrimination law applicable to public educational facilities. The task force successfully utilizes teleconferencing for its monthly meetings, significantly increasing participation of organizations around the state.

• The Task Force on Women and Aging has as its mission statement, “Through research, education, and advocacy, the Wisconsin Women’s Network Women and Aging Task Force works to ensure that older women have access to affordable and appropriate programs and services that enable them to live dignified, healthy and safe lives.” The task force selected long term care issues, especially SeniorCare and Family Care, and Prescription Drug Fair Pricing as their priority issues for the year. Their annual Mother’s Day press packet focused on Family Care. They also monitored other issues, such as Medicare. The task force has also started to conduct their monthly meetings via teleconference to allow members outside Madison to more effectively participate in task force activities and information sharing.

Legislative Staff Briefings: United Front Series on Women - Issues Through a Lifetime
The Wisconsin Women’s Network presented a series of three legislative staff briefing at the State Capitol, based on a model of briefings offered in Washington DC by the National Council of Women’s Organizations. The briefings were scheduled from the end of October through the first week in December. A service learning student from UW-Madison who was working with the WWN for the fall semester assisted in the planning and implementation of the briefings, and created a standard operating procedure for them.

The goals for the staff briefings included: educating staff on issues important to the WWN task forces and member organizations; encouraging WWN task forces and member organizations to work together on planning these briefings; familiarizing staff and legislators with the WWN; encouraging member organizations to attend and bring their materials; and highlighting findings from the report The Status of Women in Wisconsin (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, November 2002) when possible.

The WWN used an integrative approach to illustrate how core issues affect women across the span of a lifetime. The first briefing focused on economic security, covering pay equity litigation, the economic burden of prescription drugs, the economic challenges of child care for parents and providers, and affordable housing. The second briefing, on care giving, had panelists who spoke on issues related to elder abuse, the needs of children and parents in child care situations, and long-term care challenges. The third panel on health and safety included presentations on medical assistance, health care policies, contraceptive coverage equity, child care licensing and regulation, and Head Start.

Wisconsin Women=Prosperity Project
Wisconsin Women=Prosperity (WW=P) is a statewide economic development initiative chaired by Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton, with the full support of Governor Jim Doyle. The project builds on the report, The Status of Women in Wisconsin, issued by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in November 2002. The goal of the project is to create and implement policies to support women’s prosperity based on specific, clear understanding of regional priorities. The vision is to drive economic success for the state by increasing the well being of women. The University of Wisconsin Madison’s LaFollette Institute for Public Affairs is assisting with research and analysis, and will create a Research Center for the Status of Women within the Institute.

At the WW=P kick-off meeting on June 26, Connie Threinen, a past chair of the WWN, was asked by Lt. Governor Lawton to speak, to create a bridge from the women’s movement of the latter part of the 20th century to the present.

In December, the WWN was approached to be the fiscal sponsor for the WW=P project. The WWN board has agreed in principle to do so, believing that this will be mutually beneficial to both the WW=P project and the WWN.

WWN Founder Gene Boyer, 1925-2003
We lost a dear friend and a great advocate for women – both at the state and national level – with the death of Gene Boyer on August 19. Boyer founded the Wisconsin Women’s Network in 1979; she was also a founding member of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and served as national treasurer from 1968 to 1974.

Boyer began her activist career in Beaver Dam, was appointed to the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women by Governor Patrick Lucy in 1971 and, in 1977, served as a delegate to the International Women’s Year Conference held in Houston. During her long tenure as a feminist activist, she supported and furthered work on sexual assault reform, marital property reform, reproductive rights, sex equity in education and the Equal Rights Amendment. Her special interest, however, was the economic status of women. She devoted much of her effort to bringing women into the business world as full and equal players.

Boyer was a member of the Veteran Feminists of America and appeared in the 1998 film, “Step by Step: building a feminist movement.” In 1997, as she was named Wisconsin Stateswoman of the Year by the Wisconsin Women’s Network, she said, “I’m always amused at people who say we don’t need the women’s movement anymore, that things are different now. Well, how in the world do they think they got different if somebody didn’t make them different.”

Gene posthumously received the Community Shares of Wisconsin Sally Sunde Award for Social Justice on September 10, which recognized her life-long work as a feminist activist, her passion for justice and equality and her commitment to make a difference.