AAUW - Bradenton Branch

03/27/2026

Progress isn’t guaranteed — and the pay gap is proof.

The latest Census data shows that women working full-time earn 81¢ for every $1 paid to white men. But women’s working lives don’t fit neatly into one box. Many women work part-time or seasonally, often because caregiving responsibilities, unpredictable schedules, or limited transportation make it harder to sustain full-time work. When we look at all working women, the reality is 76¢ to the dollar.

This isn’t about one paycheck or one choice. The pay gap is a sign of pay inequity — driven by a mix of factors like women being concentrated in lower-paid jobs, caregiving penalties, pay secrecy, and discrimination. That means we need a mix of solutions, too: stronger policies, employer action, and tools that help women advocate for themselves.

This Equal Pay Day, don’t just mind the gap — help close it. Learn more at AAUW about policy solutions, what employers can do, and AAUW trainings for women. act.aauw.org/thesimpletruth

03/22/2026

Student loan debt is not just a number — it represents opportunity, stability, and futures.

AAUW strongly condemns the Department of Education’s plan to transfer defaulted student loans to the Treasury, a move that prioritizes debt collection over borrower support and threatens women’s economic security.

Women — especially women of color — already carry the greatest burden of student debt. Policies like this will only deepen those inequities.

Read the full press release here: https://www.aauw.org/resources/news/aauw-condemns-department-of-education-plan-to-transfer-defaulted-student-loan-portfolio-to-treasury/

02/10/2026

It is this week! Give generously and invite your friends to join you!
https://www.zeffy.com/donation-form/9e097894-8842-4c4f-bf3a-3fe5cb750ba7

12/30/2025

11/12/2025

💙💙💙💙💙

10/22/2025

How long have women been able to buy a home on their own, unmarried and independent? Only 50 years. Before 1975, many women could be denied mortgages simply because they didn’t have a husband. Thankfully, The S*x Discrimination Act of 1975 made that illegal.

And women have been making up for lost time. In fact, a fifth of all home purchasers in 2023 were single women—compared to just 8% purchased by single men.

This trend highlights the growing financial independence and decision-making power of women, reshaping the housing market 🏡 and it’s even more remarkable when you realize women have only been part of it for just half a century.

10/22/2025

Not all heroes carried rifles — some carried the wounded.
In 1968, Diane Carlson Evans was just twenty-one when she stepped off a plane into the heat
and chaos of Vung Tau, Vietnam. She wasn’t there to fight — she was there to heal.
As a U.S. Army nurse at the 36th Evacuation Hospital, she treated endless lines of soldiers
burned, broken, and bleeding from the jungles of war. Helicopters roared overhead. The air
reeked of antiseptic and smoke. Every shift meant life or death.
She was steady, tireless, and fearless — holding hands as morphine ran out, whispering
comfort when nothing else could be done. Nurses like her saved thousands, but history barely
mentioned their names.
After six years in the Army Nurse Corps, Diane came home. But home wasn’t peace — it was
silence. The men she’d served beside had their wall in Washington. The women had nothing.
So in 1984, she decided to change that.
With no backing, no funding, and plenty of resistance, she founded the Vietnam Women’s
Memorial Foundation. For nearly a decade, she fought lawmakers, committees, and public
indifference — driven by one mission: to make sure the women who served were seen.
And she won.
On November 11, 1993, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated on the National Mall
— a bronze tribute showing three women and a wounded soldier, cast in the same realism as
the men’s memorial beside it.
It wasn’t just a statue. It was a reckoning — a reminder that compassion is courage, and that
service doesn’t need a weapon to be heroic.
Diane Carlson Evans gave countless soldiers another chance at life — and then gave her
sisters in uniform their rightful place in history.
That’s not just service.
That’s legacy.
God bless this American hero — and every woman who wore the uniform

10/18/2025

A new study finds that while women are now well-represented in medical school as students, they are still significantly underrepresented in leadership roles among medical professionals. Women medical professionals often take on "unrecognized and uncompensated" leadership roles such as mentoring. In addition to creating pathways and support networks for women to take on traditional, administrative leadership roles in medicine, this article suggests that mentorship is a leadership activity that is worthy of support and compensation: https://www.healio.com/news/primary-care/20250925/women-in-medicine-often-fill-unrecognized-and-uncompensated-leadership-roles

10/01/2025

Send emails and texts to your legislators to fight for equal pay, family leave, stopping sexual harassment, equality in education and more. Sign up to get regular alerts to be able to take timely action.

08/19/2025

The U.S. Department of Education threatened to strip institutions of federal funding if they continued diversity, equity and inclusion work. This has caused many to fear punishment for advancing fairness in education. Yet, a federal judge recently ruled the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate these programs in schools and universities were unlawful. This ruling is a victory for students, educators, and communities nationwide.

At AAUW, we know inclusive classrooms are stronger classrooms. We applaud this decision and will continue advocating for education systems that welcomes, represents, and supports all students.

08/14/2025

Did you know: Local school boards have some of the most direct impact on the day-to-day lives of students and their families, like driving policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, yet most school boards are decided by just 5-10% of voters?

This week, we’re giving you the tools to effectively advocate and participate at the school board level, co-developed by the School Board Integrity Project.
https://hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/welcoming-schools/documents/School-Boards-Matter-Guide.pdf

08/12/2025

Background on Women’s Equity Day, August 26