IVAWA Must Pass - Show Your Support TODAY

There are windows of opportunity in life that pass us by unless we seize them. WomenThrive is working hard to push I-VAWA (International Violence Against Women Act) through Congress during this month's lame duck session. Now -this month of November- is that window and there is every reason in the world to support this, with no down-side. And it takes LESS THAN 5 minutes... http://www.passivawa.org/takeAction.html
Be sure to scroll down the page and click on "contact your representatives" to fill out the online form. Then pass along to friends and family!


Members of Congress have a unique opportunity to stop violence against women around the world. They can pass the International Violence Against Women Act before they adjourn for the year!

The I-VAWA, which was introduced in the House and Senate in the 111th Congress, presents a critical opportunity for the United States to protect, defend, and empower the world’s women. It is a comprehensive piece of legislation that will integrate violence prevention in US foreign policy and support innovative programs that have been shown to effectively reduce violence against women and girls.

For many of us, recent reports on international violence against women seem distant and incomprehensible. On any given day, horrifying stories about such violence appear in the news: the systematic rape of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, increasing assaults on women and girls in Afghanistan, violence against women and girls in Haiti whose lives are already devastated by the earthquake. Sadly, this violence is not isolated to a few women in a few places. In fact, approximately one out of three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime with rates of domestic violence reaching 70 percent in some countries. No country is immune – the violence crosses all borders and affects women of all ages, social groups, religions and classes.

The United States Congress now has an opportunity to address these horrifying abuses. Senators Kerry (D-MA), Boxer (D-CA),Collins (R-ME) and Snowe (R-ME) and Congressman Delahunt (D-MA), Schakowsky (D-IL) and Congressman Poe (R-TX) introduced the International Violence Against Women Act, landmark legislation that can have a real impact for women all over the world, earlier this year.

Congress should move quickly to make the I-VAWA law and pass I-VAWA before they adjourn for the year.

In a world where tensions and violence within communities can jeopardize national and international security, it is critical that the United States take action to end atrocities committed against women and girls in their homes and in their communities, during times of peace and times of conflict.

Violence takes the lives of millions of women and girls, and denies countless others their dignity and the chance to live safe, productive lives. Constituents now have the opportunity to let lawmakers know they want more to be done to address violence against women globally they can take action to end the suffering by urging their Members of Congress to pass I-VAWA.

Click on the link, scroll down the page and click on the "contact your representatives" link for the online email to your Member of Congress, urging them to co-sponsor the I-VAWA and thanking those who have already co-sponsored! All you need to do is add your contact information and submit. Everything else is automatic.
http://www.passivawa.org/takeAction.html

It takes LESS THAN 5 MINUTES to support I-VAWA. Why wouldn't you?

LinkedIn Supports E-Learning

LinkedIn.com is an online database of members to connect professionally with one another and through each other. Similar to facebook in a sense that it is a repository for individual information and a portal to stay in touch with people whom you select and invite and with whom you mutually agree to be "linked in", its basic premise is to connect with on a professional and expertise level. As of September 2010, there are 80 million members of LinkedIn from all over the world (LinkedIn, Frequently Asked Questions, 2008). It is a site that is designed to capture your credentials, job experiences and qualifications, of value for people to learn more about you and important for job searches in today's market. Not only can prospective employers find you, but you can conduct research on interesting positions, by viewing people's profiles who are in the same field or subject matter experts, or find out more details about companies that interest you from the Company Pages. Through connections, you can go one step further by asking to be introduced to someone of interest and having an informational discussion with that contact. It is completely acceptable to reach out to a stranger through a common friend for the purpose of career progression! As a business getting off the ground, linkedin can be a platform for marketing, locating business partners, identifying service providers, and post employment opportunities. Finally, it is a place where people can "gain new insights from discussions with likeminded professionals in private group settings" (LinkedIn.com, About Us, 2008).

Connectivity and networking are important elements today in e-learning as team-based projects rival individual efforts (Robbins & Judge, 2011). We see this in the advent of other e-tools that facilitate partnership and group learning, such as wikis, skype, and (the dreaded) googledocs. But the networking components are merely conduits. Let's examine how LinkedIn facilitates additional learning online. Through the polling feature, members can obtain valuable data. One member used the poll to gather ideas for a webinar and then marketed the webinar on LinkedIn to connect with the members who worked in her industry or were interested in the topics (LinkedIn, Success Stories, 2008). Post a question in the Answers section of the website and your connections and people within the entire community respond. Theoretical, practical, subjective, objective queries are free-game. Find experts who are hosting a webinar or keynoting a conference of interest and contact them to gain their insights or subscribe to their training or tools. With the discussion forums, people can help worthy causes. After visiting India, one woman wanted to help the children there. She started a discussion on LinkedIn which resulted in the creation of a "wish list" on Amazon.com, from which LinkedIn members purchased books for the children in India (LinkedIn, Success Stories, 2008).

I am personally testing the Answers section of LinkedIn for a school paper on tenure. In addition to compiling research, I have posed the following question to some of my connections. "Why was tenure originally established at the elementary and secondary school levels? I can appreciate that tenure at higher levels of education give professors intellectual freedom to explore/research topics that may not always be popular, but when and why did tenure become firmly entrenched in Americas early years of education?" I will blog further about the result. I am also working with a non-profit organization, womenthrive.org, and I noticed that they do not have a "group discussion" going on LinkedIn, unlike many of their counterparts. So, I suggested that they increase their band-width on this website, particularly now as they are working on Capitol Hill to have IVAWA (International Violence Against Women Act) passed and they need to get their message distributed and people writing to their Senators. They use Facebook and Twitter, but they are not as active on LinkedIn. Being a professional community, support coming from a business perspective through the LinkedIn network will surely help the cause.

To learn more about LinkedIn, watch the quick video: http://press.linkedin.com/about.


PS. Within 4 days of my question on LinkedIn, I had 4 answers, 2 of them with valuable information and 1 of them with a link to a useful article.

Trust and Leadership

When writing on the subject of engendering trust for a school paper, I feel as though I brainstormed a litany of characteristics for a leader to possess. Among the key ingredients for a leader in a corporation, on which I settled, are: integrity, emotional intelligence, knowledge, fairness and thoughtful decision-making, communication, and reliability. Without these qualities, trust is hard to come by.

In order to build trust, it is paramount that the leader first and foremost want to earn trust and that they are trustworthy. Once trust has been established, it is easy to grow its roots. However, just like the expression goes, “one cannot rest on laurels,” so one cannot let trust go unnourished. The risk lies in taking for granted the partnership a leader has with the constituents. It is important for the leader to be knowledgeable, to develop business acumen and to have quality expertise. And building a culture of learning and sharing promotes trust among the team, trust in leadership and trust in the individuals. But trust is delicate and can erode if care is not taken to be fair and make logical decisions, even if they are unpopular decisions. Communication is key and leaving an open forum for diverse contributions creates new opportunities, a sense of accomplishment for individuals and interdependence. Part of this engendering trust among multi-facets within an organization is to focus on talent development, diverse contributions to success and thoughtful promotions. Finally, trust cannot survive if a leader does not follow-through on their word.