Join the Sheila Wellstone Institute and the Wellstone Native American Leadership for a training on voter engagement in Minnesota’s Indian Country. Voter Engagement Schools teach organizational leaders and community members the skills of civic engagement and nonpartisan voter organizing. This specific training will focus on needs for battered women, sexual assault and harassment and stalking victims and the need to protect vital information to be able to vote. This program will be taught by Peggy Flanagan (Ojibwe) Native American Leadership Program at Wellstone Action and Lonna Stevens (Tlingit/Dakota) Director of the Sheila Wellstone Institute, along with local organizers who work to end domestic violence and sexual assault.

When: Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Where:  Russ Ewald Center for Urban Service, 1100 E Lake Street Minneapolis, 55407
Cost is free for materials and meals.

Scholarships are available for hotel and travel. Please contact Lonna Stevens at swi@wellstone.org or 651-414-6034 for an application.

Contact Lonna at 651-414-6034 to register or email swi@wellstone.org.

Source: The White House Project

We took the summer off and now it’s time to get back to meeting to discuss feminist issues in the area!

The September MN Valley NOW chapter meeting will take place on Thursday, September 27, 2007, at the Prior Lake Public Library located at 16210 Eagle Creek Avenue South in Prior Lake.

A general business meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. and all MN Valley NOW members are welcome to attend.

Our presentation, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. Shelley Madore, Minnesota House Representative from District 37A will address the group regarding the status of the 35W bridge collapse, transportation funding, and the special session. She will also discuss her current legislation regarding regulating misleading “pregnancy clinics”.

Bring your political questions for an open discussion on feminism in the Legislature!

Join us on Thursday, May 24, 2007 for our next chapter meeting. Our general membership business meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. and all members are welcome to attend.

Our presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public. Our speaker, Taylor Kristoffe-Jones, ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives for District 35B during the recent 2006 elections. She was endorsed by the House DFL Caucus and ran in a historically Republican district. She will speak about her campaign experience, her background, and her plans to run again in 2008. A question and answer session will follow.

You can read a candidate profile from 2006 about Ms. Kristoffe-Jones from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune here.

The meeting will be held at the Prior Lake Public Library, located at 16210 Eagle Creek Ave. SE, Prior Lake, MN.

In response to controversy surrounding the new HPV vaccine, the Uptown chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) has scheduled an open meeting to discuss Minnesota’s efforts to promote the HPV vaccine. Learn more about what you can do to educate your family and community about HPV and the vaccine.

This open meeting will also discuss State Representative Phyllis Kahn’s rescinded bill to mandate the vaccine and the currently proposed bill to require scientific study of the vaccine.

The event takes place at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 27, 2007, at Dunn Bros. Coffee, 34th & Hennepin, Uptown, Minneapolis. Public invited.