Join our feminist cohort to enhance your advocacy skills, connect with your community, and follow what is happening in Augusta!

 This program kicked off at our Day at the State House on January 9 and meets once a month (January 29, February 12, March 11, April 8 and May 13) on Zoom throughout the legislative session. This program connects feminists who want to dive into policy, advocacy, and grow skills to take action together. Sign up and follow along, all session long! Click this link to register today!

Please join us at Bates College for a public health careers panel and networking event. This event is co-hosted by Maine Public Health Association, Healthy Androscoggin, New Mainers Public Health Initiative and the Center for Purposeful Work at Bates College.

We'll kick off the event with a short panel featuring public health professionals from different sectors/backgrounds (6:30pm-7:15pm), followed by a networking reception with light refreshments (7:15pm-8:00pm). All are welcome! It's a great opportunity to meet other folks in the area and make connections.

Panelists: 

Hannah Miller--Outreach Director, Maine Mobile Health Program

Destie Hohman Sprague--Executive Director, Maine Women's Lobby

Hibo Omer, MPH--Executive Director, New Mainers Public Health Initiative

Lauren Gauthier, MPH--Western Public Health District Liaison, Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention

RSVP here and we'll reach out to share more details on location/parking etc!

Join our feminist cohort to enhance your advocacy skills, connect with your community, and follow what is happening in Augusta!

 This program kicked off at our Day at the State House on January 9 and meets once a month (January 29, February 12, March 11, April 8 and May 13) on Zoom throughout the legislative session. This program connects feminists who want to dive into policy, advocacy, and grow skills to take action together. Sign up and follow along, all session long! Click this link to register today!

Get your tickets here! Limited seating available!

Doors: 6:30PM / Show: 7:00PM

General Admission Seated / All Ages

Ticket sales go toward the work of the MWL Education Fund

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Join us for a Hot Ticket Hootenanny! Get together with your palentines for a very feminist variety show at Bangor Arts Exchange on February 16 at 7 pm to 9:30pm.

We will have several performances - comedy, music, improv, and poetry - snacks, and time to connect with fierce feminist friends! We plan to have raffles and a silent auction to fundraise for the nonpartisan work of the Maine Women's Lobby in bringing care work and care economy issues to advocacy and opening doors for everyday people to engage in civic action. Ticket sales go toward the work of the MWL Education Fund.

Can't make it? Send your regrets with a donation to the Maine Women's Lobby here

Interested in Sponsoring this event - learn more

Performers:

• MC - Priscilla Poppycocks

• Poetry - Arisa White

• Music - Darcy Withers

• Comedy - Julia Poulin

• Improv - ImprovAcadia

Join our feminist cohort to enhance your advocacy skills, connect with your community, and follow what is happening in Augusta!

 This program kicked off at our Day at the State House on January 9 and meets once a month (January 29, February 12, March 11, April 8 and May 13) on Zoom throughout the legislative session. This program connects feminists who want to dive into policy, advocacy, and grow skills to take action together. Sign up and follow along, all session long! Click this link to register today!

Join our feminist cohort to enhance your advocacy skills, connect with your community, and follow what is happening in Augusta!

 This program kicked off at our Day at the State House on January 9 and meets once a month (January 29, February 12, March 11, April 8 and May 13) on Zoom throughout the legislative session. This program connects feminists who want to dive into policy, advocacy, and grow skills to take action together. Sign up and follow along, all session long! Click this link to register today!

On January 9, 2024 bring gender equity to the State House with the Maine Women’s Lobby, MWL Education Fund and network partners. Our goal is to connect women, girls, femme and nonbinary people to legislative advocacy and lift gender justice from the ground up! 

At this event you will hear from Legislative Leadership on the importance of building gender equity in Maine through their work. Participants will build legislative advocacy skills, foster relationships with legislators, and network with others focused on creating a gender just Maine.

Registration encouraged but not required. Sign up here!

Solstice Story Share On Care: RESCHEDULED

Join us on December 21 from 5:30 - 7:00 pm for a cozy solstice zoom for connecting and building comfort with sharing our stories of care and caregiving. Learn from folks who advocate through their stories and connect with others who have similar experiences. The road to change is through our collective experiences and together we can build a Maine that cares. This workshop is hosted by Dania Bowie from the Maine Women’s Lobby Education Fund in partnership with Ronny Flannery of the Southern Maine Workers Center.

Register here.

Join us on Zoom for this lunchtime discussion of care for older Mainers. We’ll explore what progress we’ve made so far in Maine - such as increasing reimbursement rates for direct care workers - and where we need to grow. This discussion features Bridget Quinn, Policy Associate at Maine AARP, and Jess Maurer, Executive Director of the Maine Council on Aging.

Register here.

Join us on Zoom for this lunchtime discussion on the state of childcare in Maine. Hear from policy analysts and advocates as they break down all that we have accomplished and what hope to achieve in the future. This discussion features guests Heather Marden, Co-Executive Director of the Maine Association for the Education of Young Children, and Rita Furlow, Senior Policy Analyst at the Maine Children’s Alliance.

Register here.

Mondays, November 20 & 27, December 4, 11 & 18 | 5pm - 6pm

This book group is held on Zoom and hosted by the Maine Women’s Lobby Education Fund and facilitated by Kim Simmons, Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Join us for five sessions, starting Monday, November 20, 2023 in the early evenings to dive into the book Care: The Highest Stage of Capitalism by Premilla Nadasenhistory. Discussions will explore the care economy and resistance that can help us envision a future of collective care.

*A limited number of books will be provided. To purchase your own copy visit Haymarket Books.

Register here.

Join us on Zoom for this lunchtime discussion for updates and an in-depth review of Maine’s first Paid Family and Medical Leave policy. Hear from policy analysts as they go over what is in the current law, what could be improved, and how the implementation process works. This discussion features James Myall, Economic Policy Analyst at the Maine Center for Economic Policy, and Destie Hohman Sprague, Executive Director of the Maine Women’s Lobby.

Register here.

TWO LOCATIONS: Hallowell & Presque Isle

In 2023, Maine had big wins for caregivers - paid and unpaid, professional and personal. This has a significant impact on women, LGBTQ+, BIPOC communities, low income workers and all types of families. These wins do not solve the issue of care and caregiving in Maine, but they are a step in the right direction to creating a true care economy.

The Gender Justice Summit is a collaborative conversation to celebrate Maine’s care policy wins and envision a future where policies go even further to support our communities. Featuring Josephine Kalipeni, Executive Director of Family Values at Work, as the keynote speaker. Presented by Maine Women’s Lobby Education Fund.

Visit mainewomenssummit.org to learn more and register!

This Friday marks 100 years since Alice Paul proposed the Equal Rights Amendment, which would provide Constitutional protection against discrimination based on sex or gender. On Friday, join our partners for a rally at the Suffrage Marker on the south side of the State House lawn. Hear from legislators, see suffrage materials from the Maine State Archives, and enjoy ice cream!

On Sunday from 2-4pm, join us for a viewing of the documentary by local filmmaker Barbara Cray about the suffrage journey through song. We'll gather at Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta with cosponsors @ERA Maine and League of Women Voters of Maine ! More information and tickets can be found here.

Learn about Maine's inclusive ERA, and prepare for our work to give all Mainers Constitutional protection against discrimination!

Power, Purpose, and Peonies: End of Session Celebration at Broadturn Farm in Scarborough, Thursday, July 20 from 5:30-8 PM.

Learn more about the event and get tickets here.

Enjoy coffee and treats, and connect with new and old friends about feminism, policy, and more.

Join us at Bangor Pride! We will march in the parade (with our very awesome banner!) and be on hand to share information about our work for gender justice in Maine and beyond. And we will celebrate and have FUN!

Interested in volunteering? Let us know here!

Join us in Presque Isle to celebrate Aroostook Pride! We will have information on hand about our work for gender justice and we will have FUN!

Interested in volunteering? Let us know here!

Join us at Portland Pride! We will march in the parade (with our awesome banner!) then be on hand to share information about our work for gender justice in Maine. And we will be there to celebrate and have FUN!

Interested in volunteering? Let us know here!

The work of change doesn’t end when the session ends. 

 The Maine Women’s Lobby Education Fund presents Politics / Poetics, a performance from members and an opportunity to be in community together to be co-creators and co-conspirators for justice in our communities across Maine.

 In partnership with the Maine Humanities Council, the MWL Education Fund is hosting Katherine Hagopian Berry to bring together our members in the spirit of poetry and playfulness to policy and civic engagement work. Join us in an exploration of systems change toward an anti-ractist, gender just future.

Sign up here.

The next People Power Hour is 6 pm to 7pm on zoom. We will spend the first half hour on legislative updates, sharing our work, and discussing action steps. Then, we will get to the discussion circle for the second poem from last month, A Litany for Survival by Audre Lorde.

For anyone who is interested in reading ahead: A Litany for Survival.

Register here!

Join us at Brunswick Pride! We will be on hand with information about our work for gender justice and we’ll be having fun! We’d love to see you there.

Maine’s bill to create a Paid Family and Medical Leave Program is on the way, and we need everyone’s help to get this over the line. These Action Hours will include an overview of the bill, what to expect in the hearing, an overview of our Coalition’s tools for action, and a chance to write and submit testimony! Join us on Zoom on 5/16 at noon, 5/16 at 6:30pm, 5/17 at 8:30am, and 5/17 at 5pm.

You can sign up here.

More information about the Maine Paid Leave Coalition and Maine’s efforts for paid family and medical leave at mainefamilyleave.org.