Issaquah (WA) Branch
AAUW is a non-partisan, fact-based organization. We never endorse candidates. We only advocate on issues affecting women and girls. We sponsor research on women’s issues to have facts and data to support our position. Our research addresses issues such as equal pay and Title IX.
The national organization sets our priorities for public policy issues. These are updated every few years, adapting to a changing world. At the state level, we also maintain a list of priorities which drive our lobbying efforts with the state legislature.
For more information on the National AAUW Public Policy program, please go to www.aauw.org/issues/.
National Level
Our members can get involved at the national level. We can lobby our individual representative and our senators. One simple way to get involved is to join the Two-Minute Activist program, that notifies you of issues that need your support and helps to quickly build a message to send to your people in Congress.
For more information on the AAUW Two Minute Activist, please go to www.aauw.org/act/two-minute-activist/.
State Level
At the state level, our director of advocacy and our paid lobbyist follow the bills being introduced to the state legislature and determine which ones we should support with our lobbying effort. Then a state Lobby Day is held, to educate members from around the state about the bills. This is followed by members meeting with our individual representatives and senator to advocate for the bills we would like to see passed.
The majority of the members of the Issaquah branch reside in one of two legislative districts, the 5th district and the 41st district. However, we have members in other districts. Where the district overlaps with other AAUW branches an effort is made coordinate with those branches so that we are not duplicating our efforts.
More information on the state lobbying efforts can be found on the state web site at aauw-wa.aauw.net/advocacy/legislative-updates/.
Local Level
At the local level, the branch works with the Issaquah Kiwanis and the Issaquah City TV network to sponsor candidate forums. The forums are for local candidates, such as the 5th and 41st legislative district, the Issaquah school board and Issaquah city council. These forums are broadcast on the city’s cable channel and are also made available to all through You Tube after the event is over.