Aug. 26 is Women’s Equality Day
To the Editor,
Aug. 26 has been designated as National Women’s Equality Day to honor the women who fought tirelessly for the commissioning of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. The day also stands as a strong reminder that we need to continue to advocate for equality for all women.
Prior to the signing of the Nineteenth Amendment, women were treated as second class citizens. They were not granted the right to hold property, serve on juries, or hold elected office. While women have advanced and succeeded in many areas, such as medicine, the law, and technology, the struggle continues. Today, women in California are still fighting to close wage gaps within the workforce, to make their own choices about their bodies, and for acknowledgment and action against sexual misconduct and harassment.
In the past year, #MeToo, Time’s Up, and the Women’s March have brought many of these issues to the forefront of our attention and it is our responsibility to ensure that these problems continue to be addressed and in the public conversation. The observance of Women’s Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, but also calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality.
All of us need to stand together for equal rights for everyone and Aug. 26 is a day that we can take a moment to remember the achievements of those who fought so hard before us for women’s rights. The future success of our communities, our state, and our nation depend on the achievements of women and girls. When given the same opportunities as men, women can do amazing things. I know firsthand, as my wife and two daughters have excelled personally and professionally and are a source of inspiration for me.
Bill Monning
California State Senator
•••
Making change
Dear beloved colleagues and community members working for a healthy Pajaro Valley,
I read an interview with an admired spiritual teacher recently in which the interviewer queried the teacher about her favorite virtue. “Kind and appropriate honesty,” she replied.
It’s a virtue I invoked recently to arrive at the decision to step away from my role as CEO of the Health Trust at the end of the calendar year.
If I am kind and appropriately honest, I’ve been the catalyst for change I had hoped to be while in service to the Health Trust and its big mission. I have done something, though certainly not everything I have envisioned. Continuing, though, with the kindness and honesty, now it’s time for me to inhabit a different space, one in which my introversion, artist’s mindset, preference for going deep with fewer things and people, and desire to contribute as a behind-the-scenes weaver can be realized. Now it’s time to cede this role to someone who connects the dots and lays the strong building blocks of a healthy community in different and equally important ways. To fulfill this vision, I’ll be leaving the Health Trust at the end of 2018.
This work — transforming our community into caring, connected, equitable, ecologically vibrant, and deep and soulfully healthy places — is my life’s work. And I have learned that how I do it needs to be right-sized and shaped to my particular body-heart-mind. Now, it’s time for me to tend to my one true heart and continue this transformative work for many, many years to come.
I will maintain those three important letters (CEO) after my name for another few months, facilitating the transition to the next great steward of this inspiring and important team, organization and mission. I look forward to doing as much good in as much time with as much Caitlin energy as I can muster through December and well into the years ahead.
Yours — with immense respect, gratitude, and, always, in health, love, and the quest toward deep equity,
Caitlin Brune
PV Community Health Trust
