Empowering women and celebrating diversity.
Spokane Area NOW strives to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace and all other sectors of society. We are working to maintain reproductive rights for all women, eliminate economic inequities, eradicate racial disparities, extinguish injustices against the LGBT+ community and to promote equality and justice for all.
Spokane Area NOW organizes political actions and events. These actions often occur collaboratively with our local progressive-minded organizations.
MISSION
BOARD MEMBERS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
CHAPTER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
This spring and summer has been an active time for Spokane Area NOW, in furthering gains from 2016, creating new initiatives and partnering with a variety of progressive allies.
In a follow-up from last year’s agreement with the mayor on sexual harassment, we assisted City Council member Candace Mumm in setting up a room for nursing mothers in city hall.
Approximately 95% of the City of Spokane staff has been trained in sexual harassment and bullying as of November 1, 2017.
Proposition 1, which would have allowed law enforcement to ask about an individual’s citizenship, was tossed from the ballot in a lawsuit we joined with other progressive groups.
Spokane Area NOW spearheaded the local campaign against WA I-1552, which would have legalized discrimination against the transgender community.
We co-sponsored a Women’s Equality Day event in August 2017 with Indivisible Spokane,
We joined the local FUSE chapter in an active protest of the Town Hall with Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rogers.
Spokane Area NOW marched in the Pride Parade as well as staffed a table at the Pride Celebration after the march,
The August “Unity in the Community” festival of diversity brought another opportunity for us to connect and collaborate through our tabling outreach.
Throughout the spring and summer, members united with Planned Parenthood for a series of “Pink Outs” downtown outside of McMorris Rodgers’ office. President Autumn Reed was a featured speaker at one of these protests and spoke passionately about our mission.
We continue to partner with local organizations to Flip the 5th and recently our President was active in an organizer's summit to outline a plan of action for 2018.
After the tax bill was published, Spokane Area NOW joined forces with FUSE, Planned Parenthood, PJALS, The Tenants Union of Washington, Greater Spokane Progress, All In for Washington, and SEIU Healthcare 1199NW for the NO MORE! Protest outside of Cathy McMorris Rodger's office on Post Street in Spokane.
On December 22, 2017, we cosigned, with eight other organizations spearheaded by Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, an open letter titled Words Have Power in response to the ..."administration's "dangerous steps" to forbid the CDC from speaking about subjects essential to American's health: "entitlement", "diversity", "transgender", "fetus", "evidence-based", "science-based", and "vulnerable". In this letter we admonished the move as "...an affront to women, to transgender people, to the professionals who work at the CDC, and to anyone who has benefited from scientific research or medicine in the United States and around the world."
In April 2018, the first-ever FemFest Spokane Feminist Art Festival kicked off at The Bartlett, with over 60 artists participating.
In 2018, Spokane NOW partnered with Spokane SART Foundation to present a watch party and panel discussion for the film "I Am Evidence," a documentary chronicling the challenges faced by American cities to keep up with the massive backlog of untested sexual assault kits.
April 27, 2019 brings two big events for our Spokane chapter! The Washington State NOW Conference and the sexoncd annual FEM+FEST Spokane Feminist Art Festival both take place on April 27th at the Downtown Spokane PublicLibrary.
Spokane Chapter officer openings in 2020
The President shall be the principal spokesperson for the chapter and shall preside at all board and chapter meetings. The President shall also prepare the meeting agenda with input from the membership. The President shall attend WA NOW state board meetings and vote on behalf of NOW Spokane.
The Vice-President shall co-ordinate all chapter actions as approved by the Board and shall be responsible for managing the day-to-day affairs of the chapter. The Vice-President shall assist the President with her duties and shall perform the duties of the President in the event the President is unable to perform them.
The Corresponding Secretary shall handle all chapter correspondence except that handled by the other officers. The Corresponding Secretary shall read and pick up, read and respond to mail, respond to voice mail and make telephone calls.
We are also looking for a volunteer for updating social media.