International Women’s Day 2013

We’d like to share a few great articles on the amazing work women are doing to make our homes and the environment a better place to be, and how we can keep moving forward.

1. Worldwatch Institute shared an article last year about Celebrating the Power of Women Who Nourish the Planet. The article includes 12 innovations that are “helping women get access to credit, improve their incomes, feed their families, introduce sustainable crops to markets, and reduce rural poverty” (Read the full article here). We liked seeing Extension in the list, and are pleased to report that our 4-H, Horticulture and Ag Agents in Travis County and our fabulous intern, Kaylee, are all women!

Extension Services. Extension services are an important way of disseminating agricultural knowledge to farmers, but unfortunately, women have been excluded from many extension programs, whether as service providers or recipients. When women are included in extension programs, they receive an education, raise their agricultural yields, increase their incomes, raise the nutritional status of their household, and contribute to the improvement of their communities. 

2. Suze Orman is a woman on a mission to help women and everyone improve their financial affairs. Her website has great, free resources available for paying for college, managing debt, and home ownership. For local information and financial education resources, please visit the Financial Literacy Coalition of Central Texas and Wi$e Up Women: Financial Planning for Gen X & Y Women.

3. Sheryl Sandberg discusses at a TEDx talk why there are not more women leaders in top-level positions. She gave three very important pieces of advice to women: sit at the table, make your partner a real partner, don’t leave until you leave.

When she talked about making the household a more equitable place, Sandberg mentioned an alarming statistic: Within families with two full-time, working householders women do twice the amount of housework and three times the amount of childcare. “We need to make it as important a job to work inside the home, because it’s the hardest job in the world.” Check out our Dinner Tonight! archives for quick healthy dinner ideas for mom or dad to prepare; join our email list to receive a weekly video and recipe update.

While our mission is to help all members of society regardless of gender, we’d like to give women a nod for all the hard work they do, today and every day. Learn about ways you can support our work in the county by visiting our website.

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