VFA SPEAKERS BUREAU
All arrangements for speaking are made between speaker and client. The potential client should e-mail the speaker
directly. It is assumed that anyone wanting a speaker will pay expenses for travel and necessary accommodations.
Fees are negotiated between speaker and client. Those who get speaking engagements through VFA's speakers bureau
will give at least 10% to VFA. e-mail: jcvfa@aol.com
Sonia Pressman Fuentes
Zoe Ann Nicholson
Himilce Novas
Mavra Stark
Virginia Smith Watkins
Grace Welch
Area(s) Available:
AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE!
e-mail: spfuentes@comcast.net
A founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the first woman attorney in the General Counsel's Office at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Sonia Pressman Fuentes is a charter member of VFA who sits on its Advisory
Board. She is a writer and public speaker. Sonia was a founder of NOW (National Organization for Women), WEAL (the
Women's Equity Action League) and FEW (Federally Employed Women) and the first woman attorney in the General Counsel's
Office at the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
Back in the mid-1960s, newspapers still categorized their classified ads into "Help Wanted - Male" and
"Help Wanted - Female." Airlines could ground flight attendants when they married or reached the ripe
old age of 35. And pregnant teachers could be fired without repercussion.
That was the climate in which Sonia Pressman Fuentes began her career as the first woman attorney in the General
Counsel's office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
At the time, many of the men in the highest echelons of the EEOC did not view sex discrimination as part of their
mission, according to Fuentes. Indeed, for her seemingly heretical efforts to put women's rights on the agenda,
the General Counsel for the EEOC once called her a "sex maniac."
In her memoir, Eat First - You
Don't Know What They'll Give You,
Fuentes, who lives in Sarasota, FL., recounts her efforts as a pioneer for equal opportunity for women. She also
writes about her family's emigration from Berlin, Germany, in 1933 to flee the Holocaust.
That childhood experience helped spark her Iifelong passion for fighting discrimination, whether religious or for
any other reason, Fuentes said.
More about Sonia at Erratic Impact web site: http://www.erraticimpact.com/fuentes
Zoe Ann Nicholson
zoe@lunesoleilpress.com
Available Worldwide!
Activist
and author, Zoe Ann Nicholson offers her living history, slides and accurate documents as she shares with her audience
the 1982 fast for The Equal Rights Amendment. Fortunately for the movement she saved and published her intimate
daily diary of her 1982 fast for the Equal Rights Amendment, including 50 photos. Joining with 7 women, traveling
to Springfield, Illinois, living on water only; Zoe sat in the eye of the political storm and searched for insight.
Her story is the very personal and private story about her summer, filled with politics and prayer. She shares
her confusion, her idealism, her hunger for justice. She shares it all from Phyllis Shlafly to Governor James Thompson,
Mahatma Gandhi to Dick Gregory. Historical and inspiring, she speaks and writes from the heart with intimacy and
humor.Zoe Ann Nicholson is the author of The Hungry Heart, a Woman’s Fast for Justice, Matri, Letters from the Mother and The Passionate Heart. She holds a B.A. in Theology, Quincy University, 1969 and a M.A. in Ethics, USC, 1975. She has led a very diverse life, from teaching high school, building and operating a bookstore, to working in high tech. Currently she produces books, designs websites, and is passionate about the permanent liberation of women.
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HIMILCE NOVAS
Scottsdale, AZ
EMAIL: himilce_novas@yahoo.com
Feminist Author and Expert on Latino
Culture
Himilce Novas' personal involvement in
the feminist movement found its roots in New York City in the 1960s. As a young Latina, Novas was aware of oppressive
gender norms in "traditional" American culture and the machismo of Latino culture. Novas' engagement
in the feminist movement began as a member of New York NOW. Her views find voice in her many publications, making
Himilce Novas a leading feminist authority on gender roles especially as they relate Latino culture. Novas' newest
novel, Princess Papaya, explores the theme of gender in both normative and untraditional forms. As active member
of Veteran Feminists of America, Novas remains dedicated to gender equality. Feminism informs her work and lectures,
making her approach to the topic of gender equality both educated and first-hand, objective and impassioned. Some
of the topics of her recent speaking engagements include:
- MACHISMO: SLOW DANCE ON THE KILLING GROUND
- WOMENS' HISTORY FROM AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
- HISTORY AND SUCCESS OF THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT IN MINORITY COMMUNITIES
- WHAT IS THE NEW FEMINIST WAVE ALL ABOUT AND HOW
IT WILL IT CHANGE AMERICA AND THE WORLD.
- WE'RE HERE, GET USED TO IT: GAY, LESBIAN AND TRANSGENDER CIVIL RIGHTS
Himilce Novas speaks across the nation on these topics and others in the fields of Latino culture/history/art/religion,
literature and writing, and media. For further information on Himilce Novas or to book her as a speaker please
visit:
Contact Himilce Novas: EMAIL: himilce_novas@yahoo.com
Please visit http://supernovas.org
Contact Mavra Stark
Pittsburgh, PA
E-mail:mavras@comcast.net
Topics
National Healthcare as a Feminist
Issue. The Myth of America:
- We may have problems, but we still have the finest healthcare in the world. We have the highest standard of living in the world. American women are the most liberated in the world. All these myths are explored in depth with an emphasis on National Healthcare as the first step in bringing American women the sorts of programs and services that European women have had for many years.
Feminism and Witchcraft:
- The major religions, all patriarchal, as the basis for all oppression of women. Why women still accept these religions. What exactly is Witchcraft? Disney and the Inquisition vs. natural Mother religion. What is white magic, black magic and gray magic? Taking power and using it in positive ways. Simple spells. Is there room for men in Women's Spirtuality?
The Equal Rights Amendment:
- Do we really still need it? What is its current status, if any? What is the "Start Over" ERA? What is the "Three State" ERA? What is the Constitutinal EqualityAmendment?
- The Insurance Lobby and the ERA. Shaking up old bones. What we can do.
Little Insults to Smacks in the Face:
- Small, seemingly insignificant assaults on women.
Subtle putdowns in television commercials, Men Working signs. The English language and sexism. Ridicule as atom
bomb.
Minneapolis, MN
E-mail: virginiaswatkins@aol.com
Ginny Watkins had feminist thoughts as a child, which was in part influenced by having
a woman pastor in her childhood United Methodist Church. She became involved with the feminist movement in the
1960s.
She organized chapters of National Organization for Women (NOW) and was a president of NOW at chapter and state
levels. She served on the NOW National Board for 6 years, representing the Midwest Region.
She had a career in social services. In 1979 she lobbied to passage, the first Child Care Sliding Fee legislation
in Minnesota. This legislation supplemented individual child care costs so that low income parents could work.
It has been a good step toward independence for many.
She currently is secretary of Veteran Feminists of America. She also chaired the Outreach Committee for the Pioneer
Feminist Project and is currently working on latter phases of this historical directory. More information about
the project can be found on this website.
A native of Iowa, she currently lives in the Minneapolis area with her husband of more than 45 years, David Watkins.
They have a grown son and daughter and 5 grandchildren.
CONTACT VIRGINIA SMITH WATKINS
virginiaswatkins@aol.com
GRACE RIPA WELCH
Islandia, New York 11749-1604
Phone: (631) 348-7199
email: grace@gracewelch.com
TOPICS: HISTORY OF THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT; SEXUALITY, PHYSICAL ABUSE OF WOMEN, BUILDING ONE'S SELF ESTEEM AND HEALTH THROUGH YOGA & MEDITATION
Grace Welch, an inspiration and mentor
to younger women, took part in the Women's March and Strike of 1970 and soon after joined the Nassau County chapter
of NOW. In 1973 she helped convene the South Shore NOW chapter with nine women and her husband, Frank (who died
on October 10, 2004 after 58 years together), and later served as president for two terms.Frank was treasurer during her second year. Under their leadership the chapter, among other things, held Long Island's first Sexuality Conference; helped a member challenge a Little League so that her daughter could play, which resulted in a landmark decision assuring girls not be denied participation in sports; exposed the Town of Islip pay scales, proving discrimination against female employees; had the Island's first Masculine Mystique Committee chaired by husband Frank and Chris Golder and conducted the first co-ed consciousness raising groups; successfully challenged the Long Island chapter of the American Red Cross for holding a MEN ONLY fundraiser (in conjunction with the Long Island Feminist Coalition and the ACLU, Nassau and South Shore NOW.); threatened to picket the Red Cross' s annual fund raiser and obtained an injunction against them, which resulted in the affair being open to women for the first time. Bob Hope , the keynoter at the event, remarked that the chapter were the "troublemakers" and NEWSDAY reported this action.
She is president of Mid-Suffolk NOW, a chapter formed in the early 70's by women at Stony Brook University, and a board member of Veteran Feminists of America. Her projects for VFA include "AN ISADORA EVENING," a theatre/dance production based on the life of Isadora Duncan (April 2002), and a Brooklyn Museum of Art installation (February 2003). She is a Certified Hatha Yoga teacher, conducting classes and workshops in her home studio.
CONTACT GRACE WELCH: grace@gracewelch.com
WEBSITE: www.gracewelch.com
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