Hi! My name is Charmaine Davis. I’m the latest addition to the Atlanta 9to5 office. My first day was Monday June 28th. I’ll be working on the Work-Family, Election Connection and Minimum Wage campaigns as the Lead Organizer. I started my organizing career as a political organizer for Project Vote.

The first campaign I worked on was the Minimum Wage campaign in Ohio. I recruited, trained and managed a staff of over 40 field canvassers who collected over 250,000 petition signatures from registered Ohio voters who supported raising the state minimum wage. We were able to get the initiative on the ballot and mobilize Ohio voters to vote in favor of it. We successfully raised the minimum wage in Ohio from $5.15 to $6.85. This was a huge victory for low-wage workers in Ohio.

In 2007 as a community organizer in Flint, Michigan, I built the membership of Young Urban Voters, a branch of Project Vote, to over 2,500 members. I got the opportunity to work with and develop a lot of young adults and teenagers into active community leaders through one-on-one meetings and mentoring. Later in 2007, I was promoted to national staff with Project Vote, I managed several voter registration drives across the country that registered more than 1 million voters.

In 2009, I interned in the development department of a nonprofit in Chicago. I recently moved to Atlanta and I’m very excited about working with 9to5 and continuing to fight for economic justice!

Join 9to5 at the Capitol Wednesday April 7th!

Working Families Day at the Capitol, Wednesday April 7

Join us as we head to the Capitol to support two crucial bills for Georgia's working families, and learn how a bill becomes a law!

We will be asking our legislators to support:

Parent Protection Act - Unpaid time off for school visits for children and medical appointments for elderly parents.

Raise the Minimum Wage - Raise the state minimum wage and increase the tipped worker wage.

Date: Wednesday, April 7th

Time and Schedule:
8:30 -9:00am - Arrive for registration, coffee and doughnuts
9:00-10:15am - Training on grassroots lobbying skills and talking points on bills
10:30-11:30am - Tour the Capitol and contact your legislators!

Location: Coverdell Legislative Office Building, Room 306
18 Capitol Square, Atlanta 30334, located across the street from the Capitol on Mitchell Street

How to get there:

* Meet at IBEW building @ 8:15am for free parking and carpools to the Capitol
501 Pulliam St., Atlanta 30310
*Be sure to let us know if you're joining us for carpooling so we can plan for enough transportation - call or e-mail for directions and to RSVP - 404-222-0037 or jackie@9to5.org
or
* MARTA directions
-exit GA State MARTA stop
-head SW on Piedmont Ave. towards Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SE
-Turn right at Capitol Square SW
-Turn right to stay on Capitol Square SW/ Mitchell Street
-Coverdell Office Building will be on your left

Let us know you're coming! RSVP to: jackie@9to5.org or call 404-222-0037

This event is sponsored by 9to5 Atlanta Working Women in coordination with the GA/Job Family Collaborative and the GA Minimum Wage Coalition.
For more information on the sponsors of this event visit - http://www.womeninthehalls.org/

Our next Minimum Wage Committee meeting is:

Thursday, Jan. 14th at 6:30 pm.
location - 9to5 Atlanta office (IBEW Building)
501 Pulliam St., Atlanta 30312

We wil be planning our upcoming February event Show Your Server Some Love - $2.13 Is Not Enough! to raise awareness about efforts to raise the tipped worker minimum wage here in Georgia.

We hope you can make it - we need your input to make this event a success!

Yomara Velez Wins Organizer Respite Award

We are proud to announce that 9to5 organizer Yomara Velez has won the National Organizers Alliance Respite Award which honors the tireless activism of two organizers each year by sending them on a week long vacation.

Yomara was chosen for the award in recognition of her 15 years of organizing for social and economic justice. She currently works as an organizer at 9to5 Atlanta as well as Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR). Yomara began her career in the field as a young single mother in the Bronx when she founded the organization Sistas on the Rise and worked with organizations such as Mothers on the Move and Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice.

The Respite Award also highlighted Yomara's committment to creating a culture that honors connections to families and communities in the workplace. In her own neighborhood in the West End, she heads up Friends of the West End Park planting fruits and vegetables, cleaning the park, and making it a safe space for kids to play with her neighbors. With her two sons, 14 year old Keanu and 4 year old Diego, she knits, crafts, and gardens.

Yomara and her family will get to spend a week in a mountain resort in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Congratulations Yomara on this well-deserved award!

See her profile along with the other 2009-2010 Respite award winner here: http://tinyurl.com/yemqmol

Make sure you're registered to vote!

I'm sure you're wondering why I'm bringing up voter registration in the middle of June... there are more than 4 months until the next election, right? Well, I'm really excited about voter registration for two reasons:

• I just registered to vote in Georgia about a month ago and I'm really excited about voting in the Atlanta mayor's race in November!

• I attended a lobbying/activism training put on by the Women's Policy Group yesterday, and they kept stressing that the easiest way to make your voice heard is to exercise your right to vote!

So, it's true -- there ARE four and a half months until the next election. However, you can check right now to make sure you're registered to vote at your current address and under your current name. If either has changed, you MUST re-register to vote!

• You can check your registration status online here.

• If your address or name is incorrect (or if you're not even in the system!), you can download a voter registration form here (this is a PDF document).

Check it out, make sure all of the information is current, and start thinking about who's running in November... it's never too early to be informed!

How many members will YOU recruit?

9to5's Annual Membership Drive may have ended less than a month ago, but the Atlanta Chapter would like to continue the drive's momentum by recruiting 20 new members by August 15th.

The contest starts now! The member who recruits the most new members to the chapter will win a candle-lit meal for two and the runner up will win a certificate for a massage. For more details, click here.

Not sure how to recruit members to 9to5? Just ask!

Think of people you know who might support 9to5's mission and values -- women who you know have needed paid sick days, who have suffered harassment or discrimination on the job, who belong to other women's groups, or who work with organizations you have supported in the past, your mailman, childcare worker, or hairdresser. If you take look around you, I bet you'll find lots of people who would be interested in joining 9to5!

If you'd like any 9to5 brochures, voter guides, or membership forms to help you recruit members, just contact our office at 404-222-0037. Good luck!

Stay Connected to 9to5 Online

In the 9to5 Atlanta office, we've been learning A LOT about technology lately. After all of our hard work, you can now find 9to5's Atlanta chapter on Facebook and Twitter. Check us out!

If you're on facebook, you can join the 9to5 Atlanta Working Women group at here. And if you use the Causes application, you can also support our cause, listed under 9to5, National Association of Working Women. Find our cause here!

Are you on Twitter? If so, I recommend you follow @9to5atlanta. I'm a Twitter newbie, so I'm still learning how everything works... However, we'll write a few new tweets every week about all of our exciting work and upcoming events. Definitely check it out!


PS: pictures of the Atlanta Chapter are posted on Flickr, too!

Atlanta 9to5 Chapter Meeting!

Date & Time:	Saturday, June 20, 2009
	11:30am - 1:30pm

Location:	The Lotus Palace
	3470 Glensford Dr
	Decatur, GA

Get directions here!

Join 9to5 members and leaders at the next Chapter Meeting!

You can...
* Develop Leadership Skills
* Learn How to Become an Effective Advocate for Economic and Social Justice
* Meet Other 9to5 Members
* Enjoy fun team building activities ...

A special prize will be awarded to the member who can name five (5) positions that will open for election in our state in 2010!

RSVP to member Leslie Hudson if you are attending this meeting: 404.645.9233

For more information about the meeting, contact Shyria or Yomara by phone: 404.222.0037.


See you there!

Our Vote, Our Voice!

I recently spent the afternoon with a fellow 9to5 member and activist on the streets of Atlanta near the Capitol, talking to women (and some men!) about 9to5 and the policies we support. I have to admit, as we approached women we did not know, I was nervous! I expected that people would not be receptive and tell me they don’t have the time, but as we talked about the Parent Protection Act, paid sick days, and the Healthy Families Act, we discovered that many women agree with our policies. They are frustrated with the cost of childcare, the lack of health coverage for themselves and their families, and how difficult it has been to find a job.

We met very little opposition, but a few women said they already had paid sick leave and that our issues don’t pertain to them. They are fortunate to benefit from their company policies, but many don’t offer paid sick time or even a few hours to attend a school conference or doctor’s appointment. People assume that we all have the same work privileges but we don’t. It is up to our companies to decide, which is why we support statewide or federal policies. Sometimes a woman has to choose between a sick child and her job and it happens more often than we would like to admit.

Every day we wander the streets, unaware of the concerns and frustrations we share with the strangers we pass. Many of us forget that others love their children and want the very best for them, just as we do. Or like them, we spent down to the last dollar of our last paycheck, waiting impatiently for payday to help cover our waiting expenses. Or that a day that is free of worry or stress may not be shared by a neighbor or friend - that even though we might be doing well, others aren’t.

We asked these women to show support by signing purple cards that state "Our Vote, Our Voice!", which we share with our elected officials. We got 31 cards signed that day, but more important, my friend and I were able to connect with other women with whom we normally would not have spoken to. Next time you are waiting in a line and or riding the train, instead of ignoring the person next to you, strike up a conversation and find out just how similar you may be. Better yet, call our office at 404-227-0037 and make plans to pick up your own set of purple cards. It will give you a reason to reach out to others and show our elected officials that we care in numbers.

Watch the Georgia Job/Family Collaborative & the Georgia Minimum Wage Coalition on Lawmakers!

Twice during the month of February, 9to5's coalition work was featured on Georgia Public Broadcasting's "Lawmakers" program.


View the episodes here:

February 10, 2009: National Association of Social Workers (NASW) student lobby day

February 26, 2009: Job/Family Collaborative seniors & kids press conference @ the capitol


To tune in:Simply click on the word "watch" at the top of the screen, allow the entire program to load, and fast forward to the correct time: for the NASW lobby day, coverage starts at 26:33 and for the seniors & kids press conference, coverage begins at 22:40.

Enjoy, and stay tuned for more media coverage in the future!

You're Invited!

WHAT? Growing Women's Power in Atlanta, a 9to5 Atlanta chapter meeting
(this will be the first of 9to5's monthly community dialogues.)

WHEN? Saturday, February 21st, 11am

WHERE? The Java Delight Cafe
4153C Flat Shoals Parkway
Decatur, GA 30034
Map

TOPIC: organizing collectively for workplace justice. Come learn how you can get involved in 9to5's movement!



See the online invitation HERE.