AAUW (The American Association of University Women) advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research.

AAUW has recognized AAUW Baltimore as a Five Star branch.  The AAUW Five Star Program is designed to help branches align with AAUW’s strategic priorities and advance our mission of achieving gender equity for women and girls. By participating in this program, branches contribute to a strong network of advocates, elevating both your local impact and our collective efforts nationwide.

Things To Do:

Attend the AAUW Baltimore Branch Monthly Meeting via Zoom on Thursday, January 15, 7:00 pm.  Email to get the Zoom link.

Guest Speakers: Lisette Morris, Executive Director, The Ingenuity Project, and Justin Webster, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Education is a powerful catalyst for opportunity — but persistent barriers continue to hold women and girls back. From civil rights rollbacks and rising tuition to disproportionate debt and campus discrimination, systemic obstacles threaten access and equity at every level. AAUW works to remove those barriers and advance inclusive, affordable, and equitable education, because when women learn without obstacles, entire communities thrive.”
(https://www.aauw.org/issues/education/)  While AAUW focuses on women and girls, in Baltimore, non-profit organizations are addressing these issues for all underrepresented groups. Our January 15 meeting will
feature 2 of these programs – the Ingenuity Project and the CollegeBound Foundation.

The Ingenuity Project is a joint effort of the Baltimore City Public School System, the Abell Foundation and Baltimore’s science and mathematics community. Its mission is to prepare highly capable and motivated students in Baltimore City to achieve at nationally competitive levels in mathematics, science, technology, and related fields. The Ingenuity Project has had a high school program at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute since 1997.  It has produced students who have qualified for the Siemens Westinghouse
Competition and the Regeneron (formerly Intel) Sciene Talent Search finals. Graduates have been successful at such notable institutions as the Johns Hopkins University, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Stanford, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. More than 70% of alumni report studying STEM fields in college, and 30% of alumni report completing advanced degrees.

Over the past two years, UMBC’s Mathematics and Statistics Department has worked with the Ingenuity Project. Their initial partnership has included faculty classroom visits, direct student mentoring, research modeling sessions, and UMBC STEM immersion visitations.

CollegeBound started in 1988 with a city-wide challenge. Baltimore’s labor market was changing rapidly, and the city needed an increasingly college-educated workforce. Business and community leaders looked at the city’s public schools and saw dedicated teachers, counselors and administrators. But they also saw students who–despite everyone’s efforts–were not getting the resources they needed to reach college. Structural gaps existed in three specific areas: college advising in the public high schools, lack of accessible scholarship money, and “Last Dollar Grant” gap funding which makes up the difference between financial aid and what a student’s family can afford.  For the past two years, AAUW Baltimore has funded scholarships through the
CollegeBound Foundation.  Additionally, members have participated in the selection process as readers.

Attend the AAUW Baltimore Valentine’s Day Luncheon on Saturday, February 21, 2026, from Noon to 2:00 PM at the Church of the Redemption, 1401 Towson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.

Join us as we celebrate our love for AAUW at the Valentine’s Day Luncheon.  Heather Reichardt, President of AAUW Maryland wll be the speaker.  All are welcome!  There is a free parking lot around the corner on Clement Street.

Please submit your registration and payment by February 14, 2025.

Book Group Meeting.  The Book Group meets on the first Monday of the month at 6:00 pm at Barrett’s Grill in Hunt Valley.  Upcoming books: