GRANT RECIPIENT TO SPEAK ON INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS AT AAUW MEETING IN LA MESA JAN. 8

East County News Service

December 31, 2021 (La Mesa) - The La Mesa-El Cajon Branch of the American Association of University Women will open the new year with featured speaker Jessica Gutierrez Masini, a 2021 Fund grant recipient. Jessica will be speaking to the branch via zoom on January 8^th  beginning at 10:00 a.m. about Indigenous peoples of San Bernardino County.

Her write-up on the AAUW-CA web site ( www.aauw-ca.org), describes a unique approach to her research:

“Through engagement, dance and compassionate listening, Jessica Gutierrez Masini explores how two intertribal Indigenous practices (Danza and powwow) reflect transnational Indigenous identities, values, and expressions. Her interpersonal analysis of intergroup relations across the U.S. and México borderlands echoes modes of decolonial inquiry and meaning making among feminist scholars and communities. Through personal presence, critical pedagogy, and scholarship, she dedicates herself to Indigenous self-determination and equal accessibility and equity in education.”

AAUW has a proud heritage of helping women pursue higher education, tracing back to a time when few women had that opportunity. It started after the U.S. Civil War. With a growing middle class and more women looking to go to university, AAUW founder Marion Talbot gave the call to support a fund for women’s graduate education. She began by asking each member to donate $1.00 toward this goal. The fund has since grown into a large endowment used to assist college graduates in pursuing their dreams.

This past September, 37 grants were awarded to Fellows in diverse specialties. Some of the most noted women who have been past recipients, include, Madame Curie, Dr. Joyce Brothers and Astronaut Judith Resnik.