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| Jennifer Strauss
Malvern East, Australia
Age: 70 or over |
Nominated as:
Nominated by: |
Vice President
Australian Federation of Graduate Women (formerly AFUW) |
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| Professional
Field and/or present occupation |
Retired. 1998-2008: Honorary Senior Research Fellow
in School of English, Communications and Performance Studies,
Monash University. |
| Skills
and experience (volunteer and professional) that have prepared you to be an IFUW Board Member |
The skills and experience
drawn from my academic career in literary studies relevant
to serving on the IFUW Board include: skills in analysis
and the development of argument, effective verbal and written
communication, including cross-cultural communication, as
I have taught and spoken on Australian literature and culture
at various universities in Europe, the Americas and India.
Researching and teaching feminist theory and women's writing
has given me a broad historical knowledge of the situation
of women in different periods and places and contributed
to my capacity to advocate on issues affecting women.
The latter has been a driving force in my involvement in
voluntary work both within AFUW and the higher education
sector, activity which has given me an extensive knowledge
of the latter. My past experience in the higher education
sector includes three terms of office on the Council (governing
body) of Monash University, Vice-Presidency of the Federation
of Australian University Academics, and Presidency of the
Staff Association of Monash University (in which role I
led successful negotiations for paid maternity leave for
Monash staff). I am a Life Member of the National Tertiary
Education Union.
Within AFUW (now AFGW) I have been twice President of the
Victorian State Association and twice national President
of AFUW. I am currently President of the Pacific Graduate
Women's Network. In these roles I have been obliged to hone
skills in the use of email and the internet, the management
of meetings (including teleconferences and email meetings),
conflict resolution, the formulation of resolutions and
constitutional amendments and the development of advocacy,
including detailed submissions to inquiries instituted by
government or other national agencies. Examples can be viewed
on the Advocacy page of the website, www.afuw.org.au.
Through AFUW,
I have increased my involvement with and understanding of
IFUW. Currently in my second term as a member of the Status
of Women Committee, I have been involved in the preparation
of two IFUW Programmes for Action. My familiarity with the
membership of other NFAs and their concerns, something I
believe necessary for a Board member, has increased in this
triennium through the experience of moderating the internet
member discussions initiated by the SWC and through serving
(for the second time) as Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary
Seminars for the IFUW Conference. |
| Experience or knowledge of the United Nations, its specialized agencies and their national commissions |
Although a member of Unifem Australia and the Victorian
Status of Women Committee of the United Nations Association
of Australia, and a participant in local NGO CSW briefings
and the preparation of Australia's shadow report on CEDAW,
I have not had direct experience of the United Nations and
its agencies.
My understanding of these was certainly enhanced when the
Millennium Development Goals became the theme of the Interdisciplinary
Seminars for the 2007 IFUW Conference and when, as a member
of the SWC Committee, I was allocated the task of preparing
the Human Rights 'pillar' of the 2007-2010 Programme for
Action.
However, AFUW has always been supportive of the UN and I
have used its Conventions and Australia's obligations to
those to which it is a signatory as part of our argument
in submissions on matters such as preventing trafficking
in women and children or respecting the rights of refugees.
We have particularly used Security Council Resolution 1325
to urge the government to fulfil it obligations to women
when involved in international peacekeeping or military
operations. We have also been active in lobbying the government
to sign/ ratify various UN instruments, notably the Optional
Protocol to CEDAW, and to support GEAR.
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| Other relevant skills and experience from the last 10 years relevant to this position |
My major skills development in the past ten years
has been in the use of IT, whether in the preparation of
documents or in the use and organisation of email correspondence
and of the internet. The latter has become crucial as an
instrument of research - without it I could have completed
neither my last big academic project (a two-volume scholarly
edition of The Collected Verse of Mary Gilmore, 2004 and
2007), the Submissions made on behalf of AFUW to various
government inquiries, nor the work on the Human Rights 'pillar'
of the current Programme for Action.
I could not however claim to be an entire technophile: Facebook
and You Tube remain unexplored territory.
If taking responsibility, both for current activity and
forward planning is a skill, then it's always been necessary
in my academic work, but has been developed in a different,
organisational way, in my terms as AFUW President (2000-2003
and 2006-2009). |
| Goals for this position and the contribution you believe you can personally make if elected or appointed |
If elected my goal would be to contribute as much
as possible to ensuring that IFUW can justly claim to be
an organisation that is not only in itself a strong and
eloquent voice for educated women in international fora
but also one that empowers NFA members to bring about, in
their own lives and in their various societies, changes
that are needed for them to access education at all levels,
to benefit from education in achieving personal career advancement
and financial security, and to use their education towards
the establishment of justice and peace in their respective
nations and in the world.
I would hope to bring to the Board a lively awareness of
the need to find ways to demonstrate how such general principles
can be translated into policies and actions that can be
seen as relevant to the great variations that occur in women's
situations both within nations and between nations. If IFUW
cannot do that, it will not attract a membership that can
sustain its role internationally.
In terms of personal contribution, I think I have demonstrated
a high level of organisational commitment, a capacity to
work hard at allocated tasks as well as those of my individual
choice, and to meet deadlines. I enjoy problem solving.
I am happy to work either independently or in a group as
appropriate. I am a confident public speaker but while I
am usually quite ready to articulate and defend opinions,
I also listen pretty well to those of others and am more
interested in a productive resolution to an argument than
in point scoring. People skills become even more important
in voluntary organisations where hierarchies of authority
and specificity of tasks are less defined than in the corporate
or institutional world, and I think mine are reasonably
good. |
| What do you see as the role of the Board? |
The Board has obvious responsibilities for oversight
of the administrative and fiscal health of the IFUW, even
if much of the day-to day work in these areas is delegated
to the hard-working staff of the Head Office.
The Board also has the role of co-ordinating and publicizing
the work of the IFUW representatives to those UN bodies
where IFUW has official standing. Information to NFAs has
improved in the past triennium, but this is still an area
often under-appreciated, although it is one possible answer
to the challenge, 'Why does IFUW matter to us?'
Above all though the Board is responsible for keeping IFUW
principles clearly in focus and for suggesting ways to translate
those principles into actions that can be taken up by the
NFAs in ways that they feel are relevant to their needs
and local activities. Many NFAs are struggling to keep afloat
and deal with local circumstances and won't respond well
to prescriptive top-down requests for action. Getting the
balance right between being responsive to grass-roots' priorities
and providing leadership is not easy, but is a critical
role for the Board.
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Board members serve as committee liaisons or have special responsibilities in the following areas: international advocacy, programme, projects, membership, communications, finance, resolutions, fellowshis and assistance to displaced women graduates.
For which of these roles are you most suited and why? |
My experience probably fits me best for working with
the Status of Women Committee, and I would be very happy
to serve as a liaison member with that Committee.
I've a strong interest in advocacy and would certainly appreciate
the opportunity to work in that area.
However, I also have considerable experience working with
the formulation of resolutions and the procedures for dealing
with them, which could make me suitable for work with the
Resolutions Committee.
I also have experience in assessing scholarship applications
at postgraduate level, which is an area I could work in,
as is communications, although I don't have a very clear
idea of what that would involve.
Essentially I like making organisations work and am flexible
in my ideas of where I can contribute.
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| Education: |
Monash University, PhD, 1992, Australian Literature
(Poetry) |
| Mother
tongue: |
English |
| Ability
to speak English: |
Excellent |
| Ability
to understand spoken English: |
Excellent |
| Ability
to read English: |
Excellent |
| Ability
to write English: |
Excellent |
| Other
languages: |
French (reading
fair, spoken poor) |
| Computer
skills: |
Considerable experience sending e-mail and using the
Internet |
| Internet
Access: |
Regular access to e-mail at home or the office |
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