President’s Letter: Thankful for JAWS

By Sandra Fish, JAWS President

It’s the giving time of year.

Time to focus on what matters in our lives and be grateful for all we have — family, friends, home, health, careers. Time to give of ourselves to others.

I hope that Journalism and Women Symposium is on the list of what you’re thankful for. I know JAWS is on my list.

I’m thankful for the women journalists around the country who are my friends because of JAWS. Thankful that I can email or call them if I have a career question. Thankful that if I’m traveling, we can get together to share shoptalk and laughter. Thankful for the Conference and Mentoring Project (CAMP), which is always an invigorating weekend where we add new friends to the old. Thankful for our email list, where we can ask questions, draw on the expertise of others, share job posts, share the work we’re proud of.

JAWS has given me so much that I’m happy to give back, from serving on the board to making a small monthly donation via Network for Good.

Our organization exists on:

• Membership dues, which we’ve kept to a reasonable $75 a year.
• CAMP registration fees, which are also a bargain.
• Donations from nonprofits, companies, universities and journalism organizations pursued by our development director.
• Donations from our members and friends through one-time or modest recurring monthly donations.

We keep our member donation solicitations to a minimum. In late spring, we seek your help to bring talented young women, our fellows, to CAMP.

And at this time of year, we ask you to include JAWS in your year-end giving.

Not all of us have the resources to give “big,” although we have been steadily adding to the list of supporters joining our Leadership Circle with gifts of $1,000 or more. Most of our donors give modestly; the collective results of many small donations of $20 here and $50 there go a long way to help us achieve our goals to help you. We appreciate contributions of all sizes, so thank you to those who have already sent support for our programming, operations and training events. (You’ll be hearing more from me about some cool 2016 opportunities next month!)

This holiday season, I’ll be asking my family to give to JAWS instead of buying me gifts. And I will be giving a little extra this year to JAWS as well.

I hope you’ll join me, whether it’s giving on your own with a one-time or recurring monthly donation or asking friends, families and employers to help JAWS prosper in the New Year.

Just click here or send a friend or family member this link.

Operations Director Corner

By Roxanne Foster, JAWS Operations Director

Please join me in welcoming these newest members.

If your membership is past due, please renew! You’re an important part of the JAWS network, and we’d like to keep you connected. If you have questions or concerns about JAWS, please feel free to call (720-722-3569) or email. My office hours are Tuesday and Thursday, noon to 4 p.m., MT.

Board member blog post: Making it work

By Sarah Shemkus, JAWS Board Member

At the end of September 2011, I left my job as a staff business reporter at a daily newspaper to go freelance (and to move to a different part of the state with my new husband). I approached the new endeavor with a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed enthusiasm for all the new paths before me, for all the doors I could attempt to pry open.

The road was not easy — there have been plenty of days when my tail was decidedly unbushy — but today I am a content, independent journalist with plenty of freelance bylines to my name and little desire to return to the pressure and politics of a daily newsroom.

Read more here.

Join the global movement by giving to JAWS on Giving Tuesday

By Pamela Moreland, JAWS Development Committee Chair

Giving Tuesday is Dec. 1, just around the corner. It’s the perfect time to make a significant donation to JAWS.

Giving Tuesday is a global day for giving back, a day to turn around from all the consumerism that fills the holiday season and turn toward the nonprofits that work to make the world a better place.

Not to brag, but JAWS is one of those nonprofits.

The mission of our organization is to support “the professional empowerment and personal growth of women in journalism" and work "toward a more accurate portrayal of the whole society.” JAWS needs your help to keep moving forward. Your tax-deductible donation, no matter what size, will provide money for fellowships, mentoring programs and regional training, and help in bringing great speakers to our annual conference.

You can also ask the people who usually give you gifts to consider making a donation to JAWS instead of merchandise or a gift card. No schlepping to the store, and everyone feels good.

Consider this your call to action. There are lots of ways to send your donation to JAWS.

Read more here.

Got an idea for CAMP? Please take this survey.

Is there a panel or speaker who will give us all the mental or emotional boost we need? Please let us know.

Read more here.

Share your best work of 2015

The end of the year is a great time to look back at our accomplishments of the previous year. So we wanted to remind everyone about some of the best work of our members.

Please send us links to no more than two things that you are most proud. We’ll collect everyone’s nominations and distribute them in the December newsletter, as well as on jaws.org.

Read more here.

Google Hangout on internships

Regional gatherings recap

Going to any conferences?