Policy Committees

Education, Training and Workplace

Legislative Chair: Senator Linda Gray (AZ)

Private Sector Chair: Bruce Wiseman, Citizens' Commission on Human Rights

Overview of the Committee's 2007 Initiatives:

Place backpacks and school supplies into the hands of the children who need them the most as they start the new school year, all while generating positive media attention and raising awareness about the importance of ensuring that school children are properly equipped with the supplies they need to be successful inside the classroom
Improve nutrition among children of all socio-economic classes and provide critical nutritional supplements to disadvantaged and at-risk youth in schools
Investigating the correlation between the use of anti-depressants amongst adolescents and teenagers and the increasing number of school shootings that have occurred over the last decade
Supporting the establishment the National Women's History Museum in Washington, DC and securing support from Congress to allow the museum to gain permanent residence near the National Mall, the most prominent location in the nation's capital
Promoting the use of technology to open access to further educational resources for students
Partnerships with Office Depot Foundation, Vitamin Relief USA, and the National Women's History Museum

Backpack Initiative: NFWL's Education Policy Committee has partnered with the Office Depot Foundation to provide backpacks containing school supplies to disadvantaged and at-risk elementary school students. This backpack program was established in 2001 by Office Depot in an effort to provide backpacks and school supplies to children in need.

NFWL's Education Team Leaders have been to invited to hand out 375 of these backpacks in their states. NFWL has secured more than 16,000 backpacks for our women elected officials to distribute during the month of August - Office Depot National Backpack Month. The overall goal of this project is to place backpacks and school supplies into the hands of the children who need them the most as they start the new school year, all while generating positive media attention for the good work our elected women do in their states every day. Office Depot Company Information

NFWL Education Team Leaders for Backpack Initiative:

Health and Wellness in the Schools NWFL's Education Policy Committee has partnered with Vitamin Relief USA to improve the health and educational status of at-risk children with daily multivitamin/mineral and essential fatty acid supplements. The Committee is working with Vitamin Relief USA to find ways to allow state and local governments to pursue nutrition programs that will provide multi-vitamins and essential fatty acid supplements to all pre-school and school-aged children who might benefit from these nutrition programs to promote better health, more productivity, increased learning and better quality of life for all children, regardless of their socio-economic status.

Vitamin Relief USA currently provides high-quality children's multi-vitamins and minerals free of charge to more than 24,000 at-risk children at more than 130 partner sites in 32 states. Collaborative distribution sites include: Head Start, Healthy Start and WIC programs, K-12 public schools and school districts, Volunteers of America, Rotary Clubs, Health Care for the Homeless Clinician's Network, community health centers, Council on Aging programs, homeless and battered women shelters, Native American programs, Salvation Army, YWCA and YMCA, Boys & Girls clubs, City Park and Recreation Departments, hospital outreach programs, public health departments, medical and nursing school community outreach programs, and countless other community-based and faith-based organizations. Vitamin Relief Home

Establishment of National Women's History Museum in DC Although women constitute a majority of the nation's population their achievements and contributions are underrepresented in museums and memorials. NFWL is a key member of the Coalition of organizations supporting the establishment of the National Women's History Museum (NWHM) near the National Mall in Washington, DC on Pennsylvania Avenue, between the White House and U.S. Capitol Buildings. The U.S. Senate unanimously supported a Resolution in favor of opening the National Women's History Museum at the Pavilion Annex, however comprehensive legislation has yet to pass in both the House and Senate and NFWL's Education Committee is working with Congressional and GSA leaders to make the museum a reality.

In 1999 The President's Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History called for a women's history museum to be established on "The National Mall" in Washington, DC. Once established on the National Mall, the NWHM will showcase the full history of women in the United States and the contributions they have made and continue to make in the marketplace, arts and sciences, government, entertainment, education, home, and community. Nation Women's History Museum

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