The Manatee County (FL) Branch of AAUW advocates equity for women and girls locally in Bradenton, FL, and in Manatee County generally.

ANNOUNCEMENT! The Manatee County Branch of AAUW was established in 1953 by Marge Kinnan and other like-minded women of Manatee County, Florida, seeking equity for women. The Bradenton Branch (1973-2024) has recently rejoined the Manatee County Branch in order to better serve the needs of women and girls in our community.

We are a branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), which has published hundreds of research reports, from an 1885 paper disproving a prevailing myth that college impairs a woman’s fertility to, most recently, a study documenting the economic impact of workplace sexual harassment. We have supported the academic achievements of many thousands of scholars, from scientist Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, to astronaut Judith Resnik, the second woman in travel in space.

Our advocacy efforts have propelled countless new laws, including the Equal Pay Act, first proposed in 1945 and finally passed in 1963; the Title IX amendment in 1972; the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993; the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009; and the Paycheck Fairness Act, which was passed by the U.S. Representatives in 2019 but is awaiting action in the Senate.

Recent projects include:

• • • providing scholarships for girls and women in Manatee County through our Scholarship Foundation;
    • partnering with local schools and universities;
    • selecting middle school girls to attend the annual Tech Trek summer camp;
    • sponsor prizes for elementary school participants in the annual Math Superstars competition;
    • support local community programs such as the Manatee Women’s Resource Center, Healthy Start, Take Stock in Children, Just for Girls, Pace Center for Girls, and more.

We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.  In many ways, the fight for gender equity is just getting started.  Join us!