CWD's Book Club meets the first Wednesday of the month, at 6:30 pm.
During these monthly gatherings, we engage in discussions about the stories we’ve read while in the company of a dynamic group of women. Your time commitment is only two hours a month. Many of the books are relatively recent publications and can be found at your local bookstore. We encourage sharing your reading materials with a partner to cut down on costs.
New to book club? Register here and we'll add you to our email list so you can get all the details.
Wednesday, June 6
This Child Will Be Great, by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Dubbed "Africa's Iron Lady," Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first woman president of the Republic of Liberia in January 2006. She was named a winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. Her memoir recounts her early childhood, experiences with abuse and imprisonment, and her struggle for democracy and social justice. According to the The New York Times Book Review, hers is "an incredible story...An accessible walk through Liberian history, told by someone who was somehow always in the center of the political storm."
Wednesday, July 4
Written with bracing wit and intelligence, Rachel Maddow's Drift argues that we've drifted away from America's original ideals and become a nation weirdly at peace with perpetual war, with all the financial and human costs that entails. To understand how we've arrived at such a dangerous place, Maddow takes us from the Vietnam War to today's war in Afghanistan, along the way exploring the disturbing rise of executive authority, the gradual outsourcing of our war-making capabilities to private companies, the plummeting percentage of American families whose children fight our constant wars for us, and even the changing fortunes of G.I. Joe. She offers up a fresh, unsparing appraisal of Reagan's radical presidency. Ultimately, she shows us just how much we stand to lose by allowing the priorities of the national security state to overpower our political discourse.
We’re excited to take our international programming to another level and look forward to your participation!
The Center was delighted to partner with PeaceTrees Vietnam for this special program. We gratefully acknowledge the support of its staff in the U.S. and in Viet Nam, especially Jerilyn Brusseau, Blair B. Burroughs, Bob Stokes, Milica Koscica, Laurie Christomos, and Quang Le.
A special thank you for the generous support of the following organizations and individuals:
National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Viet Nam Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Viet Nam Ministry of Health
Viet Nam Ministry of Labour – Invalids and Social Affairs
Embassy of Viet Nam in the United States
Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations
Viet Nam Women’s Union
Madame Ton Nu Thi Ninh, former Ambassador of Viet Nam to the EU; President, Tri Viet University
The Honorable Nguyen Tam Chien, former Ambassador of Viet Nam to the United States
Embassy of the United States of America, Hanoi, Viet Nam
The Honorable Christine Gregoire, Governor of the State of Washington
United Nations Office of the Resident Coordinator
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
UN Women
Cambridge-Viet Nam Women’s Leadership Programme (EOWP)
Center for Education, Promotion, and Empowerment of Women (CEPEW)
Center for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender, Family, Women and Adolescents (CSAGA)
Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Women Entrepreneurs Council
Pham Hoai Giang, MDM, Presidium Member, Chief of International Relations, Viet Nam Women’s Union
Pham Thi Thu Hang, Ph.D., Secretary General, Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Bui Tran Phuong, Ph.D., Rector, Hoa Sen University
Thai Thi Ngoc Du, Ph.D., Hoa Sen University, Center for Gender and Society
Duong Van Thanh, Ph.D., World Learning/Vietnam
Nguyen Trang Thu, J.D., International Cooperation Manager, Tri Viet University
Le Hoang Anh Thu, M.Sc., Hoa Sen University, Center for Gender and Society
Timothy Liston, First Secretary, Embassy of the United States
Joycelyn Narayan, Women’s Issues Officer, Embassy of the United States
Sarah Takats, Political Officer, Embassy of the United States
Brent Heinemann, Director, International Relations and Protocol, Office of the Governor, State of Washington
Ingrid Fitzgerald, Policy Specialist, Office of the Resident Coordinator, UN
Suzette Mitchell, Country Representative, UN Women
Aya Matsuura, UN/Government of Vietnam Joint Programme
on Gender Equality
Frank Feulner, Senior Technical Advisor, Parliamentary Development, UNDP
Marcia Monge, Senior Technical Advisor, UN Development Programme
Chuck Searcy, Vietnam veteran,country representative Humpty Dumpty Institute
Suzanne Lecht, Art Director, Art Vietnam Gallery
Tony Nong, Managing Director, Ann Tours
Lady Borton, Advisor, Center for Sustainable Community Development
Christoph Giebel, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Washington
Harriet Phinney, Ph.D., Lecturer, Seattle University
Marie Tran Johnson, Edmonds Community College
Son Michael Pham, Kids Without Borders
Susan Picatti, Susan Picatti Design
Tony Rafel, Rafel Law Group PLLC
Seattle Center Foundation
Jean Godden, Seattle City Council Member
Thank you for your support!
Global Networking through the
Center for Women & Democracy
The Center for Women & Democracy organizes delegations to help build a worldwide network of communications and support for women leaders. Women civic, business and political leaders join our delegations to different countries and regions of the world. These delegations create opportunities for women to explore leadership, business and politics on a global scale while focusing on the exchange of ideas and the professional and personal obstacles women face as leaders. Following each delegation, we host a dinner where participants can share their knowledge and experience with the community and interested constituencies. The Center also networks with women across the world by coordinating reciprocal visits to Seattle for contacts made during our delegations.
In the past, we have organized delegations to Morocco, Chile, Cuba, Sweden and the Baltics, and South Africa, and participated in delegations to the Ukraine organized by some of the women we met in Sweden. In addition to our official delegations, board members frequently extend invitations to travel for women’s leadership purposes. Past trips have included places such as Egypt, Jordan, China and Russia.
