Main fundraiser photo

East Coast Bicycle Ride for 5WCW

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***Money goes towards trip expenses and excess will be used to seed a savings account for community representatives to attend the 5th World Conference on Women in 2020. Funds will be used to cover the travel costs for folks from local communities to attend the the 5WCW***

~~~*Every bit is appreciated*~~~

~~~*Miss Ion Statement*~~~

East Coast Greenway  bicycle expedition along the eastern United States seaboard to promote the 2020 5th World Conference on Women.  Network with local communities along the eastern seaboard of the USA with a focus on improving the glocal status of women. Financially enable representatives from communities along the East Coast to attend the 5WCW. 

~~~*Current Project Timeline*~~~

Sept 2016: Begin riding from Calais, ME to Key West, FL to explore and start connecting with communities along the East Coast. Get to know the places and people along the Greenway route. Research women-specific international public policy and the requirements for establishing a non-profit organization. 

Dec 2016 - Feb 2017
:  Begin preparing  a multi-year Grassroots Fundraising Campaign proposal which: 1) Educates people on the 5WCW, 2) Raises funds for representatives to attend 5WCW, 3) Culminates in a group tour of the Greenway with events in cities along the way. 

Aug-Oct 2017: Complete the ECGreenway route to Florida while networking with gender-inclusive businesses, support organizations, and cycling associations. Flyer community spaces and explore potential options for events and forums. Help raise awareness about the ECGreenway Alliance and further their mission. 

2018/2019: Ride the ECG promoting 5th WCW, understaind local resources, and network with local activists working on gender equality in their communities. 

~~~*Major Long Term Goals*~~~

1- Raise awareness along the eastern US seaboard for the 5th World Conference on Women via bicycle while investigating the status of women domestically and globally. The 2020 5WCW will provide the largest opportunity for civil participants to influence international political discourse and help change the world. ( For more information  )

2- Document personal narratives about gender, concepts of femininity & masculinity and how these constructs have influenced power structures. Questions will relate to the experiences of gendered expectations and role choices. Emphasis will be on collecting stories from a diversity of experiences and backgrounds.

3- Produce a video exploration of gender, status, and power that combines the recorded personal stories with social research/theory and collaborative art to be presented prior to the 5WCW. 

                                               ~~~*~~~
Documentation
*Daily social media and mini-blog updates
*Bi-weekly Video Blog
*Newsletter Updates
*Video conversations and interviews along the way
*Personal website recording all documentation in one centralized location.

Collaboration
*Chain-mail : Folks will be invited to make a piece of artwork from a standard chainlink/figure8 form that can be printed and mailed to a PO Box. Pieces will be collected and displayed at the 5WCW. 

*Tune-up : Folks will be invited to contribute to a Spotify playlist compiling songs that make them feel empowered. Emphasis is given to the female voice and people are asked to include a short story about why that song makes them feel incredible.
 
                                                 ~~~*~~~
A 5th World Conference on Women 2020 New Delhi, India will provide the opportunity for the largest number of humans to congregate to discuss their experiences and influence international public policy. It has been a ¼ century since this scale of civic dialogue  took place - an entire generation of womens’ experiences need to be heard and integrated into political discourse to successfully address the issues of the 21st century.

Why is now the critical moment?

This winter I came across a statement that rocked my world. Published in the "Status of Women in the South" the Institute Women's Policy Research found that:

"If progress continues at the rate of change since1975, Arkansas and Georgia will be the first Southern states to have gender parity in their state legislature (both in 2066). Two Southern states—South Carolina and West Virginia—will have to wait over 200 years for parity."

Globally, women fill about 25% of governmental positions despite being half the world's population.  It is vital that the voices of women are given genuine representational space in the political sphere.  An equal voice for all is critical to any democratic experiment. The time has come to Step It Up.

I want to amplify the lived experiences of folks through personal narratives in preparation for the 5th World Conference of Women as a way for the “universal voice” to come out. It is essential to a fully functioning world that the voices of women and children are heard. As the status of women improves around the globe the world becomes a better place for all. I want to make connecting with humanity my full time job. To create space for peoples' voices and boost their perspectives on issues of gender identity and political space I intend to connect with folks across a broad spectrum of backgrounds. It is important to gather views from a wide range of ages, gender, race, and ethnicity. During this time I will regularly blog about my encounterers and conversations, post video journals and interviews on YouTube, and be reading about the global status of women. To fully commit myself to this I need to be able to cover the costs of gear, equipment, shelter,  and food. When I reach Florida I want to be able to process the experience, review footage, and synthesis it with previous psychology research on gender. 

Funds will be put towards essential expenses, such as:

~bicycle maintainance and travel expenses
~website expenses
~digital equipment 
~follow-up interviews
~travel to NYC for the UN CSW and presentation space within the NGO Forum

I am aiming high in the hopes that by the time I reach my destination I can support this work to its completion. I am asking for your help and appreciate any contribution you can make. Thank you.

Reading List:
(For the road:)
Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll

Travels with Charley In Search of America -John Steinbeck

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (and the four subsequent reviews)
Adopted at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women this platform sets forth governments’ commitments to enhance women’s rights. 

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
The “women’s bill of rights” is a cornerstone of all UN Women programmes. More than 185 countries are parties to the Convention.

UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security  (2000) and the seven subsequent resolutions on women, peace and security: 1820 (2008),  1888 (2009) , 1889 (2009) , 1960 (2010) , 2106 (2013) , 2122 (2013)  and 2242 (2015) .

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)  and 169 targets that aim to end poverty, combat inequalities and promote prosperity while protecting the environment by 2030.

-------------------------------------------------
For post-cycling synthesis:

Toward a New Psychology of Women - Jean Baker Miller

In a Different Voice - Carol Gilligan

The Deepening Darkness: Patriarchy, Resistance, and Democracy's Future - Carol Gilligan

Constructing Realities: An Art of Lens - Lynn Hoffman

Beyond power and control: Toward a "second order" family systems therapy - Lynn Hoffman

Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror - Judith Herman

The Expanded Family Life Cycle: Individual, Family, and Social Perspectives - Monica McGoldrich, Betty Carter, Nydia Garcia-Preto

No-talk Therapy for Children and Adolescents - Martha B Strauss

Jung: A Feminist Revision - Susan Rowland


~~~*Every bit is appreciated*~~~

Organizer

Beth Grunewald
Organizer
Merrimack, NH

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