“Full democracy requires the full participation of women. Your voices are vital. The word ‘vital’ means necessary for life. A democracy, to be fully alive, must include all its citizens.”
— Swanee Hunt
It is no accident that the ancient symbol of Justice was a woman. Our voice, as young women, is so vital. However, in order for our voice to be impactful, we have to be informed, involved and concerned citizens. The information that we put into our minds affects not only our opinion, but how we operate in society as informed citizens. The goal of the Young Women’s Alliance is to create empowered women similar to Lady Justice. But, we cannot be empowered without being informed. Rest assured, we do not strive to tell you how to think or believe. What we aim to do is encourage our members and our community to think civically and get involved.
To that effect, we are so excited to be partnering with the Texas Tribune (@texastribune) for their Salon Series and their flagship conference, the TribFest in September. The purpose is to provide opportunities for more of our members to be informed, involved and engaged.
The first event we are a part of is titled, “How Long Can You Afford to Live Here.” This free event will feature two conversations on affordability in Austin and across the state of Texas. Come join us and the Texas Tribune on July 31st at Eberly starting at 5:30 PM. You can RSVP at here.
Now, that we’ve announced our super awesome partnership, let’s take a minute to evaluate our knowledge of a few things. Ask yourself three questions:
- Who is your City of Austin Council member?
- Who is your State Representative and State Senator?
- Who is your US Representative and Senator?
You can look up the answers here:
- City Council – http://www.austintexas.gov/GIS/CouncilDistrictMap/
- Texas and US Legislators – https://www.texastribune.org/directory/
The more important question is do you know why it is important? No matter how you affiliate politically, the people who represent you are part of the system that manages the following budget:
- The City of Austin’s budget is $61,587,721.
- The State of Texas’ budget is $216,000,000,000 for 2 years (108 Billion per year)
- The United States Government budget is $4.094 trillion dollars.
Whoa!! Isn’t that an incredible amount of money? We sure think so. It’s important to understand the influence your lawmakers have in terms of dollars and cents. Now, individually, they are only a small piece of a larger system, but every bit counts. We want to encourage you to be informed, because your representatives are a part of a well-funded machine. Only though civic engagement can we really hold them accountable for the issues that are important to us. We hope you join us as we attend different events with the Texas Tribune throughout the rest of 2018.
Check out the Texas Tribune Event calendar here
More information on The Texas Tribune:
The Texas Tribune is the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
The Tribune was founded in 2009 by John Thornton (a venture capitalist in Austin for nearly 20 years and passionate believer in public media), Evan Smith (the veteran editor-in-chief of Texas Monthly and host of a weekly interview program on PBS stations), and Ross Ramsey (former owner and editor of Texas Weekly, the state’s premier newsletter on politics and government, now rebranded as The Blast).
The Texas Tribune and its destination website were launched in November 2009, thanks to $4 million in private contributions as seed funding, a small band of talented computer programmers and some of the most accomplished journalists in the state.
