Partners

Displaying results 31 - 40 of 85 items found.

31. Nancy G. Maynard

(Web Page; Mon Nov 20 15:17:00 EST 2006)

Description: "In graduate school, my most important brush with a de facto affirmative action came through the personal actions of a mentor, professor, and researcher at the University of Miami Marine Laboratory who included 2 females in his group of graduate students to do his field work in the Everglades and at sea. Not only did he firmly believe that we could do the work, but also he was a champion in pushing back barriers which allowed us to go to sea on oceanographic ships to collect the data needed for our research. Women had been prohibited from going to sea and he forced a change of policy.

32. Elaine Martin

(Web Page; Mon Nov 20 15:17:00 EST 2006)

Description: "When my family and I were faced with losing our farm in 1986, affirmative action allowed me an opportunity to save the farm. The affirmative action office set up by the Idaho Department of Transportation helped advise me about agents and lawyers who understood women-owned businesses and were willing to take a chance on my startup company.

33. Lynn Povich

(Web Page; Mon Nov 20 15:17:00 EST 2006)

Description: "When the current laws were put on the books in 1964, a large number of well-educated women made up a ready pool of talent in many industries. That was the case when I took part in a sex-discrimination suit against Newsweek in 1970. As a result of our action, the doors finally opened, and women, who had previously been trapped in research, went on to be White House correspondents, war correspondents and even senior editors, which I became in 1975. I would never have been offered that position had there been no legal pressure from the government. Succeeding at the job was up to me.

34. Captain Lory Manning

(Web Page; Mon Nov 20 15:17:00 EST 2006)

Description: "Over the course of the '70s and '80s, military women became aviators, began to serve on some Navy ships, were promoted to admiral and general, became unit commanders, and won admission to the service academies. At each step of the way, there were nay-sayers who were convinced that allowing women to take the next step-whatever it was-would weaken our armed forces, but with each new step women proved they could do the job just as well as the men with whom they were serving.

35. Leona Martin

(Web Page; Mon Nov 20 15:17:00 EST 2006)

Description: "Some of my friends remember how people rejoiced when the first black woman was hired as an elevator operator at a downtown store in the City of Boston, and when black people were first hired as sales people. We, as a people, are still proud and rejoice over the first venture into any area where blacks were not originally allowed. We are proud to share our educational achievements, because so many of us remember that our forebearers were not allowed to read or write."

36. Kim Weems

(Web Page; Mon Nov 20 15:17:00 EST 2006)

Description: "As an undergraduate, I attended Spelman College, an all-female historically black institution in Atlanta, Georgia. There, African-American women surrounded me in my mathematics classes that were taught primarily by African-American female professors. It was a nurturing environment where I was encouraged to explore my interests. Finally, it became clear to me; not only did I want to major in mathematics, but I also wanted to be a mathematician. Thus, I began to take more advanced courses in preparation for a doctoral degree.

37. Edward Paulino

(Web Page; Mon Nov 20 15:17:00 EST 2006)

Description: "Affirmative Action has given me the access to countless opportunities. For me, Affirmative Action began in 1987 as a senior in Seward Park High School in the Lower East Side of New York City. I had an 83 average and had scored a combined 680 on my SATs. But despite these scores, I knew I was good in history and geography. Ever since my third grade teacher, Ms. Lomazo, told the class "Edward is really good at geography" I always found this topic easy. Indeed, I scored an 85 on my state history regents in 1987—without even studying! I partly thank PBS for all those nights I soaked up documentaries on history and culture from the tenth floor of my bedroom in the Alfred E. Smith Housing Projects. I knew about college. My cousin was a freshman at SUNY/New Paltz. But there was no real expectation from either my family or myself that college was required. Both my parents, Dominican immigrants, never finished the second grade. I had limited options. I definitely didn't want to join the army. And there were no jobs that I saw myself doing after high school.

38. Bernadette Gross

(Web Page; Mon Nov 20 15:17:00 EST 2006)

Description: "Although I had always been interested in carpentry, I never thought of it as an option for me... Because a company had an affirmative action program, I got on the job site. Once on the job, I was told things like 'if you can't cut it, you'll be gone by noon'. From 7:00 am to noon, the work was harder, however, once I proved that I could do the work, I began to gain respect from the male workers, and opened doors for other women.

39. Susan Bianchi-Sand

(Web Page; Mon Nov 20 15:17:00 EST 2006)

Description: "...My airline career led me to the union movement, where I was again helped by Affirmative Action practices. After I became president of my union, the Association of Flight Attendants, I ran for vice-president of the AFL-CIO... Affirmative Action policies helped establish an environment in which that was possible.

40. Jane Jervis

(Web Page; Mon Nov 20 15:17:00 EST 2006)

Description: "I have been the president of Evergreen State College, a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington, since 1992. Evergreen is my fourth job. In each of those four jobs I was the first woman ever hired. In each of those four jobs, I would not have been considered as a candidate except for affirmative action. Everyone knew that the dean had to be a man. The president had always been a man. That's what a dean or a president looks like.