EMPOWERING WOMEN THROUGH CONVERSATION
Our November newsletter is posted. We are celebrating 10 years!!!
Please be sure to check out our new job posting for a WLL Coordinator. Spread the word! We have it posted in the previous blog post, in the newsletter, but you can also go straight to the source by clicking here.
Have a BEAUTIFUL day, stay warm, & happy Thanksgiving!
WLL Team
Got a passion for Women, Land and Legacy? Want to help spread that passion? You could be the new WLL Coordinator!
The new WLL Coordinator will be responsible for the daily WLL operations of the WLL, promote growth of WLL throughout Iowa, and provide outreach to the local teams to help them be more sustainable. The coordinator will support local teams, serve as the key contact with local teams, and coordinate the services provided through WLL with assistance from the State Team.
The WLL Coordinator will report to the Women Food and Agriculture Network (WFAN) Executive Director, and will be advised by the WLL State Team. This is a partnership of WLL & WFAN. The Team will provide the coordinator training and direction, assistance with the quarterly newsletter and social media, assistance with communication with key state-level agency leadership, and support in conducting evaluations.
WLL Coordinator responsibilities will include:
Programmatic:
Administrative:
Other:
Qualifications:
Compensation:
This position will require an average of 20 hours per week, with a starting salary of $20,000 per year, dependent upon experience. Benefits include paid vacation time and holidays. WFAN offers office space in Story City, Iowa, however work from home is permitted.
Application:
Please submit a cover letter addressing how you meet the above qualifications, resume, and two professional references to wfanjobs@wfan.org no later than 5pm central time on December 1, 2014. Questions regarding the position announcement can be directed to Bridget Holcomb: 515.460.2477 or bridget@wfan.org.
A PDF of this position announcement can be downloaded here.
August 6, 2014 – Des Moines, Iowa Women, Land and Legacy will host two social media workshops for Iowa women involved in agriculture and/or rural businesses. Women can learn how to build or improve their business using social media tools by attending one of two morning workshops on Sept. 12 in Des Moines or Sept. 22 in Waterloo.
Social media is everywhere, including agriculture. It’s important to understand how it works for you and your business. Social media creates platforms for discussion, a consumer connection, a real-time stream of information and much more. The Women, Land & Legacy State Team is providing this unique opportunity through a grant from USDA Rural Development.
Claire Celsi, Director of Public Relations at Spindustry Digital in Des Moines, will lead the workshops. Celsi has spent years working as a marketing, public relations and social media professional and taught internet marketing, PR and social media classes at Drake University.
There is no cost for the workshops. However, space is limited, so please register by Sept 5 to stateteam@womenlandandlegacy.org and indicate which location you will attend. The same workshop will be conducted at each location. Participants do not need to be WLL members to attend.
Registration begins at 8:30 AM. The interactive workshop will run from 9 AM to noon. A complimentary continental breakfast will be available. Laptops and/or tablets are encouraged but are not necessary for the workshop.
Sept. 12th workshop will be held at Clive City Hall at 1900 N.W. 114th St. Clive, IA 50325.
Sept. 22nd workshop will be held at the Waterloo Center for the Arts at 225 Commercial Street, Waterloo, Iowa 50701.
People needing special accommodations should contact Laura Crowell at 515-323-2207.
Women, Land & Legacy, which began in 2004, works to reach agricultural, rural and urban women, to come together to converse, listen and become empowered to act on their landscape and community. The WLL state team consists of federal, state and private agencies. WLL local teams are currently active in 20 counties. For more information, visit www.womenlandandlegacy.com or find us on Facebook at facebook.com/womenlandandlegacy.
Earlier this week, our State Team held a webinar to share resources available to the local teams. The event was recorded and may be viewed online at
https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p4hzra5fcn3/
We are excited to share the complete new toolboxes with our local teams later in the summer!
by Kay Triplett, WLL State Team Member, USDA-NASS
The Women, Land and Legacy program is a “self help starter program” with ongoing support from the State Team.
What’s exciting about WLL?
The women from Clinton and Jackson counties took charge of their learning experiences. I was impressed with the ownership taken by their group that formed in April 2013. This past year, they have met regularly to learn about a variety of topics affecting their lives. That group is “on fire” making the most of the initial training.
Watching the interaction between WLL women who need answers to thrive in their varied roles as partners in a family operation, sole owner after losing a spouse, beginning farmers, landlords, or just friends of the land…is truly amazing.
These women may not know what is possible until they listen to another woman’s hopes, dreams, experiences. The variety of needs, possibility thinking, exchange of contact information, support, and new friendships are energizing.
Women, Land, and Legacy listening sessions are the first step to mapping where you want to be.
The quarterly issue of our newsletter, Rural Legacy is here. Sorry for the delay! It may be found by clicking on Newsletters. Enjoy!
Howard County’s Women, Land, and Legacy group saw a great turnout of 32 people for a tour of the Cresco Regional Health Services hospital on Thursday, April 10th, 2014. Connie Kuennen started off the meeting with information about the “Create Tomorrow’s Care” campaign. Steve Burke and Brenda Moser gave a walking tour, highlighting 18,000 square feet of renovations and 18,000 square feet of new construction. The facility boasts improved privacy, larger patient rooms, and updated state-of-the-art equipment. Refreshments were served afterwards.
Women, Land, & Legacy is a collaborative group consisting of the ISU Extension, Howard Soil & Water Conservation District, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency. Equal opportunity employers and providers.
A new book called “Women Redefining the Experience of Food Insecurity: Life Off the Edge of the Table” will soon be released by Lexington Books. We were able to get a sneak peak at Chapter 11, titled “Labor and Leadership: Women in U.S. Community Food Organizing” and correspond with authors Christine Porter and LaDonna Redmond about their work. Their chapter is of particular interest to Women, Land, and Legacy participants as it focuses on the role of women in the US food movement.
The authors write, “Women appear to do their share, or more, in work to create a more just food system. With no official movement “membership,” it is impossible to count, but experience and anecdote indicate that women predominate in US community food movement action. If women are doing their half or more of this food movement, then men are getting much more than their share of the credit for and voice in that work. While representation in leadership is only one measure of gender equity in the movement, it is an important one.”
However, there is encouraging news: In a non scientific survey of food system listserve members, the authors asked respondents to list up to six national food system leaders. Of the 55 people who were mentioned by at least two respondents, half are women. However, males clustered at the top of the list. On the flip side, women fared better when respondents were asked to name influential leaders in their community’s food work. “Overall, 60% of the people named as local leaders were identified as female. That is nearly the inverse of the national leader list.”
Stay tuned. Once the chapter is officially published, we will share more.
Read much more of the chapter here: excerpt Porter Redmond Gender Labor Lead US Food Movement
Beginning women farmers are invited to participate in a special value-added Annie’s Project course offered by Iowa State University in partnership with WFAN’s Harvesting Our Potential program. The course will take place over four Fridays in March (7, 14, 21 and 28) at the Ames Hunziker Center of DMACC, 1420 South Bell Avenue, Ames, IA, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Cost is $75 and includes lunches and all materials.
Learn from small-scale agriculture business professionals what you will need to know to begin or expand your own market farm, and begin a personalized business plan. Register ASAP at http://www.aep.iastate.edu/annie/vaa/; class size is capped at 20. Call 515 460 2477 for more information.
Join us for the Women, Land & Legacy Listening Session for Johnson County!
Share with other women about rural and urban land and farm ownership and care.
Connect with agencies and organizations in the county that offer services and programs.
Grow a support network in Johnson County with women caring for our land.
Thursday, February 6th, 2014 at ISU Extension Office in Iowa City, Iowa
Two session options: 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm -OR- 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Potluck between 4:45 pm & 5:45 pm. Please bring a dish to share!
Door prizes, including vouchers to the Backyard Abundance Orchard Crops class series!
For more information & to register, visit www.jcswcd.org or contact Wren Almitra, 319-337-2322 x3.
Women, Land & Legacy brings together Iowan women that are interested in agriculture, local food and natural resources at the local level to converse, listen and become empowered for involvement on their landscape and in their communities.
This event is sponsored by NRCS, FSA, Johnson SWCD, IA State Extension Service, and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.
USDA is an Equal Opportunity Lender, Provider and Employer.
Complaints of discrimination should be sent to USDA, Director, OCR, Washington D.C. 20250-9410.
Women, Land, and Legacy 
