Program

Thursday - July 27
RISE UP

12-5pm:  Dorm Check-in

2-5pm:  Chicago Bus Tour (Pre-Congress)
Chicago Neighborhoods & Diversity Bus Tour 
Take a bus tour that traverses the neighborhoods of Bronzeville, Bridgeport, Chinatown, Pilsen, UIC/Little Italy and Greektown to grasp the rich social diversity of Chicago.
See Registration, for more details.

3-5pm:  Congress Registration

6-7pm:  Dinner Buffet

6:45pm: Welcome – Mary Hanson Harrison

7-9pm:  Evening Plenary:  Peace Activist Panel
Peace, Protest and Policy:  Women Waging Peace
Phyllis Bennis – Director, New Internationalism Project, Institute for Policy Studies
Leah Bolger – Coordinating Committee Chair, World Beyond War
Kathy Kelly – Co-Coordinator, Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Ellen Thomas – Co-Chair, WILPF US Disarm/End Wars Committee
See Speakers for bios.

The military is the #1 user of fossil fuels, #1 producer of air, land and water pollution, and #1 contributor to global warming that creates extreme weather and harms people and Mother Earth.  Our panelists will discuss “next steps” following the women-led initiative at the United Nations for a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons of mass destruction and the June 17 Women’s March and Rally to Ban the Bomb, in New York City.  They will inspire us to consider short- and long-term sustained strategies and actions to take at this critical time to change direction toward a peace economy and peaceful world. 

Entertainment: 

Voices - Thursday night
For 35 years, 8 recordings (including the 2015 release of Sailing Free), and evolving generations of musicians, Voices has been a mainstay in the Chicago political-folk scene.  Primarily a choral group singing a capella or with minimal accompaniment, Voices dedicates their music to seeking social justice through a multicultural message of peace.  Selections include an embrace of immigrants, sisters and brothers of all walks of life, the planet, and a world without war.  All Sailing Free sales continue to support Sarab Shada, a Voices' member for three years, and her family who now live as refugees in Turkey. 

9-10pm:  Night Owl Topics
Time scheduled for ad-hoc informal meetings.

Friday - July 28
REVOLT

7-8:30am:  Early Bird Topics
Time scheduled for ad-hoc informal meetings.

7-8:30am:  Breakfast Buffet

8:30-9:30am:  Morning Plenary
Labor and Democracy:  You Can’t Have One Without the Other 
Larry Spivack – President, Illinois Labor History Society
See Speakers for bio.

9:30-11:30am: Workshops

• Women Cultivating Peace:  Global Warming, Food Sovereignty and Regenerative Agriculture (W1)
  See Workshop Descriptions for more details. 
  Discussion leaders:Mary Hanson Harrison, Shilpa Panday, Patti Edwardson Naylor, activist for women in agriculture
• Next Steps after Ban the Bomb to Peace and Freedom (W2)
  Discussion leaders:  Ellen Thomas, Leah Bolger, Cynthia Roberts
• Knowing What’s Possible:  Change the Story, Change the Future (W3)
  See Workshop Descriptions for more details.
  Discussion leader:  Nancy Glock-Grueneich
• Reclaim Elections 2018:  End Stolen Elections, Voter Suppression & Gerrymandering (W4)
  Discussion leaders:  Michelle Laws, Nancy Price
• WILPF 101: Expanding membership, starting and maintaining a branch, finance & fundraising, internships, ONE WILPF Calls and Solidarity Actions (W5)
  Discussion leaders:  Marybeth Gardam, Jan Cordeman, Elenita Muniz

11:30-1pm: Lunch (on-your-own)

1-3pm: Workshops

• Women Cultivating Peace:  Global Warming, Food Sovereignty and Regenerative Agriculture (W1) (repeat)
  See Workshop Descriptions for more details. 
  Discussion leaders:Mary Hanson Harrison, Shilpa Panday, Patti Edwardson Naylor, activist for women in agriculture.
• WILPF 101:  Expanding membership, starting and maintaining a branch, finance & fundraising, internships, ONE WILPF Calls and Solidarity Actions (W5) (repeat)
  Discussion leaders:  Marybeth Gardam, Jan Cordeman, Elenita Muniz
• Effective Advocacy:  Meeting with Elected/Appointed Officials, Lobbying, Print and Social Media-Facebook, Twitter and more (W6)
  Discussion leaders:  Leah Bolger, Dace Zeps
• Our Bodies, Our Lives and Human Rights: Aging, Disabilities and Reproductive Rights (W7)
  Discussion leaders:  Janet Slagter, Andrew Moreno, Eliza Garbutt
• Community Empowerment: Change the Rules, Change the Outcomes (W8)
  See Workshop Descriptions for more details.
  Discussion leader:  Nancy Glock-Grueneich
• Creative Communication: Using creativity to inform, inspire and involve WILPF members and allies in our work for social change, with music, theater, documentary film, street performance, puppets, banners, chalk, art, and more! (W9)
  Discussion leaders: Candace Perry, Janet Fitch

3-5pm:  Issue Committee Roundtables and Brainstorming Sessions

After one hour, you are invited to move to another Issue Committee.

• Middle East
• Disarm/End Wars
• Advancing Human Rights, CEDAW and Building the Beloved Community
• Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance: An Alternative to Corporate Capitalism
• Corporations v Democracy and Earth Democracy

5-6pm:  Dinner-to-Go

7-9pm:  Evening Plenary:  Chicago Activist Panel
What Has Peace Got to Do With It?  Chicago Standing Up!
Olga Bautista – Community Organizer, Southeast Environmental Taskforce
Mary Dean – Organizer for World Beyond War, WILPF US Member
Jeanette Hernandez – Longtime Active Member of AFSCME Local 1989
Pam Smith – Co-Founder & Executive Director, Addie Wyatt Center, Chicago and Kingian Nonviolence Trainer
See Speakers for bios.

Harmony, Hope & Healing - Friday night
Let your spirits rise with inspirational gospel-style songs and heartfelt stories performed by a small ensemble cast of this sought-after hometown Chicago group. 

Harmony, Hope & Healing’s (HHH) mission is to create a safe environment where vulnerable individuals and families heal and rebuild through the restorative power of music. Founded in 2000 and incorporated as a nonprofit in 2003, HHH provides music programs at various shelters, residential facilities, community centers and the Cook County Jail, all located in some of Chicago’s most poverty-stricken and violent neighborhoods.  Supporting women, men and children as they heal from traumas associated with homelessness, addictions, violence, incarceration and isolation, HHH strives to improve the quality of participants’ lives. Through the transformative power of music, HHH programs foster the development of key life skills, including stress management, communication and parenting; building a sense of community and nurturing hope for a better future. Participants also have the opportunity to perform with the HHH choir at public events which helps them gain self-confidence and exposes them to a variety of new experiences and people. HHH helps individuals become independent and emotionally and socially healthy members of society.

9-10pm:  Night Owl Topics
Time scheduled for ad-hoc informal meetings.

Saturday - July 29
RECLAIM

7-8:30am: Early Bird Topics
Time scheduled for ad-hoc informal meetings.

7-8:30am: Breakfast Buffet

8:30-9:30am: Morning Plenary

WILPF International and the Commission on the Status of Women: CSW 61 and Practicum/Local2Global
See Workshop Descriptions for more details. 
Discussion Leaders:  Melissa Torres, Dixie Hairston, Eliza Garbutt, Andrew Moreno, Barbara Nielsen

9:30-11:30am: Workshops

• Knowing What’s Possible: Change the Story, Change the Future (W3) (repeat)
  See Workshop Descriptions for more details. 
  Discussion leader: Nancy Glock-Grueneich
• A Conversation on Building the Beloved Community (W10)
  Discussion leaders: Sylvia Metzler, Courteney Leinonen, Joan Brannigan, Barbara Nielsen
• Women Forced to Flee: Confronting Immigration, Migration, Refugees, Human and Sex Trafficking (W11)
  Discussion leaders: Nancy Matthews, Berhane Hailemichael, Melissa Torres, Dixie Hairston, Eliza Garbutt
• Solidarity Forever!  Networking and Collaborative Movement Building (W12)
  Discussion leaders: Leah Bolger, Cindy Domingo, Barbara Nielsen, Andrew Moreno
• International WILPF: Working with WILPF International to build a global grassroots WILPF movement, strengthening the PracticumLocal2Global seminars at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (W13)
  Discussion leaders: Melissa Torres, Dixie Hairston, Regina Birchem, Barbara Nielsen, Nancy Price, Eliza Garbutt

11:30-12:30pm: Lunch Buffet

12:30-2:30pm: Community Gatherings for Roundtable Discussions and Brainstorming 
Please join a “community gathering” based on the suggested conjunction of Issue Committee and Workshop topics.  After one hour, you are invited to join another “community.”

The outcome of each gathering’s discussion will be presented Sunday at Part II:  Rise Up & Reclaim –  Next Steps Toward Peace and Freedom.  Sunday’s discussion can guide post-Congress Program and Issue Committee refinements of “next steps,” including strategy and tactics, as we embrace the challenges and opportunities of the 2018 and 2020 election years.   

Community 1: Building a Diverse Peace Movement for Human Rights and Social, Political, Economic, Racial, Environmental and Climate Justice (C1)
Building the Beloved Community, Solidarity Forever/Networking, Advancing Human Rights/CEDAW, Women Forced to Flee, Our Bodies/Our Lives, Women Cultivating Peace, Earth Democracy, and WILPF 101.  

Community 2: Move the Money: From War to a Peace Economy (C2)
Middle East, Disarm/End Wars, Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance, Ban the Bomb, Corporations v Democracy, Knowing What’s Possible: Change the Story/Change the Future, Advancing Human Rights/CEDAW, and International WILPF. 

Community 3: System Change Community by Community (C3)
Effective Advocacy, Elections 2018, Community Empowerment:  Change the Rules/Change the Outcomes, Creative Communications, and Corporations v Democracy.

REMEMBER
3-4pm:  Afternoon Plenary
Women Labor for Equal Pay for Equal Work: Chicago's Past, Present & Future
Stefanee Parks-Asche – Director, Illinois Labor History Society

Jane Addams:  From Imagination to Action
Mary Hanson Harrison – President, WILPF US
See Speakers for bios.

4-5pm:  Walk Towards Peace & Freedom
From the past to the future, we walk towards peace and freedom.
We will walk “onward” to Hull House as a group, remembering and honoring the humanity of Jane Addams and her colleagues and the immigrants and refugees that made Hull House work. We will also walk with renewed commitment to move closer to the imagined world of peace and freedom.
Bring a white blouse/shirt to wear on the walk. For those unable to walk to/from the conference facility to Hull House (1.5 miles each way), or in case of inclement weather, a school shuttle bus (non-ADA) will be provided.

5-7pm:  Hull House Tour (self-guided)

7pm:  Dinner (on-your-own)

Sunday - July 30
REIMAGINE

7-8:30am: Early Bird Topics
Time scheduled for ad-hoc informal meetings.

7-8:30am: Breakfast Buffet

8:30-12:00 Noon
Women Organizing for Action

8:30-10:30: Part I: Voices of the Board
Individual Board Member Talks, By-Laws, Nominations & Elections, Minigrant Awards

10:30-11:30: Part II:  Rise Up & Reimagine
Reports and Statements of Next Steps to Peace and Freedom

11:30-12pm: Celebrating WILPF Wonder Women & Raging Grannies

12-2pm:  Dorm Check-out

1-3pm:  Board Training