Women, Money & Democracy-test

Operating since the 1990s, the Women, Money & Democracy (W$D) Issue Committee educates and activates on issues of unchecked corporate power and big money as a threat to self-governance, individual rights, and free speech in the US and around the world.  

Our work gives women a voice in creating a democracy that works for all Americans and an economy based on the values we hold but are constantly told we can't afford. (Funny how there's always money for more war.)

In W$D you'll find

• Women like you, who want system change and are willing to work for it.
• A path to leadership for introducing projects and strategies.
• Organizing tools and the chance to create them.
• Strategies to engage the public.
• Short and long term projects that invite your participation and leadership.

WHO WE ARE

The W$D Committee includes WILPF members from across the US, united in their commitment towards the goal of this committee and the larger goals of WILPF US.

We envision a vibrant participatory democracy where the common good of the people is prioritized above profiteering and consolidation of power.  

HOW WE WORK

Using an informal feminist model of democratic leadership, we meet monthly on the 3^rd Tuesday of each month at 8:30 pm ET/7:30 pm C/5:30 pm PT

To learn more about how we work or to join us, contact our current Chair Marybeth Gardam: mbgardamATgmail.com.

COMMITTEE PRIORITIES

• Educate and raise awareness about the threat to democracy from run-away inequality, economic injustice, and the consolidation of money and power in the top 1% of our country.  
• Raise practical solutions that can protect a vibrant democracy and ensure that the voice and values of the people guide our government. Our US solutions must be determined without the influence of huge US donors and dark money from foreign countries.  
• Create an awareness among women about their role in our rigged economy. 
• Lift up feminist solutions for system change from the bottom up; work to put pressure on our federal representatives. 
• Prioritize leadership and training among WILPF members, through a feminist model of democratic leadership. The work of our committee towards system change is informal but serious.    

CURRENT PROJECTS
Jump right in!

Advocate for System Change through PUBLIC BANKING

Creating an economy that works for ALL Americans starts with breaking ties with transnational too-big-to-fail Wall Street banks and the gamblers who run them.  Public banking offers communities a chance to keep local money invested in local projects, sheltering ordinary Americans from economic collapse and the financial disasters that follow.  

Confront CORRUPTION: 
Drain the swamp from the bottom up

Learn about the Anti-Corruption Act.

Host a community watch party to view the film, THE LAUNDROMAT, an entertaining dramatization of corporate fraud and tax evasion that victimizes ordinary Americans and enriches criminals. 

Get all the tools you’ll need to schedule the virtual film viewing, organize a community Zoom call to discuss the film. Discussion questions enrich the dialogue and educational resources help you learn more about the underbelly of this transnational corruption that threatens our democracy.  

Download Discussion Questions here.

Sign up here for anti-corruption organizing right from your own desktop.

It’s unlikely that either political party will be able to separate itself from ‘the swamp’, so our ally RepresentUS offers recommendations for a state-by-state solution to corruption and ideas for monitoring corruption in your community.  

Learn more with these three videos: 

1. UnBreaking America: How to make the government work for US again 

2. How to FIX American’s Corrupt Political System

3. The Strategy to End Corruption
 

Network For Feminist Economic System Change

Money traditionally talks in a male voice, but all along it’s been women who keep the economy going.  

It’s time we understood the moving parts that are intentionally complicated and how women like you are creating solutions that work in communities across America. 

We’ll help you organize a women’s group in your community to read and discuss 
SCREWNOMICS: How Our Economy Works Against Women and Real Ways to Make Lasting Change
by WILPF member and W$D partner Rickey Gard Diamond.   

Learn more about Screwnomics.

For discussion questions and facilitator tips to make your group successful and organize locally for real change, contact us at mbgardamATgmail.com.

At An Economy Of Our Own (AEOO), connect to dynamic women making real change and finding solutions. You’ll find blog posts, articles, and webinars.  

Check out our AEOO’s “Women Unscrewing Screwnomics” columns at Ms. magazine, online

DEMOCRATIZE OUR MONEY: 
Whoever Controls Our Money Controls Democracy, the Global Economy and the Power to Change the System.

Learn how money works, where it comes from, how it’s distributed and why it’s based on YOUR DEBT. The Federal Reserve is a PRIVATE profit-making enterprise owned by Wall Street and transnational commercial banks, not part of the US government.   

Learn what that means for funding the PEOPLE’s projects, like national healthcare, affordable housing, public education, and infrastructure.  

Watch this 20-minute video, “A Solution to the Crisis”

CORPORATE PERSONHOOD:
The Legal Fiction that Corporations Are People 

How did our government become a swamp?  

How do we untangle the knot of special interests, corruption and law?

Resources

• Take Action Tool Kit