THE WOMEN'S INTERCULTURAL NETWORK (WIN) WAS BORN OUT OF THE FIRST WORLD CONFEFRENCE ON WOMEN, MEXICO CITY, 1975
WIN's story actually begins back in Kansas City, Missouri and the KC Regional Commission on the Status of Women. They held a Women's Assembly, "The Spirit of Kansas City", in 1980 and put together their Plan of Action to implement the outcome document of the "World Conference of The International Women's Year" held in Mexico City.
International Women's Action Council, San Diego, California, 1987
Long story short, WIN's path went from Mexico City and Kansas City to San Diego, California where it was seeded as the International Women's Action Council. IWAC was created as an advisory committee to a Ford Foundation grant in 1988 to involve women in foreign policy. IWAC was reborn as Women's Intercultural Network (WIN), in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in 1994. It was named by a group of women at a conference in Coeur d'Alene. Marilyn Fowler brought the 'infant' WIN back to California and put down roots in The Haight in San Francsico, California, known as the 'most progressive neighborhood' in a most progressive US city of many murals.
In 1995, WIN was involved at the 4th World Conference on Women, known as the Beijing Conference, where
40,000 women and girls joined together from 189 countries and agreed on the Platform for Action, a progressive document that was an imperative to advancing their status.
You can find the rest of that part of the story at the Beijing+ Balloon. WIN partnered with Apple Computer and linked them with women leaders at the NGO Parallel Forum in China, who were interviewed daily by Sue Haye on a phone from Cupertino, California. Bella Abzug gave interviews at the beginning and end of that Conference. There was no Telepresence then. Apple had 100 computers in Huairou, China and 80 volunteers who connected women for a global cyber women's movement.
Rebecca Bender and Apple Tech, Apple Cyber Center
WIN took the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) to California, known globally as CAWA - the California Women's Agenda, as the first Policy Mechanism to implement BPFA at the grassroots. From there WIN reached out with an initiative to
"CALLING THE CIRCLE OF WOMEN FROM THE US AND UGANDA, AFGHANISTAN, JAPAN AND BEYOND FOR FULL PARTICIPATION IN OUR GOVERNMENTS AND OUR ECONOMIES"
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AND THE REST IS HISTORY
We will continue to post the rest of our story - what is your history with WIN? And visit the other yellow balloons for more about WIN, our work and how you can be involved. In the meantime go to our Great NonProfits page HERE and write a couple of lines about your experience with WIN. Thanks for your support!
