The birth of the Woman Within International Ltd multicultural "Women's Caucus" was announced at the July 2008 Multicultural Council (MCC) Gathering. Women involved in this creation included Leslie Recht, Marilyn Jaffe, Joyce Pendleton, Teresita Fawcett, Priscilla Luera, Cherry Steinwender, Harriet Hirsch, Louise Lovdahl and Barb Rath. The women in attendance invited the men to join in celebrating their joy in obtaining this institutional position and support within WWIL. Spokeswoman Marilyn Jaffe thanked and blessed the men of the MCC for several years of holding a space for women to work on multicultural issues.

Recent actions by the new Woman Within International Board promoted the creation of a WWIL sponsored place for multicultural work. Previously women interested in the "ism's" were involved in the ManKind Project's MCC as individuals with no official position or backing from WWIL. The formation last year of the WWIL Multicultural Committee, co-chaired by Harriet Hirsch and Barb Rath, and later the addition of a Director of Multi-cultural Awareness on the WWIL Board provided a much desired institutional base for women to work on multicultural issues. The WWIMC, renamed the WWIMC Council, will continue to work on issues specific to WWIL while the newly formed Women's Caucus will provide a broad based learning lab. Former MCC co-chair Barb Rath was elected to the Director position and will serve as a liaison to the two new multicultural bodies of WWIL.

A visual model of the separate houses for men and women includes the following:

1. The WWIL "house" includes a room called the Women's Caucus which is open to all women interested in participating in a learning lab on issues around the isms. This room will include discussions, book studies, and other events leading to social healing and positive change. This room is open to women both within and outside the WWIL community. If interested in being a part of the Women's Caucus, contact the chair, Louise Lovdahl, at ashiko47@sbcglobal.net .

The WWIMC occupies another room of the WWIL house. This Council reviews protocols, recommends policies and serves as an advisory group to the WWIL board. Contact the chair, Harriet Hirsch, HarrietH2@aol.com if you are interested in working on the WWIMC.

2. The MKP "house" includes a room called the Multicultural Council which is open to members of MKP. The chair of the MCC is Miguel Rath.

3. A third "house", a Community Center, will be co-created by members of the MCC and the Women's Caucus. It will be open to folks from outside of these two communities as well. The Community Center will include women and men working in equal partnership on multicultural issues. The proposal for this house will be completed within six months.

The separation of genders into a Women's Caucus and an MCC exclusively for members of MKP will provide a place for each gender to do their specific work around multicultural issues. Those men and women who choose to step into the Community Center will have an opportunity to work in partnership to make our world a safer place for women, men and children of all ages.

These changes brought up both fear and hope. The women of the former MCC had experienced many years of challenge, support and growth through their involvement and it was not necessarily easy to take the risk of leaving the cocoon. However the opportunity to have their own WWIL place where women can work on making training weekends safer for all, where WWIL can grow to include and welcome women in all of whom they are, is truly a blessing with hope for the future.

Louise Lovdahl
(WWTW Oct. 1993, Delavan)

Email: ashiko47@sbcglobal.net

To join the Women's MC Caucus go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WWIWomensMCCaucus.

If interested in being a part of the Women's Caucus, contact the chair, Louise Lovdahl, at ashiko47@sbcglobal.net .

Contact the chair, Harriet Hirsch, HarrietH2@aol.com if you are interested in working on the WWIMC.