If you would like to volunteer for one of these committees, please contact the committee chair listed below directly. Their email addresses are in the latest JAWS membership directory. If you need help contacting a committee chair, please email info@jaws.org with your request.

Programs & Services:

Programs and Services is an umbrella committee that represents all of JAWS’ programming work to help women build skills, mentor one another and advance professionally. This committee is responsible for planning annual and regional meetings, and coordinating JAWS’ services to mesh with these programs.

2012 Conference Co-Chairwoman: Sarah Pollock and Sandra Fish

Committee: Gwyneth Doland and Mary C. Curtis

Silent Auction: Charreah Jackson

Recreation: Megan Kamerick and Gwyneth Doland

Fellowships  and mentoring chairwoman: Jessica Rettig; with E.J. Graff, Peggy Simpson and Merrill Perlman

Training and between-camp programming: Teresa Puente; with Mary C. Curtis and Lauren Whaley

Conference Site Selection chair: Lisa Chung

Membership Committee

Membership development is a priority for JAWS, especially reaching out to a diverse constituency of women involved in journalism in its many forms. JAWS is enriched by the participation of women of many ages, races, cultures and journalism disciplines. The membership committee is responsible for recruiting new JAWS members and supporting current members. The committee will conduct regular polls of the membership to identify issues and services of importance to JAWS members. This committee will coordinate with the Programs & Services committee on regional programs and with the Fundraising and Development Committee regarding activities with a donor focus.

Membership growth chairwoman: Lauren Whaley

Committee members: Peggy Simpson, Jessica Alpert, Charreah Jackson, Teresa Puente , Peggy Orchowski,  Jessica Rettig, Andrea Stone

Communications/Website Committee

Providing effective ways for members to communicate with each other and to their leadership is important for networking, mentoring, and for creating a vibrant conversation about journalism issues, especially those that affect women in journalism. The communications committee is responsible for developing and maintaining the JAWS Web site, the JAWS Newsletter, the JAWS members email listserv and other communication vehicles.

Communications Committee Chair: Sandra Fish

Newsletter editors: Charreah Jackson and Jessica Rettig

Committee members: Teresa Puente, Lauren Whaley, Gwyneth Doland, Mary C. Curtis, with help from from Gina Setser

Oral History Project/JAWS Herstory/Newsmaker interviews at CAMP: Jessica Alpert, Peggy Simpson

Fundraising & Development Committee

JAWS has multiple goals: to offer more programs and services, to diversify and increase its membership and raise JAWS’ public profile, all to better serve members across the country. JAWS budget has been too small to fulfill these aspirations or its current operational needs. The Fundraising & Development Committee is responsible for creating and implementing a fundraising & development plan for JAWS to allow JAWS to achieve its goals. The committee’s long-term development goal is to place JAWS on a strong financial footing for years to come, enriching the organization and enhancing its mission.

Fundraising & Development Chair: E.J. Graff

Fundraising & Development Committee Members: Sarah Pollock, Jessica Rettig, Charreah Jackson, Teresa Puente, Andrea Stone, Peggy Orchowski  with help from Dawn Garcia, Amy Resnick, Megan Kamerick and Melinda Voss.

Finance Committee

The JAWS Board of Directors creates policies that promote careful budgeting and fiscal solvency, as well as building the organization’s financial diversity and capacity. The Finance committee is charged with carrying out these policies by ensuring the financial health of the organization and developing annual goals for key areas of the budget to support JAWS’ mission now and building for the future.

Finance chairwoman: Andrea Stone

Finance Committee Members: Peggy Simpson

Nominating Committee

A committee of the board, appointed each year to involve the membership in developing a diverse pool of candidates for the board. The committee meets during the summer to select a slate of candidates to be presented to the membership for approval at the fall conference.