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American women comprise no more than 25% of the decision-makers across sectors in the US (e.g., corporate boards and executives, the US Congress, law firm partners).

The U.S. ranks well below many industrialized nations when it come to the status of women and policies that support them.

Why does that matter and what is the U.S. losing by failing to support the advancement of women? What would the country gain if women were full partners in all aspects of work and civic life?

Mary V. Hughes is a political strategist, author, and the architect of the Close the Gap CA campaign, www.closethegapca.org.

Humanist Community Forum (2014-10-19): Why Women? (Mary V. Hughes) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

A Contemporary Renaissance in India

Oct 12, 2014

The first Renaissance in India came from the urge to win freedom from colonial rule.

After independence the euphoria of freedom quickly disappeared. The onerous task of rebuilding a nation loomed ahead.

Very soon it was found that there were still more enemies to conquer. Not external enemies this time, but internal ones.

The post-independence generation of Indian artists and intellectuals rose to meet the challenge.

Lopa Mukherjee is a writer and documentary film-maker, www.lopamukherjee.com.

Join us as we hear Lopa give this multimedia presentation of these renaissance people.

On Parenting a Human with a Non-binary Gender Identity

Oct 05, 2014

Phil Crawford, a member of Bay Area Humanists, will share his experiences since his kid came out as genderqueer.

He will discuss gender as an identity matrix and what it means to be an ally to the trans and genderqueer community.

Among other sources of information he has accessed is a Gender Spectrum Conference – an annual Bay Area conference for health and other service providers and families of transgendered youth – which he and his wife attended last year.

Humanist Community Forum (2014-10-05): On Parenting a Human with a Non-binary Gender Identity (Phil Crawford) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

Asteroid Mining and Colonizing Space

Marc Perkel

Sep 28, 2014

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How practical is asteroid mining and how soon will it happen?

It’s actually beginning to happen this year.

Humanist Community member Marc Perkel will show a 30 minute video about Planetary Resources that explains asteroid mining in detail.

He will also discuss the advantages of colonizing space itself rather that colonizing other planets, and create a new vision for the future of humanity.

For more background you can watch the videos at:
http://www.planetaryresources.com/mission/

Humanist Community Forum (2014-09-28): Asteroid Mining and Colonizing Space (Marc Perkel) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

Whose Schools are These, Anyway? The Privatization of the Public Good

Prof. Roberta Ahlquist

Sep 21, 2014

In the purported interests of improving public schooling for all, No Child Left Behind (Bush’s educational reform mandate), and Race to the Top (Obama’s reform mandate), public schooling is undergoing massive changes. Many of these changes will negatively affect a majority of students. How can interested communities challenge these draconian measures? Professor Roberta Ahlquist (a writer, speaker, and book editor, who teaches teachers the multicultural foundations of education in the College of Education at San Jose State University) will present.

To view the slides from the presentation click here.