AAUW Naperville Area invites you to Student Debt: Facts, Resources, and Ways to Avoid, a timely program on the impact of student debt, especially on women — and strategies to manage education funding. Our speaker, Dr. Linda Dagradi, is a college counseling graduate program instructor and senior enrollment services consultant.

Register in advance for this free virtual community program, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, 7 PM CST.

The college enrollment decision process is a complex one. For many students, the issues of costs and funding resources are complicating factors that may limit their access to a college that fits their needs or to any college at all. Personally and professionally, Dr. Dagradi is committed to the ideals of equity and access to higher education. She believes that as a nation, we face serious challenges to access based on rising costs, increasingly needy students, and public policy that does not adequately prioritize funding for higher education.

About the Speaker

Dr. Linda Dagradi

Dr. Linda Dagradi currently works as an instructor in UCLA Extension’s College Counseling Certificate Program and as a Senior Enrollment Management Consultant with Higher Ed Strategies LLC. She has served as a financial aid services director or associate VP at four independent colleges: Elms College, Springfield College, Smith College, and American International College, and she worked as a regional educational manager for the College Board. She also spent several years working in and around public education, as a high school guidance director, training consultant, teacher, alternative school counselor, and community volunteer. 

Dr. Dagradi holds an Ed.D. in Educational Research and Administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a CAGS and M.Ed. in Counseling from Springfield (MA) College.

Alba Mendiola

AAUW Naperville Area and ALMAS (Alliance of Latinos Motivating Action in the Suburbs) are excited to host an inspiring conversation with Alba Mendiola, award-winning educator, writer and speaker, and AAUW grant awardee, on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at 7 PM via Zoom.

Register for Link

Mendiola, a dedicated educator, teaches AP® Spanish Language and Broadcast Journalism to Spanish heritage speaker students at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago. Her dedication to education earned her the Alan C. Miller Educator of the Year in 2023, awarded by the News Literacy Project.

Before transitioning to the classroom, Mendiola had a successful 18-year career as a Spanish television reporter at Telemundo Chicago and Televisión Azteca in Veracruz, Mexico. Her investigative work earned her the Chicago Regional Emmy® Award seven times.

In 2021, she was honored to receive a Career Development Grant from the American Association of University Women, sponsored in part by funds contributed by AAUW Naperville Area. This invaluable support played a pivotal role in her academic journey at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she earned a master’s degree in teaching.

Born and raised in Mexico, Mendiola takes pride in her immigrant background. She holds a B.S. in Communications from the prestigious Tec de Monterrey.

Register Now

If you could help ease the divisions in America would you do it? Is our language treating the other side with contempt or dignity? 

Join AAUW Naperville Area for What’s Your Dignity Index?, an interactive session to learn how to use the Dignity Index. This free community program begins at 7 PM on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, at Naper Blvd Library, 2035 Naper Blvd, Naperville. Come early at 6:30 PM and join us for informal social time. Please register to save your spot – space is limited.

Originated by students and faculty at the University of Utah, and shared by our sister AAUW Batavia-Geneva-St. Charles branch, the Dignity Index shows that it is not our disagreements that cause division in our country; it’s what we do when we disagree. The Index is an 8 point scale that scores speech along a continuum from contempt to dignity.

Members and potential members are invited to AAUW Naperville Area’s Caff & Laff — an opportunity to meetup on a weekday morning in a casual and social setting. We get together from 10:30-11:45 AM on the first Thursdays of most months at different cafes and parks. Stop by and have a morning coffee with us! No RSVP necessary. To receive schedule updates and reminders, contact Estela,

Oct. 3, 2024 – Peet’s Coffee, 686 E. Ogden Avenue, Naperville
Nov. 7, 2024 – Panera, 2775 Showplace Dr., Suite 123, Naperville
Dec. 5, 2024 – Sugar Milk Cafe, 1250 W. Ogden Ave., Naperville
Jan. 2 & Feb. 6, 2025 – No meeting
March 6, 2025 – Nature’s Best Cafe, 1904 Brookdale Rd., Suite 104, Naperville
April 3, 2025 – Sweetwater’s Coffee and Tea, 110 S. Washington, Naperville
May 1, 2025 – Sugar Milk Cafe, 1250 W. Ogden Ave., Naperville
June 5, 2025 – Jaycees Park, 401 S. Webster St., Naperville