AAUW members and potential members — you are invited to join AAUW Naperville Area for an engaging morning Sat., Sept. 13, 9:30 – 11:30 AM at the DuPage River Park Picnic Shelter (south side of Royce Road – look for the farm silo). 

Get ready to connect with like-minded individuals who are passionate about promoting equity for all women and ensuring that education remains a powerful path to equity and opportunity. Bring your rally poster examples and ideas — we’re making posters so we’ll all be ready for the next rally!

This in-person event is a great opportunity to learn about AAUW, network, share ideas, and get inspired to make a difference. Morning refreshments and beverages will be served.

Please RSVP by September 9, 2025, 5 PM.

RSVP for Equity Warriors

Members and potential members are invited to AAUW Naperville Area’s Caff & Laff — an excellent opportunity to meet other members on a weekday morning in a casual and social setting. Caff & Laff will meet from 10:30-11:45 AM on the first Thursdays of most months at different cafes and parks.

Our meetups at local cafes help us to support small businesses in town. Stop by and have a morning coffee with other members of AAUW. No RSVP necessary. To receive schedule updates and reminders, contact Estela.

Sept. 4, 2025 – Jaycees Park, 401 S. Webster St., Naperville
Oct. 2, 2025 – Peet’s Coffee, 686 E. Ogden Avenue, Naperville
Nov. 6, 2025 – Arwa Yemeni Coffee, 3124 Illinois Rte 59, Ste 118, Naperville (near 95th Street)
Dec. 4, 2025 – Sugar Milk Cafe, 1250 W. Ogden Ave., Naperville
Jan. 8, 2026 – Blackberry Market, 192 W. Gartner Rd. Ste 104, Naperville (near Trader Joe’s)
Feb. 5, 2026 – Nature’s Best Cafe, 1904 Brookdale Rd., Suite 104, Naperville
March 5, 2026 – Sweetwater’s Coffee and Tea, 110 S. Washington, Naperville
April 2, 2026 – Blackberry Market, 192 W. Gartner Rd. Ste 104, Naperville (near Trader Joe’s)
May 7, 2026 – Sugar Milk Cafe, 1250 W. Ogden Ave., Naperville
June 4, 2026 – Jaycees Park, 401 S. Webster St., Naperville

Limited Seating – Register Now

Join us at Naper Blvd Library in Naperville on April 8 at 6:30 PM for an engaging session exploring Generative AI, its underlying technology, societal impacts, and the latest developments. Registration is required for this special program.

The Vision 1948 team will provide a basic introduction to how AI models generate text, images, and more, explaining key concepts like neural networks, and large language models. The information will be presented in a way that is easy to understand, without the need for any tech knowledge. We’ll also discuss the social and ethical implications of AI, including its influence on creativity, misinformation, and the future of work. 

To bring these concepts to life, we’ll feature interactive demos before the presentation, showcasing real-time text and image generation and AI-assisted creativity, as well as games to test AI’s ability.

Vision 1948, a team of motivated women technologists, is dedicated to bringing gender parity back to tech. Vision 1948 is a partner of AAUW Naperville Area.

Celebrate Women’s History Month with an intriguing look at the history of suffrage in Illinois! Register to attend Casting a Historic Vote: Suffrage for Women in Illinois with presenter Jeanne Schultz Angel on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at 7 p.m. via Zoom.

Register for Event Link

Prior to 1920, women were denied the vote in the majority of elections in the United States. The struggle for enfranchisement began with the birth of our nation and was strategized differently in our local, state, and federal elections. Despite what people today believe to be a straightforward goal, the path to women’s suffrage was infused with sexism and racism and triggered a fear of feminism whose roots are still seen today.

This free community program is presented by the League of Women Voters of Naperville, and co-sponsored by AAUW Naperville Area and the National Council of Jewish Women-Chicago North Shore.

About the Presenter

Jeanne Schultz Angel, Naper Settlement

Jeanne Schultz Angel is the Director of Learning Experiences & Historical Resources for Naper Settlement. She is a nonprofit administrator and museum professional with more than 24 years working within cultural institutions. She holds a BA in Anthropology and an MA in History from Illinois State University.

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.