Get Involved

AAUW-Walla Walla offers numerous opportunities for our members to volunteer at events and behind the scenes!

AAUW members channel our passion, skills, and energy into worthwhile causes that empower and support women. Our work focuses on engaging members of our community and raising funds to strategically support women of all ages and backgrounds.

Here’s a snapshot of ways you can help:

Kitchen Tour: Sign up to be a greeter when tour visitors come to pick up their maps at the Marcus Whitman Hotel, or volunteer at a home along the tour route. On-site duties at the homes include indoor greeter, book sale helper (one home only), and outdoor greeter/parking attendant. Members are also asked to help promote the tour to their personal sphere of connections in the months leading up to the fall tour. This is a wonderful opportunity to tell your friends, colleagues, and family about AAUW and our mission to support women and girls in our community!

Annual Book Sale: Help sort and process book donations throughout the year. Shifts are available weekly, so sign up as often as you like! We also have volunteers who pick up books from donation bins at various sites around Walla Walla, College Place, and Milton-Freewater. In the days leading up to the late-February event, and during the sale itself, join almost every member of our branch who pitches in to work a couple of hours at our wildly popular annual sale!

Pop-Up Book Sales: In addition to our annual book sale in late February, we host pop-up book sale events in October (at the Kitchen Tour), at a craft bazaar before the holidays, and at Fourth of July in the Park. Members: Watch our monthly newsletter and email blasts for ways you can lend a helping hand!

Public Policy: If you believe we need structural, systemic change towards equity for women and girls, public policy is for you! Our committee’s mission is to inform AAUW members, our local elected officials, and the wider community on AAUW's public policy priorities. Coordinating educational programs for members, working with the WA state public policy committee, and building relationships with our legislators are all key activities of this group. Don't know a bill from a law? No problem! The only thing you need is a commitment to equity, and a willingness to learn.

Our Mission Programs/Projects

Scholarships: Our branch has identified scholarships as the primary recipient of mission funding. We offer three types of scholarships to support local women in reaching their educational goals: 

1. Women RISE (Resilient, Independent, Self-Sufficient through Education) scholarships are for women returning to school after a break in their education, either to complete an undergraduate degree or a post-graduate degree.

2. STEM Horizon scholarships are awarded to women in their junior or senior year of college who are pursuing a degree in a science, technology, engineering, or math field or a STEM-adjacent field such as nursing.

3. Women in Trades scholarships are for women seeking professional qualifications in a trade or craft where women are underrepresented.

Tech Trek: Through hands-on problem solving and encounters with women role models in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), AAUW Tech Trek helps girls see their futures while having fun. The one-week summer camp is backed by AAUW’s research and is designed to make STEM fields exciting and accessible to girls in middle school — the age when girls’ participation in these fields statistically drops. For many girls, the week-long camp sparks their curiosity and places them on a path toward educational and career success.

National Conference for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL): This annual conference unites college women from across the nation for a transformative experience in leadership development, network, and inspiration. NCCWSL provides a welcoming and empowering space to build leadership skills, connect with peers, and find inspiration to drive change. Through engaging workshops and hands-on activities, NCCWSL challenges and inspires attendees to make meaningful impacts on their campuses and communities long after the conference ends.

Community Project Grants: Our Walla Walla branch allocates funds for project-based grants to registered nonprofit charitable organizations. To be considered for a grant, projects must align with the mission of AAUW and take place within Walla Walla County or Milton-Freewater, Oregon.  Qualified organizations interested in being awarded a grant must apply between January 15 and. April 15.  The Community Project Grant Committee reviews applications and makes funding recommendations to the board in May. (Note: Community Project Grants were formerly called “AAUW Mini Grants” by our branch.)

Impact Awards: In the spring of 2024, the branch voted to allocate funds for Impact Award programs so we can proactively address the needs of women and girls in our community, especially to help them stay in school or stay gainfully employed.  Impact Awards do not require applications; they are identified by the Impact Awards Committee and approved by the board. The four Impact Award areas are:

1. Women in Trades: We provide networking lunches, leadership training, and skills-building training for women studying in non-traditional programs (i.e.,welding)

2. WWCC Emergency Assistance: We provide funds for the WWCC Foundation’s Emergency Assistance Fund to help students handle a financial emergency so that they can stay in school (i.e. car repair)

3. Child Care Access: We provide funds to address the shortage of licensed childcare slots in our community.

4. Sudden Unmet Need (SUN): We provide limited financial assistance to address pop-up costs high school senior girls may experience as they transition to post-secondary education programs (i.e., housing deposits).