Women’s International Center [WIC] was founded in 1982 as a non-profit education and service foundation [501c3] with the mission to ‘acknowledge, honor, encourage and educate women’. For twenty eight years at our Living Legacy Awards ceremonies we have brought hundreds of people together to celebrate the accomplishments and positive and lasting contributions of women. Many now know, understand, appreciate, and hopefully incorporate the gifts women have given to improve the world. We have gathered some of civilization’s great women and men whose deeds have genuinely benefitted humanity. Our honoree list of over 300 is a veritable ‘Who’s Who of global innovators and humanitarians.
To further WIC’s worldwide outreach, our award-winning information and education web site www.wic.org is filled with women’s remarkable deeds, accomplishments, legacies and history -- including short biographies of LLA recipients. Our web site directs readers to vital information about economic, legal, medical, emotional, psychological and ‘Safe Houses’ for those needing professional assistance. We also provide direct links to other valuable organizations specifically geared to helping and improving the lives of women.
Historically, WIC has been deeply involved with women in Africa and South America through our foreign assistance programs by providing educational and safety information and economic resources to refugees and displaced women. Our activities have included working directly with international, national and local organizations that assist refugees; assisting women to adapt and adjust to living in the United States; providing economic, medical, and personal safety information to those in need; assisting many women to receive academic acceptance and gainful employment. WIC has also provided charitable gifts to non-profit organizations offering aid and/or safe houses for battered or homeless women and have proudly presented many thousands of dollars in Sisterships (scholarships) to scores of girls and women since 1983. We are committed to sustainable and environmentally sensitive solutions for our world.
Women’s International Center’s motto is ‘Education through Communication.’ To this end, we have created the iTOES Network (Instructional Tools for Online Education...helping students gain mobility figuratively speaking) which is an online resource for anyone with an internet connection who wants to spread education k-12. We love and live what we do!
Gloria Lane
Founder, President (with loving assistance from our dynamic WIC team)
Since October, 1982, Women's International Center, has demanded excellence of itself, and since 1983 has publicly honored excellence in others.
On October 6, 1982, at her fiftieth birthday celebration, Gloria Lane, received a telephone call from her physician. He told her she was 'officially' diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. With destiny staring her in the face on that fateful night, Gloria made a critical decision. She could give in to her illness, or she could make it work for her. Obviously, she chose vision over the victim mentality. On that day, Women's International Center was founded.
The motto of the concept was and is "Education Through Communication". Our mission remains steadfast: "Acknowledging, Honoring, Encouraging and Educating Women."
Contacting her already established power base (Gloria was a college teacher and an often booked speaker on the San Diego women's organization meetings circuit, and had been an entertainment agent and publisher), she shared the power of her dream, and many rapidly became active advocates.
In less than three months Women's International Center acquired its [501 c 3] nonprofit status, secured an office with a volunteer and paid staff, developed a women's library and a small art gallery, which quickly allowed courses, seminars and workshops to begin and flourish. Many of San Diego's social and community leaders soon became members, enthusiastic volunteers and generous financial supporters. The message, the mission and the power base rapidly grew. It continues.
By October, 1983, it was determined to establish an award to further fulfill WIC's stated purpose: "acknowledging, honoring, encouraging and educating women". Thus, in honor of International Woman's Day, the first annual Living Legacy Awards Presentations took place on March 8, 1984, at the historic Hotel del Coronado. From that glorious beginning to this day, over one hundred of the world's exceptional contributors and humanitarians, from presidents to movie stars to scientists to athletes to business, political and military leaders and people from all walks of life have accepted the Living Legacy Award. Thousands of dollars of scholarships have been given to mature women who also want to grow.
Today, Women's International Center reaches thousands, perhaps millions, through the global network on the internet. WIC went 'on-line' in May, 1995, and we are linked to many other on-line women's groups worldwide.
WIC will continue to grow. The Living Legacy Awards will bring more legacies together from all countries. More women will be educated and empowered. The reach of our online network will expand - join us!
"Thinking globally, acting locally,
nationally and worldwide."
Building A Living Legacy To All Women Online
The goal of Women's International Center used to be building the Women's International Pavilion, a living tribute to the significant contributions women have made to humanity. The Pavilion could be built in San Diego County and provide an international center for all the world to view and appreciate the great works of women. It could feature an accredited institute, library, performing arts center, galleries, tribute halls and archives-in a setting of magnificent gardens where performance and creativity can reign supreme. But in the age of Global Warming, we have evolved to accept that instead of clinging to a vision of physical construction to honor our mission, we can use the powerful tools we have online to create an even more powerful virtual network of people and causes internationally.
Friends of the Poor - Nigeria.
Founded in 1982, Friends of the Poor is a nondenominational service organization that works in partnership with relief workers in various parts of the world to provide necessary funds, material goods, medicines and food to aide in the alleviation of poverty and suffering.
In 1998, Jean Colarusso, President of Friends of the Poor, began organizing the first of many missions in Africa. Because of the growing needs in Africa, Friends of Africa was established in 2006 as an additional focus to the mission of Friends of the Poor. The current project of Friends of the Poor-Africa is to provide funding and supplies to build the Dr. William Kupiec Academy for Girls.
Women's International Center International Organization Awards
American Association of University Women
Arthritis Foundation
The Child Protective Services of San Diego County
Children as Teachers of Peace
Girls Clubs of America
Children's Hospice International
Girls Clubs of America
Ladies Professional Golf Association
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Lions Clubs International
Manchester Family Child Development Center
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Operation Smile
PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Phillip Foundation, Moscow, Russia
Physicians for Social Responsibility
The Polinsky Children's Center
Rotary International
San Diego Youth and Community Services
Soroptimist International of the Americas
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
The Salvation Army
St. Clare's Home for Women and Children
United Service Organizations, Inc. (US0)
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
2Life18 Foundation
Vista Hill Foundation
Voices for Children
Women of the American Military Memorial Foundation
WorldLink
Honoring Jackée Harry - Women's International Center Global Ambassador
Emmy Award-winning actress, Jackée Harry is known for her iconic role as vivacious "Sandra Clark" on the NBC hit sitcom "227," as well as Oprah Winfrey's critically acclaimed "The Women of Brewster Place," "Sister, Sister" (which earned her multiple NAACP Image Awards), and "Everybody Hates Chris." She hopes to use her universal platform to uplift others in need and is working with The Women's International Center as our "Global Ambassador to Women." She inaugurated her "Jackée Frappé" signature shake on Monday, May 24th, 2010 at Millions of Milkshakes in support of The Women's International Center - West Hollywood, 8910 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90069-4902. Read More
Dr. E. Faye Williams, National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc., has announced that Ms. Jackee Harry, acclaimed actress and Emmy Award winner, was presented with NCBW's "Woman of Substance" award on September 19, 2010 at its annual awards luncheon in Washington, DC. For more information, go to www.nationalcongressbw.org or call 202-678-6788.
Jackée Harry is the Women's International Center Global Ambassador
When Jackée is abroad, her first thought must always be "What can I do or communicate to make this area healthier and happier?" As Women's International Center Global Ambassador, her main calling is to find ways to bring education to areas where it is lacking, encourage sustainable living and green practices, and empower women through encouragement, education, compassion, and communication. She is a spokesperson for the education of women internationally. YouTube Video JACKEE HARRY For Women's International Center at MILLIONS OF MILKSHAKES
FAQS
Supporting Information on Volunteering for WIC:
To volunteer for WIC, please send an email to Executive Volunteer Coordinator Sarah Quincy squincy [@] wic.org or to team [@] wic.org. We have a WIC legal waiver for volunteers to sign. The list of volunteer activities above is only a partial list, since we are a growing organization and we are always open to new ideas and opportunities made available to us that we can help promote. We celebrate our volunteers and have watched some move from volunteer work at WIC to heading up film festivals and becoming independent health professionals, and more. WIC cannot guarantee volunteer safety, so volunteers are responsible for their choices, and if volunteers prefer providing simply phone support - for instance - this is a helpful contribution.
Brief History:
The Women's International Center Living Legacy Awards were founded when Gloria J. Lane was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she wanted to make her life's mission to honor women. She currently resides in the La Jolla Nursing and Rehabilitation home and her advanced disease keeps her from being able to conduct business online and on the telephone to the extent that she would like, so a team of us around her keep the organization going. More on Gloria: http://web.me.com/uromastyx.studio/WIC/bio05/GloriaJLane.html The Living Legacy Awards have been presented to more than 200 ground breaking individuals from around the world whose good works have benefitted society. What presenting an LLA to someone means to our organization is the pride of knowing we are one of the oldest groups to honor women and that we bring together like-minded people unified behind the celebration of women's good works.
Volunteering for WIC and Foreign Assistance:
In past years, we have had a larger operating budget, and recently, we have been able to focus mainly on our Living Legacy Awards and funding scholarships that include programs that help women in danger, for instance Helia La Jeunesse's Women Victim to Victim. We do have active relationships with various international affiliates that are run by either partners or Living Legacy Award recipients, for instance Jean Colarusso's Friends of the Poor in Mexico and Nigeria. Below are some organizations that we refer volunteers to:
Here are some of the current refugee projects we refer WIC volunteers to:
Project Refuge founded by Dory Beatrice, in support of Somali and East African refugees: http://www.projectrefuge.org (Rotary International is a WIC Outstanding Organization Award recipient)
Alliance for African Assistance: http://www.alliance-for-africa.org/volunteer.php The Alliance and WIC were partners of the La Jolla Playhouse in 2010 in support of relief work on behalf of women victims of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Helping women who are victims of domestic violence:
License to Freedom: WIC Outstanding Organization Award recipient. http://www.licensetofreedom.org/index.htm Stopping domestic violence in refugee and immigrant communities in San Diego County
Women's Resource Center - Volunteer Training http://www.wrcsd.org/howToHelp/helpVolTrng.htm WIC Outstanding Organization Award recipient.
For health-related volunteer work:
Sharp Hospitals (Mary Birch for Women, Mesa Vista, Vista Pacifica etc) - http://www.sharp.com/jobs/volunteer-opportunities.cfm
Education using Spanish:
Americas Foundation - Founder Christine Brady Living Legacy Award recipient, Americas Foundation builds and operates the La Esperanza Schools in Tijuana to help children develop their talents - http://americasfoundation.net/volunteering.php
Thai language activities:
Organizing Thai Meetup Groups for Language and Culture: http://www.meetup.com/sdthailanguageandculture/
Asia:
Union of Pan Asian Communities in SD UPAC Serving the Asian, Pacific Islander and Other Ethnic Communities of San Diego County http://www.upacsd.com/volunteer/
San Diego Asian American Repertory Theatre occasionally has volunteer needs http://asianamericanrep.org/
Educational Programs:
WIC does not have a physical building and is essentially a network of individuals connected virtually online. While in the past we had hoped to raise funds to build a center, we now prefer to use existing spaces in the interest of going green sustainably by reducing construction and protecting the environment. We do not teach reading and writing as a specific program of WIC, but do provide online teaching materials via our iTOES network (Instructional Tools for Online Education). We also support educational institutions via our scholarships, for instance to The Americas Foundation in Tijuana and the William Kupiac Academy for Girls in Nigeria. Since we do not have a formal class structure via WIC, we do not teach women's rights or feminism specifically as a subject, but by doing what we do - recognizing and encouraging women and individuals who have made a difference in support of women worldwide - our mission is feminist and in support of women's rights worldwide. We want to grow our educational programs at WIC and one of our main objectives is to provide educational resources on the web via WIC's iTOES Network.
Showcasing our Living Legacy Award Honorees:
By showcasing our many Living Legacy Award honorees, we hope to inspire others to emulate the brave examples of heroic women and men, like Mary Hill, http://www.speakermary.com, former SDSU Athletic Director - 1st woman athletic director in US, at Colorado State - who helped get first sports scholarships to women as part of Title IX. We recommend listening to to Sheryl Sandberg COO of Facebook, on women in the work force, she explains that women need to negotiate strongly going in to jobs in order to reduce the wage gap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18uDutylDa4
Counseling via WIC:
We provide some public support in the form of psychological counseling of trauma survivors, refugees, domestic abuse survivors, and more. Dr Saila Harada is our principal counsellor. We do not solely refer people to others, but do, for instance, highly recommend organizations like License to Freedom in El Cajon to Middle Eastern women coming to or already in San Diego, since they are the only Arabic language domestic abuse educational resource in San Diego, as of 2011, to our knowledge.
Location:
WIC has representatives elsewhere, but San Diego is our center. We are growing chapters abroad and have active dialogues with chapter directors in Shanghai, Taipei, Rio de Janiero, Lille, France, The Netherlands and elsewhere.
Bionic Sisters Productions:
BSP is an independent record label that has helped WIC for many years increase its web presence and outreach as well as internet support. http://.www.bionicsisters.com BSP does promotional work on behalf of clients like the World Trade Center, French Chamber of Commerce, and others, which increases its ability to bring more exposure in an international arena to the objectives, scholarships, and iTOES Network of WIC.
About Women's International Center Executive Volunteer Coordinator:
Sarah M. Quincy
Motivated by her strong support of the Women’s International Center’s mission to ‘acknowledge, honor, encourage and educate women’, Sarah requested to serve as Executive Volunteer Coordinator for the Women’s International Center.
Sarah currently works as an Administrative Assistant for ProTec Building Services in the Facilities Maintenance Department. She focuses on logistical coordination for building engineers at over twenty-five downtown condominiums. In winter 2010, Sarah was appointed San Diego Repair California Director. She opened the San Diego Campaign Office, directed, recruited and trained employees for a statewide budget reform campaign.
In fall 2009, when Sarah returned to San Diego with her Masters in International Human Rights from the London School of Economics, she worked as a Contract Law Clerk for Attorney Binh Bui at the American International Practice Group in San Diego. She researched legal regulations and composed and presented legal business-oriented guidelines to clients.
Immediately following her Masters in London in 2007, Sarah interned at Human Rights Watch in Geneva. She contributed by reporting, analyzing and composing reports about United Nations Human Rights Council member states’ policy changes during United Nations Human Rights Council sessions.
Passionate about reporting and improving human rights, Sarah also interned at the International Federation of Human Right in Paris in 2007. Surrounded by French colleagues, she investigated, composed and presented reports about Sudanese and Chinese human rights policies in French and English.
In preparation for her Masters degree, in 2005-2006, Sarah worked in Washington D.C. as Research Assistant for a diplomatic columnist. Sarah conducted in-person interviews with foreign ambassadors and state officials. She also contributed to writing and editing ambassador profile articles for The Washington Post, The Washington Diplomat and The Washington Life.
Shortly after earning her Bachelor’s degree in Global Studies and French Literature from U.C. Santa Barbara in 2003, Sarah worked as an Administrative Assistant for Campaign Media Analysis Group. There, she collected and tracked political advertisement data from televised and printed political advertisements.
If you are interested in volunteering for the Women’s International Center, please contact Sarah Quincy squincy[@]wic.org.
Emmy Award-winning actress, Jackée Harry is known for her iconic role as vivacious "Sandra Clark" on the NBC hit sitcom "227," as well as Oprah Winfrey's critically acclaimed "The Women of Brewster Place," "Sister, Sister" (which earned her multiple NAACP Image Awards), and "Everybody Hates Chris." She hopes to use her universal platform to uplift others in need and is working with The Women's International Center as our "Global Ambassador to Women." She inaugurated her "Jackée Frappé" signature shake on Monday, May 24th, 2010 at Millions of Milkshakes in support of The Women's International Center - West Hollywood, 8910 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90069-4902. 
