Texas NORML Spotlight: NORML Women’s Alliance Sister to Sister

Good Morning, all

In tribute to Mother’s Day and all of the women activists around the world, We here at Texas NORML wanted to share with you information on the Norml Women’s Alliance and their Sister to Sister program. The Norml Women’s Alliance was formed this last year when many of the female activists in our community decided it was time for them to come out to the forefront of our cause on a platform of fiscal responsibility, stopping the objectification of women in cannabis media, state’s rights when it comes to deciding marijuana policy and honesty with the next generation about cannabis. Women have created much of the social change over the past 100 years and we believe cannabis reform will be no different. These are our friends, sisters, mothers and grandmothers working together to help prevent the destruction to families that incarceration for cannabis can cause and we applaud them coming out into the bright light of cannabis reform that is sweeping the nation. Over the past year, they have had their first large fundraiser, had the NWA Steering Committee meet in D.C. to plan their strategies for the coming year and have partnered with Students for Sensible Drug policy to form the Sister to Sister program. The purpose of S2S will be to teach and mold the next generation of female activists in the cannabis reform movement by building big sister, little sister relationships and giving them the tools they need to be the strong, respected women our movement needs. Below is information on the program taken from our national NORML page. Please take the time to show your support to these wonderful women who are refusing to let society define cannabis users as all “burnouts and crazies” and helping to show there are many different faces in the Cannabis community. Peace and good buds.

“Cultivating Female Activists Mentoring Project

The NORML Women’s Alliance and Students for Sensible Drug Policy are proud to announce the launch of this new mentoring project designed to recruit and retain female activists in the marijuana reform movement by establishing big sister, little sister relationships for new and seasoned activists.

Purpose and Goals:

To connect women in the marijuana movement with each other in order to facilitate a close-knit community of female drug law reform advocates.
To make women feel welcomed as part of the larger reform movement by connecting those who have been involved for less than 2-3 years with those who have been involved for more than 2-3 years.
To build strong professional and personal relationships between women of all demographics who wouldn’t have otherwise been introduced to one another.
To share skills, information, resources, contacts, and other useful knowledge that will help female reformers be more engaged and more effective as they work toward common interests.
To empower and instill confidence in women who are interested in seeking leadership positions within their respective groups and organizations.
To help close the gender gap that currently exists within the marijuana law reform community.

You would make a great big sister if you….

have been involved in the marijuana reform movement for more than 2-3 years
have the desire to connect with less experienced women reformers and learn about their experiences
have a solid understanding of your role in the movement and how you’d like to develop your role in the future
can devote a minimum of 1-5 hours per week to this and other NWA projects
could use some guidance on how to utilize online organizing tools (such as Facebook, E-mail, Twitter, Google Documents, YouTube, Skype, etc.) to advance your advocacy efforts

You would make a great little sister if you…

have been involved in the marijuana reform movement for fewer than 2-3 years
have the desire to connect with more experienced women reformers and learn about their experiences
are uncertain about your future in the movement
can devote a minimum of 1-5 hours per week to this and other NWA projects
are familiar with utilizing online organizing tools (such as Facebook, E-mail, Twitter, Google documents, YouTube, Skype, etc.) to advance your advocacy efforts
are interested in learning more about potential leadership opportunities Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.

Big sisters and little sisters will be paired up based primarily on location, but also on shared interests. The formal duration of each partnership will be six months, but we hope your relationship with your NWA sister will continue much longer after that. The activities and nature of each mentorship will vary by situation, however we will provide suggestions and guidelines to help.

What are some things that sisters might do together?

Phone conversations
Video chat sessions
“Take your sister to work day!” (shadowing)
Coffee conversations
Small group meet-ups
Share stories
Attend local drug law reform events, meetings, other functions
Organize your own events, meetings and other functions!
Attend or organize local happy hours

Apply to be a Big Sister! Apply to be a Little Sister!”

Onward and Upward,

Topher Belsher
Director of Online Community Outreach
Texas NORML
[email protected]