Pair of events highlights inspirational locals in Women’s History Month crescendo

Let it never be said that, on March 28, 2024, Santa Cruz County, California, did not honor its women. On that date, there are not one, but two separate, unrelated events, both in the spirit of Women’s History Month, expressing gratitude and respect to underrecognized women near and far. 

And they’ll both be done by sundown that Thursday … almost.

The first event is a brunch, beginning at 10 a.m. at the horticultural center on the campus of Cabrillo College. “InspirHer” throws a spotlight on 10 local women, most of whom have not been recognized in a public forum before, but all of whom are accomplished people in their chosen fields. 

The second event gets started later that afternoon at the Museum of Art & History in downtown Santa Cruz. “HERstory Celebration” is a hands-on, participatory event inspired by a board game called “HerStory.” The board game itself will be part of the event in which those attending will have the opportunity to create trading cards featuring their own nominee for a particularly inspiring woman in their lives. The event, put on by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education (COE) and organized in partnership with the MAH and Lookout, will also include a trio of prominent speakers. They include Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate Farnaz Fatemi, UCSC community activist Rebecca Hernandez and Kirby School junior Lucia Nakashima, speaking on the past, present and future of women in Santa Cruz County.

“And we’ve also put out a Padlet,” said Stephanie Sumarna of the COE and a member of the event planning team, “which is sort of like a digital bulletin board, with an open call for people from the community to submit stories about a woman or women who have touched their lives. So people have been posting pictures and memes and writing some anecdotes.”

Participants in the event can make a trading card of an inspiring woman, which will be collected to be possibly included in a deck of cards the MAH would produce, or write that woman’s name on a ribbon to be part of a collective art installation.

“We’re hoping this will be an annual event,” said Sumarna.

Earlier that morning over in Aptos, the focus will be on 10 particular local women at “InspirHer.” The honorees to be celebrated at the brunch are: environmental activist Nancy Macy, planning commissioner Allyson Violante, parks designer Yadira Flores, artist Abi Mustapha, professor and researcher Rebecca London, financial planner Rachel Weeden, naturalization expert Maria Elizabeth Lopez, community organizer Allison Guevara, community liaison Noemi Romo and engineering teacher K. Groppi.

“InspirHer” is the work of Peggy Flynn of the Democratic Women’s Club of Santa Cruz County and Dorian Seamster of WILDR (Women in Leadership for Diverse Representation). Last spring, at the behest of Santa Cruz City Councilmember Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson, Flynn began to brainstorm about an event for Women’s History Month 2024. 

“I said that I really want to do something where women are acknowledged for their work, as I see it, behind the scenes and under the radar,” said Flynn. “So we just chatted about what that might look like. And the groundwork for the kind of overarching thing that I came up with was: No electeds could be nominated, and not women who are already often acknowledged.”

Enter Seamster, the lead organizer of WILDR, an organization that helps women contribute to public life in order to increase the diversity of women in elected and appointed positions in local government. WILDR and the DWC combined forces, formed a committee and began collecting nominations of under-the-radar women who would be appropriate for this honor. 

“We got 45 nominations, and a subcommittee got it down to 17,” said Flynn. “And then finally we honed it down to 10.”

Those 10 were culled to reflect diversity in background, in age, and in geographical representation in the county (“It was important to me that this wasn’t Santa Cruz city-centric,” said Flynn). 

And, like “HERstory” at the MAH, Flynn said the “InspirHer” brunch could very well evolve into an annual touchstone on the calendar to recognize those women who remain behind the scenes the rest of the year. 

“Yes, I am considering that,” she said. “Like everything else, you learn a lot of things the first time out, so we’ll know how to be even more organized next time.”

InspirHer Santa Cruz County takes place Thursday, March 28, from 10 a.m. to noon. The event is sold out. HERstory Celebration takes place Thursday, March 28, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. It’s free.

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