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W A M M Staff Transitions
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Marie Braun, W A M M
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The end of July was a time for goodbyes as WAMM Director Paulette Sankofa and our two summer interns, Kari Fulgesten and Kayla Wanyama, moved on to the next phase in their journeys. Paulette, we want to thank you for all the special talents that you brought to WAMM. We wish you well and know that you will take your many exceptional gifts with you as you follow your dream to eventually create an extraordinary school for young girls.
And we want to thank you, Kari and Kayla, for the energy, time, and youthful exuberance that you gave to the Gardening for Peace Project. You were both a joy to be around and we extend our best wishes to you as head back to the University of Minnesota.
As we say goodbye to Paulette, Kari, and Kayla, we are also very pleased to welcome Mary Beaudoin as the new director of WAMM. Mary, who was formerly WAMM volunteer coordinator and co-office manager, assumed the director’s position on August 1, 2004.
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Mary Beaudoin, director, and Anne Graham, office manager.
–Photo by Lisa Ann Pierce
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Many of you may already know Mary. She was an active WAMM volunteer before becoming a staff member and has been a dedicated member of the WAMM Iraq Committee and the Twin Cities Peace Campaign (formerly Twin Cities Campaign to Lift Sanctions), working to lift the sanctions, stop the war, and end the U.S. occupation of Iraq. She has been a regular participant in the peace vigil on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge, has been active in Merriam Park Neighbors, and has participated in a number of coalitions.
For several years prior to her involvement with WAMM, Mary was a committed activist and citizen lobbyist on a variety of anti-war, peace, social justice, and environmental issues such as opposing nuclear waste storage on or near Native American land. She also served on the Policy Board of Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington, D.C., educating and lobbying on peace initiatives in domestic and foreign policy and advocating for the diversion of resources from military spending to social needs.
Mary was first introduced to the horrors of war as a young woman when she witnessed some of the training of new recruits at the base where her husband was stationed during the Vietnam War. She became active in the local peace movement through the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers during the first Gulf War. She has a deep conviction that nonviolent resistance is “a force more powerful” and that war is never the answer to international conflict.
Mary has a 23-year-old daughter, Ty Camille, who is currently teaching at a public elementary school in South Central Los Angeles. Mary holds a B.A. degree from the University of Minnesota and has a background in communications. She was a staff writer for the Star Tribune for eleven years, promoting news features, advertising, and community relations. She has also worked as a freelance writer and editor, served as communications director for the International Wolf Center for a period of time, and was an organizer for Peace Action on the Wellstone for Senate Campaign.
If you haven’t yet met Mary, we encourage you to stop in at the office to meet her. Better yet, come to the peace vigil on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge where you will find her almost every Wednesday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. |
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W A M M Remembers...
Mary Grabow, 1916–2004
One of WAMM’s earliest and staunchest members, died June 10, 2004, in Minneapolis. Mary was known for her tremendous knowledge of the history behind, and details of, current conflicts. Her letters to newspapers and members of congress were succinct, clear, and humorous. She will be missed by all who knew her.
As bad as present world conditions are, they would be worse without the efforts of Mary and people who, like her, are not discouraged to the point of inaction. A gathering of remembrance attended by close friends was held at her home July 11, 2004.
—Polly Mann, W A M M
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© 2004 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete September 2004 Index - click here
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