By:  Kathleen McIntire Stop confusing "stuff" with love. Our society seems to be obsessed with the idea that more is better, and we behave as though possessions indicate status and worthiness. During the holidays, those beliefs manifest themselves in the giving of gifts. Doggedly we shop, wrap, and exchange presents with one another...even though (if we're honest with ourselves) we generally find little...

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By: Britta Aragon If you have a loved one with cancer, you may automatically (or by choice) be placed in the role of advocate. If so, what can you do to be sure he/she gets the best treatments and care?Your loved one will probably be going through all types of emotions and physical hardships, making your help invaluable as he/she fights to recover. We’ve gathered a few tips here to help make your journey...

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By: Gloria Feldt A colleague once gave me a poster bearing the caption: “When you’re up to your a** in alligators, it’s hard to remember your goal was to drain the swamp.” It’s always good for a chuckle…of recognition. Because is there any one of us who hasn’t been there?In a time of economic and social chaos, when many people are desperately trying to keep those writhing reptiles from nipping...

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“In Lisa Levart’s photographs we find the essence of the Goddess meets each woman’s personalities, and therefore the essential qualities of the Goddess helps to reveal the essential qualities of each women.” - Starhawk, Author, Activist Lisa Levart is a wonderfully inspired photographer who has published a new book...

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“There is an emotion and visual story that needs to be told. If we have a healthy cheetah population we have    a healthy eco-system.” ~Marcy Mendelson   As a young girl Marcy Mendelson would spend hours plopped in front of the TV watching National Geographic. She especially loved the Cheetah and dreamed of being a photographer on the savannah. While it’s taken her over 30 years to actualize...

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Teresa Delfín is an everyday woman living in Southern California. The 34-year-old Stanford-educated cultural anthropologist is passionate about rock climbing. Delfin found herself getting bogged down with academic politics while teaching and was looking for a new direction in her life. Three years ago, while pregnant with her first child, she realized there was a lack of outdoor apparel that would fit her expanding...

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Beth Terry is an everyday woman living in the Bay Area.  Three years ago, after reading an article about the rise of plastic in the world’s oceans, she realized that her own actions might be contributing to this problem.  Beth made a choice.  She challenged herself to eliminate the use of plastic, all the while documenting her experience on her blog Fake Plastic Fish.  What began as a simple personal...

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Renegade school lunch lady, Chef Ann Cooper is an everyday woman living in Boulder, CO. The one-time high-end restaurant chef is on a mission to ensure that every child in America has access to healthy food at school. Having established a revolutionary school lunch program in Berkeley, CA with the vision and support of Alice Waters, Chef Ann is now serving 30,000 children a day in Boulder, CO healthy,...

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Diane McEachern is an everyday woman living in Washington DC. Diane is on a mission to encourage women to harness their “power of the purse” and intentionally shift their spending to products with the greatest benefit to the environment. She believes the best way to fight the industries that pollute the planet, is to mobilize the most powerful consumer force in the world-women. Women spend 80-85 cents...

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Gloria Steinem started out as an everyday woman who after being moved by the stories of other women put her passion into action. It has been written, she was a voice for women’s rights when women had no voice. Gloria celebrated her 75th birthday this year and with it a legacy that includes founding Ms Magazine, New York Magazine, co-creating Take Our Daughters to Work Day, starting organizations like...

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Jill Mason is an everyday woman living in Sacramento. On the morning of Easter Sunday in 2004 the unthinkable happened. Jill and her boyfriend Alan Liu were biking along Highway 12 near Santa Rosa, when a drunk driver hit them. Liu was killed, Jill barely survived, her spinal cord was severed, permanently paralyzing her and suffered a traumatic brain injury that now limits her motor functions. With the help...

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Fay Ann Lee is an everyday woman living in New York City. An actress by trade, Lee found roles for Asian American women few and far between. Determined to have her voice heard, she wrote a screenplay about self-discovery, acceptance and love through the eyes of an Asian American woman named Grace Tang, a successful Wall Street banker from New York’s Chinatown, who wants more than anything to be part...

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Jean Hill is an everyday woman living in Concord, Ma. The 82-year old grandmother was shocked to learn from her ten-year old grandson about the large gyres forming in the oceans filled with garbage including water bottles. She immediately began investigating and learning about the impact plastic water bottles is having on the environment and to our health. She came to the conclusion that this could all be avoided...

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Jennifer Litton Singer is an everyday woman living in Nevada City. In 1995, Jennifer along with Mary Collier and Amanda Chavez began the Friendship Club, a prevention program designed to reach at-risk girls before they engage in unhealthy behaviors. They wanted to provide an outlet for young woman to shine, build confidence, and become independent. Since then, Friendship Club has grown to become a year-around...

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Joan Blades is an everyday woman living in Berkeley, CA. She is the Co-founder and President of MomsRising, an online organization for moms and the people that love them to connect on issues like healthcare, flexible work options, paid family leave, childcare, and living wages. Since its inception in 2006, MomsRising has grown to a staggering one million members.

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Kristy Pagan is an everyday woman living in Washington D.C. While growing up in Plymouth, MI, she wasn’t raised to lead a political life nor was she encouraged to get involved in politics, but early on Kristy felt the call of public service. After starting a women’s leadership group, that grew to become the largest organization on her college campus, she participated in the White House Project training.

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Melinda Kramer is an everyday women living in Berkeley, CA. She is the founder and co-director of Women’s Earth Alliance. At just twenty-four years old she launched a world-wide program that focuses on issues of environmental justice, water, agriculture and food. Women’s Earth Alliance has trained thousands of women in countries such as Bolivia, the Philippines, Africa, India, and throughout Native...

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Rachel Barge is an everyday women living in the Bay Area. See Jane Do first met the 23-year old powerhouse last year at the Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival where she was speaking with the Brower Youth Award film. While attending UC Berkeley, Rachel helped establish The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF), a $2 million sustainability fund on campus that pays for energy efficiency and other environmental...

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Reinette Senum is an everyday woman living in Nevada City. Reinette is a green pioneer of the 21st century. She has traveled throughout fifty countries, climbed many mountains and was the first woman to cross Alaska solo on skis. See Jane Do had the privilege and pleasure of following Reinette over the last year; participating in the Community Congress she initiated in order to create one of the greenest...

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Sister Libby Fernandez is an everyday woman living in Sacramento, CA. After a brief stint in the Air Force, she embraced her calling to serve and became a nun with the Sisters of Mercy. As a Sister of Mercy, she has dedicated her entire life to God and serving God’s people especially those who are sick, poor and uneducated. Twenty-five years ago she became involved with Sacramento Loaves and Fishes,...

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