Tweets from the interview:
Huge thanks to @Susys & @CindyRichards for chatting about @AWJ_Chicago w/ me this evening!
"Cindy’s a reporter and a writer, and really in the high tier when it comes to quality reporting and writing." -- @Susys, on @CindyRichards
"We gave birth to AWJ a week before I gave birth to a child. So I always know how old this organization is." -- @CindyRichards
Blog post:
When it comes to the future of AWJ Chicago, co-founders Susy Schultz and Cindy Richards aren't worried. The group has evolved and grown with the women who've participated in it over the years, and the various presidents have left their mark on the organization -- like Amy Guth, the current president.
"[She's] been a wonderful guru in terms of making sure that the membership knows social media and corporate social media knows how to deal with branding themselves and putting themselves out there," said Schultz. "And that is something that's vital right now."
Richards couldn't agree more. For her, it's a fascinating time to be a member of an organization that promotes women as well as journalists.
"I think AWJ is still around because it's still relevant," she said. "Unfortunately, there are still issues for women in this business, and we need to support one another."
Print story:
For Cindy Richards, one of the founding members of the Chicago chapter of the Association for Women Journalists, it’s impossible to forget the organization’s birthday. As Richards tells the story, she gave birth to AWJ Chicago the week before she gave birth to a child.
“So I always know how old the organization is,” Richards said, smiling.
Susy Schultz, another founding member and one of Richards’ dearest friends, laughed. Including Richards and Schultz, there were five founders — five women who wanted to see gender equality in the media and in newsrooms across the country.
The idea to start a Chicago chapter of the organization first occurred to the founders at the Chicago Sun-Times, where Schultz and Richards met for the first time. Schultz had just returned after a year of maternity leave. After enduring taunting from her coworkers throughout her preganncy, she was eager to return to her beat and prove herself once more.
“I was told: ‘We have no jobs for you on the news side, but we have a job open at the home section,’” said Schultz. “I said to [the editor], ‘The only reason you’re assigning me this is because I have breasts.’”
Schultz had a hard news — police and politics — background, so she was stunned to be given this particular beat at the Sun-Times home section. But, alas, she took the gig, eventually learning and growing in her journalism career. However, it took this episode for her to speak up and declare the need for a women’s organization.
As it turns out, there already was one in existence — the Association for Women Journalists was based in Dallas. Schultz talked to Richards, and the duo decided to pull together a few more women, join forces and deal with the issues that seemed to be plaguing them in their newsrooms.
It took five or six months to create the board of founders, but eventually, the group of five began to meet on a regular basis. They planned, they collaborated and they dreamed.
The inaugural meeting of AWJ Chicago took place on a Sunday afternoon at Northwestern University’s Evanston campus. It was November 1990, and the air was brisk. Schultz, Richards and the rest of their small group had no idea what to expect. To their surprise, 75 people came out to the loosely organized meeting. Forty of them wrote checks on the spot.
“We really, literally said we’re not sure what we’re going to do but we feel like there’s a need for this,” said Schultz, who was the first-ever president of AWJ Chicago.
“And they all pulled out their checkbooks and said, ‘Here,’” said Richards.
Today, AWJ Chicago boasts hundreds of members. Many presidents have served since Schultz, and the organization has benefited people in a menage of ways. Schultz and Richards remain thankful to those who helped AWJ Chicago get to where it is today.
“It’s always been a collective and team effort, and that’s why it’s remaining,” said Schultz. “It is about all of us working together, and that’s what has made AWJ remain vibrant.”
Huge thanks to @Susys & @CindyRichards for chatting about @AWJ_Chicago w/ me this evening!
"Cindy’s a reporter and a writer, and really in the high tier when it comes to quality reporting and writing." -- @Susys, on @CindyRichards
"We gave birth to AWJ a week before I gave birth to a child. So I always know how old this organization is." -- @CindyRichards
Blog post:
When it comes to the future of AWJ Chicago, co-founders Susy Schultz and Cindy Richards aren't worried. The group has evolved and grown with the women who've participated in it over the years, and the various presidents have left their mark on the organization -- like Amy Guth, the current president.
"[She's] been a wonderful guru in terms of making sure that the membership knows social media and corporate social media knows how to deal with branding themselves and putting themselves out there," said Schultz. "And that is something that's vital right now."
Richards couldn't agree more. For her, it's a fascinating time to be a member of an organization that promotes women as well as journalists.
"I think AWJ is still around because it's still relevant," she said. "Unfortunately, there are still issues for women in this business, and we need to support one another."
Print story:
For Cindy Richards, one of the founding members of the Chicago chapter of the Association for Women Journalists, it’s impossible to forget the organization’s birthday. As Richards tells the story, she gave birth to AWJ Chicago the week before she gave birth to a child.
“So I always know how old the organization is,” Richards said, smiling.
Susy Schultz, another founding member and one of Richards’ dearest friends, laughed. Including Richards and Schultz, there were five founders — five women who wanted to see gender equality in the media and in newsrooms across the country.
The idea to start a Chicago chapter of the organization first occurred to the founders at the Chicago Sun-Times, where Schultz and Richards met for the first time. Schultz had just returned after a year of maternity leave. After enduring taunting from her coworkers throughout her preganncy, she was eager to return to her beat and prove herself once more.
“I was told: ‘We have no jobs for you on the news side, but we have a job open at the home section,’” said Schultz. “I said to [the editor], ‘The only reason you’re assigning me this is because I have breasts.’”
Schultz had a hard news — police and politics — background, so she was stunned to be given this particular beat at the Sun-Times home section. But, alas, she took the gig, eventually learning and growing in her journalism career. However, it took this episode for her to speak up and declare the need for a women’s organization.
As it turns out, there already was one in existence — the Association for Women Journalists was based in Dallas. Schultz talked to Richards, and the duo decided to pull together a few more women, join forces and deal with the issues that seemed to be plaguing them in their newsrooms.
It took five or six months to create the board of founders, but eventually, the group of five began to meet on a regular basis. They planned, they collaborated and they dreamed.
The inaugural meeting of AWJ Chicago took place on a Sunday afternoon at Northwestern University’s Evanston campus. It was November 1990, and the air was brisk. Schultz, Richards and the rest of their small group had no idea what to expect. To their surprise, 75 people came out to the loosely organized meeting. Forty of them wrote checks on the spot.
“We really, literally said we’re not sure what we’re going to do but we feel like there’s a need for this,” said Schultz, who was the first-ever president of AWJ Chicago.
“And they all pulled out their checkbooks and said, ‘Here,’” said Richards.
Today, AWJ Chicago boasts hundreds of members. Many presidents have served since Schultz, and the organization has benefited people in a menage of ways. Schultz and Richards remain thankful to those who helped AWJ Chicago get to where it is today.
“It’s always been a collective and team effort, and that’s why it’s remaining,” said Schultz. “It is about all of us working together, and that’s what has made AWJ remain vibrant.”