VIRGINIA BEACH BRANCH
2023-2024 PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Join our Branch meetings in person at the  Health Education Center at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, 1060 First Colonial Road, Virginia Beach 

January Branch Meeting
Date: January 20 2024 at 2pm
Speaker: James Schull,
Regional Task Force Leader for Veterans for Political Innovation
Topic: Voter Education

Veterans for Political Innovation is collaborating with UpVote Virginia to educate voters in the processes that help to make elections fair and accessible to all citizens, as well as ensure that voters understand how they can be active participants in overseeing how their elected officials govern. He will talk about the current challenges to ensuring fair elections and the efforts to bring about Ranked Choice Voting in Virginia.

December Holiday Luncheon

November Branch Meeting
Date: November 18, 2023 at 2pm
Speaker: Denise Murden
Topic: State Public Policies

Denise Murden has served as co-vice president for public policy since July 2020  She joined AAUW in 2018 and has since served as the Suffolk Branch’s program co-chair and as  the president.  She retired from federal civil service in 2016 with more than 40 years of public administration and non-profit work experience. She served as a public affairs officer, management analyst, and internal performance consultant, working assignments both in the United States and Europe for seven different federal agencies. She was a recipient of the Department of Homeland Security Secretary’s Award for her leading role in helping to improve diversity and equity in the Coast Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard’s Distinguished Career Service Award. She earned her undergraduate degree in writing and communications from the University of Pittsburgh in 1975 and a master’s degree in management from Troy University in 2010.
Denise is a patron member of The Muse Writers Center in Norfolk and has continued to participate in their workshops throughout the pandemic. She enjoys writing opinions, essays, and memoirs, and is often published in the Virginian Pilot and the Suffolk News Herald. In her free time, Denise enjoys genealogical research, photo organizing, cooking, reading, gardening, and bird feeding and watching. She is available for her friends and family, including her husband Mike, daughter Sonia, and her siblings.