Mothers Acting Up

Mothers Acting Up is a movement of mothers publicly and passionately advocating for the world’s children.  MAU inspires, educates and engages mothers* - a gigantic force to be reckoned with - to prioritize children in our corporate and public policies. MAU believes that when mothers lead, generations of global citizens will follow.

*mothers and others, on stilts or off, who exercise protective care over someone smaller

Mothers Acting Up was created by four friends who – while raising their children together – became increasingly disturbed by the choices their government was making, and how those choices were impacting the lives and future of every child on the planet.

They knew the grim statistics about children’s wellbeing around the world; it was clear that children needed many more voices speaking out on their behalf. They believed that mothers – the primary caretakers of children around the world – were potentially an incredibly powerful lobby for children, BUT often didn’t see themselves as political, or hadn’t yet seen it as their role, their job, their honor to speak out for children. Mothers Acting Up was created to invite mothers to stretch our traditional mother roles to include publicly and passionately advocating for the world’s children.

The Mother’s Acting Up movement was officially launched on Mother's Day 2002, reclaiming it as the day Julia Ward Howe originally envisioned in 1870: a day set aside for mothers to unite for

the wellbeing of our global family. After purchasing all the hot glue guns in town, the firstReclaiming Mother's Day parade was held with banners, flags and truly over-the-top hats & costumes. Over 100 people, some walking on stilts, celebrated mothers as a powerful political force to protect the rights and wellbeing of children all over the world.

Since 2002, MAU has developed 5 Principles and 4 programs all intended to inspire, educate and engage a growing movement of mothers (and others). MAU has active members in 49 states (North Dakota eludes MAU) and 23 countries who have held 60+ Mother’s Day events across the country; taken monthly actions and annual collective actions; and advocated for the world’s children through personal choices, community forums and in the offices of decision makers. MAU intends to engage a million mothers (or as many as it takes) in advocating for the world’s children, until children’s wellbeing is front-page news and our public & corporate policies are measured by how they impact children wherever they live on earth.
And the rest is history...that you, that we, are making.

Global Goods Partners (GGP) is dedicated to alleviating poverty and promoting social justice by strengthening women-led fair trade initiatives for marginalized communities in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.  A nonprofit endeavor of two mothers, GGP pursues this mission through partnering with socially responsible cooperatives worldwide and using school fundraisers in the U.S. as their primary marketplace.  They bring consumers attractive and handcrafted goods, while educating students and raising awareness of the economic, social and political challenges their partners face.

To set up a Fair Trade fundraiser for your school or nonprofit, see http://www.globalgoodspartners.org.

Every woman has a story. What’s yours?

There’s a new place where real voices rule, where women can write and publish stories about anything that matters to them. It’s called DivineCaroline.com and it’s full of words and wisdom just the way women like them – dripping with honesty. We’re talking about Parenting, Relationships, Neighborhood & World, and much more.

The DivineCaroline community is already an active one. So please come and explore our Stories, Reviews and Forums. Everyone’s welcome to browse around and read. When you’re ready to participate, it’ll just take a few seconds to register. Yes, it’s free! So if you’ve got a story to tell – and what woman doesn’t? – you’re about to find a valuable, new home online. Hope to see you soon at DivineCaroline.com