Gender neutrality (adjective form: gender-neutral), also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, language, and other social institutions (social structures or gender roles) should avoid distinguishing roles according to people's sex or gender. This is in order to avoid discrimination arising from the impression that there are social roles for which one gender is more suited than another. The disparity in gender equality throughout history has had a significant impact on many aspects of society, including marketing, toys, education and parenting techniques. In order to increase gender neutrality in recent years, there has been a societal emphasis on utilizing inclusive language and advocating for equality.

In policy
Proponents of gender neutrality may support public policies designed to eliminate gender distinctions. Gender neutrality in the law has changed the nature of custody disputes, making it more likely that men will be awarded custody of their children in the event of a divorce.

The legal definition of gender has been a controversial topic to transgender people; in some countries, in order to be legally defined as a new gender, people must first undergo sex reassignment surgery resulting in sterilization.

California joined Oregon in its effort to recognize gender neutrality. On 15 October 2017, California governor Jerry Brown signed new legislation into law that allows persons the option to select gender-neutral on state identification cards. On 9 October 2021, governor Gavin Newsom signed California Assembly Bill 1084 requiring many department stores in California to maintain a gender neutral children's section.

Gender blindness

Gender blindness is the practice of not distinguishing people by gender.

Someone who is gender blind does not necessarily side with ideas of movements found within gender-related biases, though these accounts are debatable.

Gender-neutral language

Gender-neutral language, gender-inclusive language, inclusive language or gender neutrality is a form of linguistic prescriptivism that aims to eliminate (or neutralize) reference to gender in terms that describe people. This can involve discouragement of the use of gender-specific job titles, such as policeman/policewoman, fireman, stewardess, chairman, and, arguably, in favor of corresponding gender-neutral terms such as police officer, firefighter, flight attendant and chairperson (or chair). Other gender-specific terms, such as actor and actress, may be replaced by the originally male term (actor used for either gender).

The practice of gender-neutral language is highly encouraged among law students and the Supreme Court of the United States. However, research has shown that, as of 2010, only one judge on the Supreme Court consistently uses gender-neutral language.

The pronouns he  or she may be replaced with they when the gender of the person referred to is unknown. In addition, those who do not identify as either female or male may use a gender-neutral pronoun to refer to themselves or have others refer to them.

A traditional view encouraged the pronoun he to be considered neutral up until the 60s-70s, when feminist objections occurred, so people began to use "he or she" pronouns. Today, using "he or she" can be considered making assumptions about someone's gender. The pronoun they wouldn't necessarily refer to a male or female.

In 2012 a gender-neutral pronoun  was proposed in Sweden, and in 2014 it was announced that this word would be included in the following edition of the Swedish Academy Glossary. Swedish thus became the first language to have a gender-neutral pronoun added by an authoritative institution.  can be used to describe anyone regardless of their sex or gender identification. Gender-neutral pronouns that have been proposed in the United States have not had widespread use outside of LGBTQ communities.

LGBTQ activists have suggested that the pronouns "he/she and his/her linguistically enforce a normative two sex system" where one must fall into the gender binary of either male or female. There is a growing variety of several different gender-neutral pronouns. These may include sie, hir, hirs, and hirself, and also include z or p. LGBTQ activists argue that only changing pronouns to be gender-neutral for people who are "sex/gender" ambiguous creates someone "other" than the norm. A proposed solution to this issue is to move towards the use of inclusive language and gender-neutral pronouns for everyone, even when the sex of a person is known, in an effort to remove the alleged subconscious effects of language in reinforcing gender and gender stereotypes.

"Gender-neutral language" should not be confused with "genderless language", which refers to a language that does not have grammatical gender.

Relationship to feminism and masculism
Gender neutrality emphasizes the equal treatment of men and women and people of any other gender legally with no discrimination whatsoever. This goal is, in principle, shared with both feminists and masculists. However, in gender neutralism, the emphasis is on transcending the perspective of gender altogether rather than focusing on the rights of specific genders.

Relationship to transhumanism

Gender neutrality or "gender transcendence" is part of the transhumanist concept of postgenderism, which is defined as the movement to erode the cultural, biological, psychological, and social role of gender within society.

Advocates of postgenderism argue that the presence of gender roles, social stratification, and cogno-physical disparities and differences are generally to the detriment of individuals and society. Given the radical potential for advanced assistive reproductive options, postgenderists believe that sex for reproductive purposes will either become obsolete, or that all post-gendered humans will have the ability, if they so choose, to both carry a pregnancy to term and father a child, which, postgenderists believe, would have the effect of eliminating the need for definite genders in such a society.

From a transhumanist perspective, a shift in gender neutrality is seen as a direct result of the movement of postgenderism. Along with gender fluidity and postgenderism, gender neutrality would be a contributor if a movement of transhumanism were to occur. Given that an individual's phenotype serves as the primary basis for gender classification, transhumanism would erode the binary division of gender, allowing for gender neutrality within future societies.

Impact

In marketing
Marketing is often focused on targeting specific demographics and creating products focused on specific genders. Public views on gender-specific marketing have gained media attention in recent years. For example, a protest against a Bic pen "Bic for her" that was targeted towards women by the posting of thousands of fake reviews of the pen mocking its female-specific advertising.

Children's toys

In the marketing of children's toys, gender-specific marketing has been very prevalent. According to a study conducted in 2012, "children learn about the toys seen as appropriate for their gender not only from adults and children but also through the media, which serves as an important source of socialization and gender socialization." Color palettes and types of toys are gendered characteristics of the toys marketed to either boys or girls. The results of the study mentioned above, showed that "toys that were pastel colored were much more likely to be marketed as toys for 'only girls', while bold colored toys were much more likely to be marketed as toys for 'boys only'" and also found that blue was a more gender-neutral color. Action toys, like cars, weapons, and building toys are marketed toward boys, while toys that have to do with beauty and domestic work are marketed towards girls.

An additional study done in 2014 focuses on labeling of toys, "for girls" and "for boys", paired with explicit colors, pink and blue, and gender stereotypes in children. In one study, novel items were presented to children, painted different colors and labeled differently. A nutcracker was presented to the children as blue and labeled "for boys" in once instance, but to other children it was pink and labeled "for girls". The results of the studies found labeling profoundly affected the children's liking towards toys, and the other study showed that girls are more affected than boys in terms of labeling.

The "color pink did seem to give girls permission to explore masculine toys. This indicates that pink may signify that it is allowable for girls to show interest in counter-stereotypic toys and activities". This gender specific marketing/labeling exposes children to gender roles and that color can be an indicator of gender. Children "show less involvement with toys stereotypically associated with the opposite sex, and they reject such toys more than ones stereotypically associated with their own sex or neutral ones". Toys are a medium for children to form gender stereotypes. Some toys, like stuffed animals, have proven to be gender-neutral and are usually marketed to both boys and girls.

Parents also play a large role in building their children's gender socialization, as they are the ones buying the toys for their children. The popularity of making toy advertising gender neutral has been increasing through media such as ads showing boys playing with baby dolls (a toy that has commonly been marketed only towards girls in the past). At a young age for both boys and girls start to identify themselves by their gender role and are limited to what they can or can't do. Not just that, but the environment around young boys and girls also influences their behavior.

In 2019, Mattel, a company with a long brand history within gender typing (e.g. Barbie), introduced its Creatable World doll line, a new toy that is the "world's first gender neutral doll".

Fashion
In the marketing of fashion lines, some designers are beginning to design gender-neutral clothing, that is not labeled as either "men's" or "women's". In today's society gender neutrality is becoming more widely accepted. "Both males and females are now 'allowed' to wear certain clothing items once thought inappropriate for their sex". Women have more freedom because them wearing more masculine clothing, like suits, is generally accepted, but men wearing feminine clothing, like dresses, is less approved. This aspect of gender neutral clothing says "that the world according to (ruling-class) men [is] the only viable one" because most gender neutral clothing looks like typical male clothing.

In education
At Nicolaigarden and Egalia, two preschools in Sweden, have replaced the terms "girl" and "boy" with the gender neutral pronoun "hen", granting students the ability to challenge or cross gender boundaries. In a study done in 2016 that measured teachers' facilitation of gender-typed and gender-neutral activities during free play, it was concluded that teachers facilitated masculine activities at higher rates than feminine. It is suggested by the study that, "Informing teachers about this trend may prompt teachers to reflect on their own teaching practices and serve as a catalyst for the promotion of teaching practices that create classroom environments in which boys and girls receive support for engagement with a variety of classroom activities." Other suggestions and pursuits to broaden the mentality behind gender neutrality in schools include

 allowing for gender-neutral prom and homecoming attendance and courts to accommodate same-sex-coupled and transgender participants
 designating gender-neutral bathrooms and on-campus housing
 establishing gender-neutral and co-ed fraternal student organizations
 not separating toys in gender-specific areas
 not having gender-specific sports in physical education lessons

Dress code
The abolishment of certain dress codes has been conserved among institutions depending on the limitations imposed on students and their comfort in such attire. For transgender students, strict dress codes may complicate their path towards confirming their gender identity, a cost which can affect these individuals well throughout their life. Ways in which compliance with attire in institutions can cause reverberations in other areas of life are factors such as lowered academic performance, higher dropout rates, and increased disciplinary action. , 150 primary schools in the United Kingdom have introduced gender neutral uniforms and students feel more in control of their identity as a result of this policy change.

College
In 2005, University of California, Riverside became the first public university campus in the US to offer a gender-neutral housing option. A February 2014 Washington Post article noted that nearly 150 US schools now have gender-neutral housing programs. Other institutions such as University of Southern California and Princeton, acknowledge some of the dangers that come as a result to housing options as a member of the LGBTQ community and have also developed separate housing to accommodate such students.

In 2016, La Salle University students voted to have a gender-neutral housing option in their dormitories, which would make La Salle the first Catholic university in the United States to offer gender-neutral living. This student-led vote caused controversy in Catholic circles across the United States, since it is traditional for Catholic school residence halls to be completely separated by gender. La Salle University has since incorporated accommodating housing options for students and has urged other Catholic universities to make changes in housing policies as well.

A growing number of American colleges are adopting chosen name and identity policies. As of June 2022, at least 788 American colleges allow students to use a chosen first name, and at least 242 colleges allow students to designate their personal pronouns.

In parenting

Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth describes gender as "the classification of male or female that includes social, psychological, and intellectual characteristics. The theory of gender neutrality claims that biological sex does not inevitably determine social, psychological, and intellectual characteristics." Parental control strategies can be defined as any strategy that a parent uses to alter, change, or influence their child's behavior, thoughts, or feelings. Meta-analysis reveals from Endendijk, "the basis of gender-neutral parenting also known as GNP, does not project a gender onto a child. It allows parents and children to break away from gender binary."

Gender-neutral parenting is allowing children to be exposed to a variety of gender types so children can explore their gender without restriction from society or the gender they were born with. Autonomy-supportive strategies provide the child with an appropriate amount of control, a desired amount of choice, acknowledge the child's perspectives and provide the child with meaningful rationales when the choice is constrained. Even if a child does not display gender-bending behaviors, gender neutral parenting allows them to explore and not be constrained in the gender they were born with. This can be through letting them play with non-stereotypical toys for their gender, allowing them to pick their own clothing, allowing them to act more "feminine" or "masculine", and allowing children to question their gender. In the sociology book Sex Differences In Social Behavior: A Social Role Interpretation, Alice Eagly theorizes that sex differences have been proposed, based on biological factors, early childhood socialization, and other perspectives. This allows children to express themselves without feeling pressure from being extremely masculine or feminine.

Attitudes and judgement towards gender-roles and toys
Parent attitudes towards the child can influence child behaviors such as in toy selection. For example, parent, offer children toys and other objects that are gender-specific, such as trucks for boys and dolls for girls. A study done in Austria, where 324 parents participated showed that by parents' judgments about the desirability of different types of toys for their children and how the parents' judgment based on gender-typing of toys, gender role attitudes shows that parents rated same-gender-typed and gender-neutral toys as more desirable for their children than cross-gender-typed toys. This indicates that most traditional parents limit their child interests and behaviors than egalitarian parents.

In terms of education, parents' attitudes towards their child gender reflects on their expectation for the child. Because parents are still unwilling to send their daughters to the schools, there is a low participation rate of female education compared to male. Parents tend to treat their sons and daughters differently, preferring their sons over their daughters due to the gender roles society has placed, considering children as helping hands for their parents. For example, sons should provide economic support while daughters are expected to conform to the house. Although sons are still preferred, the attitudes towards neutrality have steadily increased in the past two decades. Feminist economics such as Julie A. Nelson argues that for a nonsexist society, the differences are revalued positively while others such as Patricia Elliot believes gender‐specific categories need to be eliminated to enable a positive society.

Although gender-neutral parenting allows their children to be able to decide how they experience their gender, non-gender neutral parents believe the children are programmed in from birth to play with gender directed toys, and parents had no influence towards their children selecting a gender-stereotyped toy.

Children at a young age start to develop a sense of how everyone starts to dress depending the gender of each individual. For instance, when a girl dresses in a way that contradicts societal norms, she might suffer bullying. According to Kent, Canterbury, states that among children between 3 and 7 years old, "younger girls were more motivated to dress in gender-typed ways than older girls were, and understanding of gender stability (i.e. knowledge that gender remains stable over time) predicted appearance rigidity in both boys and girls".

In children's literature
Gender neutrality in children's literature refers to the idea that publishers, writers and illustrators should avoid marketing towards children through the basis of their sex or gender, and should instead focus on expanding content rather than reinforcing social and gender roles. Gender roles and stereotypes permeate our culture and are established through a variety of means such as visual culture or daily interactions with family and peers. Gender neutrality in children's marketing is a growing movement among parents, children and publishers. Although there are many homes to gender stereotypes, the books that children are encountering have both psychological and social uses during a time when children are constantly constructing ideas from information around them and assimilating new knowledge with previous knowledge. Organizations such as Let Toys Be Toys, Let Books Be Books and Pinkstinks have been gaining publicity for their work in favour of gender neutrality within children's literature and toys.

Representations of gender within picture books

Studies at Provider-Parent Partnerships have shown that children begin forming their sense of gender identity at 2–3 years old and begin 'Gender typing' at ages 3–4. In a study surrounding Gender Perception in Adults, Dr. Kyle Pruett reported: "A defining moment came in gender difference research when a group of male babies were dressed in pink, and then handed to adults who were told they were girls. The adults responded with language and handling styles shown to be classically female-stereotypic: 'adorable, cuddly, sweet, cute,' etc. Female babies in blue were called 'slugger, tough, strong, stubborn,' etc. This is how we simply wind up reinforcing gender-stereotypic behaviors, rather than fostering individual growth and development."

The concept of a child developing their sense of self in formative years has been a topic of discussion among cultural theorists as well as in children's literature criticism. In The Pleasures of Children's Literature, Shulamith Shahar states, "Child raising practices and educational methods as well as parent-child relation are determined not solely by biological laws but are also culturally constructed".

Theorists such as Jacques Lacan and Judith Butler have contributed to this notion of the formation of an individual's subjectivity and sense of self. Lacan's concept of the mirror stage has contributed to modern understanding of subjectivity and has since been applied to Children's Literature Criticism and child development. The Mirror Stage refers to the process in which an infant recognizes itself in the mirror for the first time and, "the transformation that takes place in the subject when he assumes an image". As Hamida Bosmajian has stated in  Understanding Children's Literature, "The literary text, then, is an image of the unconscious structured like a language." Bosmajian proceeds to write, "When the [Mirror Stage] is given utterance in the reader-interpreter's language, [the meaning] is deferred."

Judith Butler's notion of gender performativity also forms correlations to gender-specific children's literature through analyzing the ways characters perform their gender and has been taken up in Children's literature criticism. Butler has defined gender performativity stating: "the production actually happens through a certain kind of repetition and recitation". Butler also relays that, "Performativity is the discursive mode by which ontological effects are installed." Although Butler's subject is the adult subject the concept of repetition transcends to themes of childhood as well. Both Butler and Lacan consider repetition as being an underlying factor in forming one's identity which can then be applied to children's literature through the act of children rereading books multiple times.

Studies in representation in children's literature
Gender imbalances have continued to appear in children's literature through the lack of diverse representations.  In the 2011 issue of Gender & Society, the study "Gender in Twentieth-Century Children's Books" discovered large disparities. Through looking at almost 6,000 children's books published between 1900 and 2000, the study, led by Janice McCabe, a professor of sociology at Florida State University, found that males are central characters in 57% of children's books published each year, with just 31% having female central characters. Male animals are central characters in 23% of books per year, the study found, while female animals star in only 7.5%. In putting forth these narrow representations of characters, it becomes difficult for a child to identify themselves within gender binaries and roles. In an earlier study in 1971, out of fifty-eight books, twenty-five had a picture of a woman somewhere in them, yet only four did not having a woman (or animal representing a woman) wearing an apron. Many parents read their own childhood favourites to their children, through an endearing plot, or through beautiful illustrations. Although the adult may recognize that the stereotypes may be outdated, the children may lack that criticality in reading these stories. Furthering this portrayal of gender in children's books the ways in which each gender is portrayed is very different. Female characters are much more likely to take on passive and supportive roles whereas male characters fulfill a self-sufficient, strong and active role. This discriminatory portrayal takes place in many children's books and runs the risk of leading children toward a misrepresented and misguided realization of their true potential in their expanding world.

Not only are these inequalities present within the books, but gender disparities also exist among those creating children's books. In the 2013 Vida: Women in Literary Arts count, male authors and illustrators drastically outnumbered those who were female (64:21).

In children's literature in the media
In March 2014, the British organization, Let Toys Be Toys, expanded to include a children's book specific category, Let Books Be Books.  This expansion specifically addressed gender specific titles on books such as The Beautiful Girl's Colouring Book and The Brilliant Boys Colouring Book and the limitations in which these titles impose upon children. As Katy Guest stated in an article for the Independent in March 2014, after Let Books Be Books launched, "What we are doing by pigeon-holing children is badly letting them down. And books, above all things, should be available to any child who is interested in them." As the organization Let Toys Be Toys states, "Just like labeling toys 'for girls' or 'for boys' these books send out very limiting messages to children about what kinds of things are appropriate for girls or for boys."

The organization quickly gained momentum and almost immediately acquired over 3000 signatures for their petition causing publishers Parragon and Usborne to lend their support and stop publishing gender specific children's books. In November 2014, publishers of Peter and Jane Books, Ladybird Books agreed to make titles gender neutral stating: "At Ladybird, we certainly don't want to be seen to be limiting children in any way."

Controversy
Publishers such as Igloo Books and Buster Books continue to publish gender-specific children's books. In an interview in March 2014 Buster Editor Michael O'Mara stated: "The proof is in the pudding. Our two best children books ever are The Boys' Book and The Girls' Book. The boys' one included things like how to make a bow and arrow and how to play certain sports and you'd get things about style and how to look cool in the girls' book. 2,000 people signed this petition [in the first day], but we sold 500,000 copies of The Girls' Book. These statistics tell me I'm going in the right direction."

In a letter in response to this interview Let Books Be Books expressed the following concerns to Michael O'Mara: "We have been contacted by many parents, teachers and supporters who have serious concerns about several of the titles currently on your website and being marketed in shops across the UK. They believe, as we do, that labeling books by gender narrows children's choices and imaginations by telling them what they 'should' be reading, instead of letting them choose books that interest them."

List of gender-neutral children's literature
Although there are many examples of gender-neutral children's literature, the following list contains a few notable examples.
 John Dough and the Cherub – L. Frank Baum
 Black Dog – Levi Pinfold
 How To – Julie Morstad
 How to Heal a Broken Wing – Bob Graham
 Little You – Richard Van Camp & ill. Julie Flett
 One Night, Far From Here – Julia Wauters
 Once Upon a Northern Night –  Jean E. Pendziwol & ill. Isabelle Arsenault
 Ruby's School Walk – Kathryn White & ill. Miriam Latimer
 Samuel's Baby – Mark Elkin & ill. Amy Wummer
 Spork – Kyo Maclear & ill. Isabelle Arsenault
 Super Daisy – Kes Gray & ill. Nick Sharratt
 The Big Brother – Stephanie Dagg & ill. Alan Clarke
 The King & the Seed – Eric Maddern & ill. Paul Hess
 The Sunflower Sword – Mark Sperring & ill. Mirian Latimer
 We Go Together!: A Curious Selection of Affectionate Verse – Calef Brown
 Wild – Emily Hughes
 Call Me Tree – Maya Christina González

Activism
In 2006 the National Student Genderblind Campaign was created as a collaborative grassroots organization intended to educate college students, administrators, and others throughout the United States. The NSGC advocates for the implementation of gender-inclusive dorm room and bathroom options.

Twin siblings Emma Moore and Abi Moore founded a campaign, Pinkstinks, in London in May 2008 to raise awareness of the damage caused by gender stereotyping of children. Pinkstinks claims that the marketing of gender-specific products to young children encourages girls to limit their ambitions later in life.

In a 2014 campaign, the United States-based grassroots group Play Unlimited announced the month-long observance of No Gender December.

In 2016, Canada came out with the "No Big Deal" campaign which is a "positive affirming response to the recent conflict around transgender peoples' pronouns." This campaign encourages people to ask what pronouns people identify as, instead of just assuming based on people's looks. It also tries to make different pronouns easier for people to understand and grasp.

Gender-neutral lawsuits

Jones v. Bon Appetit Management Company et al
In February 2014, former catering worker Valeria Jones sued employer Bon Appetit Management Co. in Oregon for US$518,000 after co-workers repeatedly referred to Jones as female. Jones did not identify as either male or female and when applying to work at Bon Appetit, purposely never filled out the male or female identification question. They repeatedly informed co-workers that they did not want to be identified using male or female gender pronouns and asked managers to address the employees as a group and educate the others about gender identity. Jones's suit states that the complaint to human resources was never resolved and the managers did not follow through per their requests, prompting their resignation.

Zzyym v. Tillerson
In September 2014, Dana Zzyym, an American U.S. Naval veteran, tried to apply for a passport. Instead of labeling their gender as male or female on the application form, they "wrote 'intersex' below the 'sex' category" and "requested 'X' as an acceptable marker." They presented a birth certificate which labels Zzyym as neither male nor female. Zzyym was born with ambiguous genitalia and identifies as intersex. The State Department declined Zzyym's application. Zzyym sued the State Department, "saying the federal government violated the Constitution's guarantees of due process rights and discriminated against Zzyym based on gender." In November 2016, the court issued the ruling in favor of Zzyym. But , the case has been reopened due to the State Department's continued refusal of a gender marker that is neither male nor female on its passport applications.

Elisa Rae Shupe
On 27 April 2016, Elisa Rae Shupe filed a petition in Multnomah County, Oregon, to no longer be designated male or female. Shupe, a retired United States Army sergeant, was born with male anatomy and lived for a time as a transgender woman. She later began to self-identify as non-binary. The Oregon state statutes had been changed in 2013 to no longer require proof of medical transition before a change in legal gender status. The statutes did not specify whether the new status had to be a binary one. Two of Shupe's doctors wrote letters for her stating that she was neither male nor female. On 10 June, Judge Amy Holmes Hehn granted Shupe's petition. The ruling was a significant advance toward government recognition of non-binary individuals. In 2019, Shupe issued a statement explaining that she now disagreed with the concept of gender identity and was returning to living as a man. However, in 2022 she published a declaration that she was a trans woman, cutting ties with gender-critical feminists and conversion therapists. Shupe also changed her name to Elisa Rae Shupe.

Criticism

Much as with similar approaches to dealing with racism and ethnicity, not recognising and taking account of participants' sex can be harmful. It posits that it functions in a post-sexism society where women are no longer treated differently than men on the basis of their sex. Meanwhile, gendered treatment prevails all over the world. Of a study of organisations which offered women-only services, 23% said that their reason was based on women's inequality and the desire to address that imbalance; 20% that women-only spaces promote female development and empowerment; 18% that they were providing a service not being met by unisex services and which focused on the specific needs of women.

Solely using "he" and "his" as gender-neutral language can lead to a lack of representation or acknowledgment of certain identities. When pronouns such as "he" or "his" are used to refer to gender-neutral persons, there is a subconscious "sex bias" towards males over females, despite the subject being gender neutral. In sports, a 1993 study concluded that more gender references are made to women's versus men's sports, distinguishing female sports as "other". However, the same study pointed out that having a gender-neutral sports environment could lead to a near complete lack of acknowledgement of women's sports/teams.

The legal test of the "reasonable person" has been criticized for being genderblind in some areas of the law, particularly sexual harassment. In the American case of Ellison v. Brady, 924 F.2d 872 (1991), the court held that "a sex-blind reasonable person standard tends to be male-based and tends to systematically ignore the experiences of women". In The Hidden Gender of Law, Regina Graycar and Jenny Morgan argued that gender-neutral rape statutes can imply that men and women are perpetrators and victims of sexual violence at similar rates, which is not accurate.

Studies indicate a broad support for single-sex service options to remain available. Of 1000 women polled by the Women's Resource Centre, 97% stated that women should have the option of accessing female-only services if they were victims of sexual assault. 57% indicated that they would choose a women-only gym over a mixed gym. Single-sex services can have a benefit in providing greater comfort and engaging participants who would otherwise not get involved. The ridding of all sex-separated restrooms could forfeit the feelings of having a safe bathroom space for some people by replacing them with restrooms for all genders/identities.

Gender-neutral laws have had unintended consequences. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 entitles certain employees a 12-week unpaid leave from work without a risk of job loss and applies to all genders. The employees must qualify for this leave by having been employed for over 12 months and be applying for leave due to a "serious health condition", pregnancy, or adoption. Despite FMLA's gender-neutral language, there are concerns about the law reinforcing gender disparity involving childcare between males and females; since FMLA remains gender neutral, it does not recognize the burden of females during pregnancy that males do not experience. Women with children in the workplace are not given as much attention or resources as is needed for their female-specific, personal/at-home issues, reinforcing the gender disparity despite the law's need to be gender neutral.

According to Lauren Spinner, "Portrayals of boys tend to emphasize masculine gender roles and stereotypically masculine play and toys, whereas portrayals of girls tend to emphasize feminine gender roles and stereotypically feminine play and toys".

See also

 Androgyny
 Epicenity
 Gender binary
 Gender-blind
 Gender equality
 Gender-specific and gender-neutral pronouns
 Non-binary
 Pansexuality
 Political correctness
 Sex and gender distinction
 Transgender
 Unisex
 Unisex public toilet

References

Further reading

 Dragseth, Jennifer Hockenbery.  2015  Thinking Woman: A Philosophical Approach to the Quandary of Gender. Cascade.

Androgyny
Feminist terminology
Feminism
Gender equality

Gender neutrality


Farshad Bashir (born 14 January 1988 in Kabul) is a Dutch politician of Afghan descent. As a member of the Socialist Party (Socialistische Partij) he was an MP from 15 January 2008 to 23 March 2017. He focused on matters of taxation, traffic and water management.

Biography
His father was a journalist in the daily Anis during the communist régime. After the take-over of the major part of Afghanistan by the Taliban in 1996, he fled with his family to Tajikistan and thereafter to the Netherlands in 1997, where they were granted asylum. He went to live in Mantgum, which is a village in the province of Friesland.

On 10 July 2002, he became a member of the Socialist Party and of its youth organisation ROOD. On 16 March 2006 he was elected into the municipal council of Leeuwarden. He was a councillor until 28 January 2008. In the same month he became a member of the Dutch House of Representatives, succeeding Rosita van Gijlswijk, thus becoming the youngest Dutch MP ever.

His term in the House ended on 23 March 2017.

Bashir stated that he would refuse to swear an oath of loyalty to the soon-to-be-crowned Prince of Orange, Willem Alexander. Bashir is a republican and is against the Dutch monarchy.

Bashir studied mathematics and physics at the University of Groningen (BSc) and tax law at Leiden University.

References

External links

  House of Representatives biography
  Parlement.com biography

1988 births
Living people
Afghan emigrants to the Netherlands
Dutch republicans
Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands)
Municipal councillors of Leeuwarden
People from Kabul
People from Littenseradiel
Socialist Party (Netherlands) politicians
University of Groningen alumni
21st-century Dutch politicians

Farshad Bashir


Asilomar State Beach, officially Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds State Park, is a state park unit of California, United States. It provides public access to rocky coast and dune habitat on the Monterey Peninsula. The property includes the Asilomar Conference Grounds, a conference center built by the YWCA in 1913 that is now a National Historic Landmark. The  site is located in Pacific Grove and offers overnight lodging and views of the forest, surf and sand.

Asilomar (meaning "Asylum or refuge by the sea" and pronounced a-SIL-o-mar) is a combination of two Spanish words: "asilo" and "mar". It is part of the native homeland of the Rumsen Ohlone people.

Description

Beach area

The beach area is a narrow,  strip of sandy beach and rocky coves.  A  trail, which runs through the dunes, is open to pedestrians. This trail is wheelchair-accessible, and a beach wheelchair is available at the Conference Grounds front desk, located inside the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Social Hall.  Bicycling is allowed on the paved bike lane along the road, running parallel to the Coast Trail.  The ocean off shore is protected as the Asilomar State Marine Reserve, part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.  The rocky coves are home to thousands of species, some of which are unique to the bay. As a sanctuary, it is illegal to disturb biota, i.e., collection and removal of shells and/or live specimens.

Asilomar Conference Grounds

Asilomar State Beach incorporates Asilomar Conference Grounds, designed in the Arts & Crafts style by architect Julia Morgan.  The facility was built in 1913 as a conference center and summer camp for the YWCA.  Morgan designed and built 16 buildings on the property, of which 13 are still standing.  The retreat was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987 for its role in the development of the YWCA and the resort nature of nearby Monterey, California.

Recreation
The water in the vicinity of Asilomar State Beach is known for rip tides and unpredictable surf. The water is cold compared to other beaches in the Monterey area, due to its exposure to the open ocean and the upwelling of cold water from nearby Monterey Canyon, which funnels the icy water right to shore at this location. Despite the cold water the area is popular with surfers and visitors from around the world.

The beach does not feature a bathroom facility. Bathrooms available to the public are located at the Asilomar Conference Grounds inside the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Social Hall.

In popular culture
The 2009 film The Shift by self-help advocate Wayne Dyer was shot at Asilomar Beach and Conference Grounds.

See also
 List of beaches in California
 List of California state parks
List of California State Beaches

References

External links

Asilomar State Beach

California State Beaches
Beaches of Monterey County, California
Parks in Monterey County, California
Monterey Bay
Pacific Grove, California
Julia Morgan buildings
Protected areas established in 1951
1951 establishments in California
Beaches of Northern California

Asilomar State Beach


On Contradiction () is a 1937 essay by the Chinese Communist revolutionary Mao Zedong. Along with On Practice, it forms the philosophical underpinnings of the political ideology that would later become Maoism. It was written in August 1937, as an interpretation of the philosophy of dialectical materialism, while Mao was at his guerrilla base in Yan'an. Mao suggests that all movement and life is a result of contradiction. Mao separates his paper into different sections: the two world outlooks, the universality of contradiction, the particularity of contradiction, the principal contradiction and principal aspect of contradiction, the identity and struggle of aspects of contradiction, the place of antagonism in contradiction, and finally the conclusion. Mao further develops the theme laid out in On Contradiction in his 1957 speech On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People.

Mao describes existence as being made up of constant transformation and contradiction. Nothing is constant as in metaphysics and can only exist based on opposing contradictions. He uses the concept of contradiction to explain different Chinese historical time periods and social events. Mao's form of talking about contradiction creates a modified concept that brought forth the ideal of Chinese Marxism. This text continues to influence and educate Chinese Marxists.

Historical background
Mao initially held views similar to a reformist or nationalist. He later said that he became a Marxist in 1919 when he took a second trip to Peking, although he had not declared his new belief at that time. In 1920, he met Chen Duxiu in Shanghai and discussed the Marxist philosophy. Mao finally officially moved toward his new ideology when the Movement of Self-Government of Hunan failed. He found a more reasonable approach to fixing society's problems in Marxism. He once said, "Class struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated." He understood the need for Marxist ideas and struggles in order to more effectively take on the developing world.

Like On Contradiction, On Practice was written by Mao during the Yan'an Period. Some of the points made in "On Contradiction" were drawn and expanded from lecture notes that Mao presented in 1937 at the Counter-Japanese University in Yan'an. The paper generated much controversy and debate, and some thought that Mao had not written the paper at all. Mao's research was concentrated on pieces from Chinese Marxist philosophers. The most influential philosopher that Mao studied was Ai Siqi. Mao not only read Ai's works but also knew him personally. Mao studied Marxism diligently in the year before he wrote his "Lecture Notes on Dialectical Materialism." He reviewed and annotated the Soviet Union's New Philosophy in order to actively understand the dialectical materialism concept.

Basics of Contradiction and its History
In dialectical materialism, contradiction, as derived by Karl Marx, usually refers to an opposition of social forces. This concept is one of the three main points of Marxism. Mao held that capitalism is internally contradictory because different social classes have conflicting collective goals. These contradictions stem from the social structure of society and inherently lead to class conflict, economic crisis, and eventually revolution, the existing order's overthrow and the formerly oppressed classes' ascension to political power. "The dialectic asserts that nothing is permanent and all things perish in time."  Dialectics is the "logic of change" and can explain the concepts of evolution and transformation. Materialism refers to the existence of only one world. It also verifies that things can exist without the mind. Things existed well before humans had knowledge of them. For materialists, consciousness is the mind and it exists within the body rather than apart from it. All things are made of matter. Dialectical materialism combines the two concepts into an important Marxist ideal. Mao saw dialectics as the study of contradiction based on a statement made by Lenin.

The Two World Outlooks
The two opposing world outlooks, as defined by Mao, are the metaphysical and dialectical concepts. For a long time the metaphysical view was held by both Chinese and Europeans. Eventually in Europe, the proletariat developed the dialectical materialistic outlook, and the bourgeoisie opposed the view. Mao refers to the metaphysicians as "vulgar evolutionists." They believe in a static and unchanging world where things repeat themselves rather than changing with history. It cannot explain change and development over time. In dialectics, things are understood by their internal change and relationship with other objects. Contradiction within an object fuels its development and evolution. Hegel developed a dialectical idealism before Marx and Engels combined dialectics with materialism, and Lenin and Stalin further developed it. With dialectical materialism we can look at the concrete differences between objects and further understand their growth.

The Universality of Contradiction
The "absoluteness of contradiction has a twofold meaning. One is that contradiction exists in the process of development of all things, and the other is that in the process of development of each thing a movement of opposites exists from beginning to end." Contradiction is the basis of life and drives it forward. No one phenomenon can exist without its contradictory opposite, such as victory and defeat. "Unity of opposites" allows for a balance of contradiction. A most basic example of the cycle of contradiction is life and death. There are contradictions that can be found in mechanics, math, science, social life, etc. Deborin claims that there is only difference found in the world. Mao combats this saying that difference is made up of contradiction and is contradiction. "No society—past, present, or future—could escape contradictions, for this was a characteristic of all matter in the universe."

The Particularity of Contradiction
Mao finds the best way to talk about the relativity of contradiction is to look at it in several different parts. "The contradiction in each form of motion of matter has its particularity." This contradiction is the essence of a thing. When one can identify the particular essence, one can understand the object. These particular contradictions also differentiate one object from another. Knowledge is developed from cognition that can move from general to particular or particular to general. When old processes change, new processes and contradictions emerge. Each contradiction has its own way of being solved, and the resolution must be found accordingly to the particular contradiction. Particular contradictions also have particular aspects that have specific ways of being handled. Mao believes that one must look at things objectively when reviewing a conflict. When one is biased and subjective, he or she cannot fully understand the contradictions and aspects of an object. This is the way people should go about "studying the particularity of any kind of contradiction – the contradiction in each form of motion of matter, the contradiction in each of its processes of development, the two aspects of that contradiction in each process, the contradiction at each stage of a process, and the two aspects of the contradiction at each stage." Universality and particularity of a contradiction can be viewed as general and individual character of a contradiction. These two concepts depend on each other for existence. Mao says the idea of these two characters is necessary in understanding dialectics.

The Principal Contradiction and Principal Aspect of Contradiction
This subject focuses on the concept of one contradiction allowing other contradictions to exist. For example, in a capitalist society, the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie allow the other contradictions, such as the one between imperialists and their colonies. There is always only one principal contradiction; however, the contradictions can trade places of importance. When looking at numerous contradictions, one must understand which contradiction is superior. One must also remember the principal and non-principal contradictions are not static and will, over time, transform into one another.  This also causes a transformation of the nature of the thing, for the principal contradiction is what primarily defines the thing.  These two different contradictions prove that nothing is created equally by showing the lack of balance that allows one contradiction to be superior to another. Mao uses examples in Chinese history and society to symbolize the concept of a principal contradiction and its continual changing. "Neither imperialist oppression of the colonies nor the fate of the colonies to suffer under that oppression can last forever." Based on the idea of contradiction, one day, the oppression will end and the colonies will gain power and freedom.

The Identity and Struggle of Aspects of Contradiction
Mao defines identity as two different thoughts: the two aspects of contradiction coexist and aspects can transform into one another. Any one aspect is dependent on the existence of at least one other aspect. Without death, there could be no life; without unhappiness, there could be no joy. Mao finds the more important point to also be a factor of identity; contradictions can transform into one another. In certain situations and under certain conditions, the contradictions coexist and change into one another. Identity both separates the contradictions and allows for the struggle between the contradictions; the identity is the contradiction.  The two contradictions in an object inspire two forms of movement, relative rest and conspicuous change. Initially, an objective changes quantitatively and seems to be at rest. Eventually, the culmination of the changes from the initial movement causes the object to seem to be conspicuously changing. Objects are constantly going through this process of motion; however, struggle between opposites happens in both states and is only solved in the second.  Transformation is motivated by the unity between contradictions. Particular condition of movement and the general condition of movement both are conditions under which contradictions can move. This movement is absolute and considered a struggle.

The Place of Antagonism in Contradiction
Antagonistic contradiction () is the impossibility of compromise between different social classes. The term is usually attributed to Vladimir Lenin, although he may never have actually used the term in any of his written works. The term is most often applied in Maoist theory, which holds that differences between the two primary classes, the working class/proletariat and the bourgeoisie are so great that there is no way to bring about a reconciliation of their views. Because the groups involved have diametrically opposed concerns, their objectives are so dissimilar and contradictory that no mutually acceptable resolution can be found. Non-antagonistic contradictions may be resolved through mere debate, but antagonistic contradictions can only be resolved through struggle. In Maoism, the antagonistic contradiction was usually that between the peasantry and the landowning class. Mao Zedong expressed his views on the policy in his famous February 1957 speech On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People.  Mao focuses on antagonistic contradiction as the "struggle of opposites." It is an absolute and universal concept. When one tries to solve the conflict of antagonistic contradictions, one must find his solution based on each situation. As in any other concept, there are two sides. There can be antagonistic contradictions and non-antagonistic contradictions. Contradiction and antagonism are not equals and one can exist without the other. Also, contradictions do not have to develop into antagonistic ones. An example of antagonism and non-antagonism can be found in two opposing states. They may continually struggle and disagree due to their opposite ideologies, but they will not always be at war against one another. Avoiding antagonism requires an open space to allow the contradictions to emerge and be solved objectively. The non-antagonistic contradictions "exist among 'the people'," and the antagonistic contradictions are "between the enemy and the people."

Conclusion
In the conclusion, Mao sums up all the points that were made in his essay. The law of contradictions is a fundamental basis for dialectical materialistic thought. Contradiction is present in all things and allows all objects to exist. Contradiction depends on other contradictions to exist and can transform itself into another contradiction. Contradictions are separated by superiority and can sometimes have antagonistic relationships with one another. Each contradiction is particular to certain objects and gives objects identity. Understanding all of Mao's points will give one an understanding of this dense topic of Marxist thought.

Influence
On Contradiction, along with Mao's text On Practice, elevated Mao's reputation as a Marxist theoretician. After Mao was celebrated in the Eastern Bloc following China's intervention in the Korean War, both texts became widely read in the USSR.

In April 1960, Petroleum Minister Yu Qiuli stated that On Contradiction (along with On Practice) would be the ideological core of the campaign to develop the Daqing oil field in northeast China. Yu's efforts to mobilize workers in Daqing focused on ideological motivation rather than material incentives. The Ministry of the Petroleum Industry shipped thousands of copies of the texts by plane so that every Daqing oil worker would have copies and for work units to each set up their own study groups.  The successful completion of Daqing despite harsh weather conditions and supply limitations became a model held up by the Communist Party as an example during subsequent industrialization campaigns.

Quotes
"Man's knowledge of matter is knowledge of its forms of motion, because there is nothing in this world except matter in motion and this motion must assume certain forms."

References

External links

 On Contradiction on the Marxists Internet Archive
 On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People on the Marxists Internet Archive

Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party
Works by Mao Zedong

On Contradiction


A pressure suit is an environmental suit worn when atmospheric pressure gets too low or too high to be survivable without. The minimum survivable pressure corresponds with an altitude of 15,000 meters above the surface of Earth, where the pressure dips to 102 millibars. Pressure suits must thus be worn by pilots who fly at high altitudes, unless the cabin of the airplane is pressurized. There's partial pressure suits and full pressure suits spacesuits are examples of the latter.

Conversely, a hard diving suit protects against the extreme pressures deep below the surface of the ocean (below around 400 metres).

Environmental suits

Pressure suit


Mick Thompson is an American banker and politician from Oklahoma who is serving as the State Banking Commissioner for the State of Oklahoma. Thompson was initially appointed by Governor of Oklahoma David Walters in 1992, and reappointed by Governor Frank Keating in 1996 and 2000. Governor Brad Henry reappointed Thompson in 2004 and 2008. In 2012, Thompson was reappointed by Governor Mary Fallin.

Early life and career
Thompson earned his bachelor's degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, his master's from Northeastern State University and also holds a graduate degree in banking from the University of Colorado at Boulder. After finishing his education, Thompson joined the Central National Bank in Poteau, Oklahoma, eventually serving as that bank's executive vice president from 1977 to 1990.

State representative
In 1976, Thompson was elected as a Democrat to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. During his tenure as a State Representative, Thompson would chair the House Banking and Finance Committee and even serve as the House's Majority Floor Leader from 1983 to 1984, the House's third highest position. Under Thompson's tenure as chair of the banking committee, the Oklahoma Legislature enacted Oklahoma's first branch banking and multi-bank holding company laws.

After leaving the Legislature, Thompson became the President of the Oklahoma Community Banking Association from 1988 to 1990.

State Banking Department
Following the election of Democrat David Walters as Governor of Oklahoma in 1991, Thompson served as Governor Walter's Director of Communications. In September 1992, Walters appointed Thompson to serve as the Oklahoma State Banking Commissioner. As Banking Commissioner, Thompson is responsible for overseeing the State Banking Department, chairing the State Banking Board, and regulating the financial services industry in Oklahoma.

Frank Keating, Walter's successor as governor, reappointed Thompson in 1996 and 2000. Brad Henry, Keating's successor, reappointed Thompson in 2004 and 2008. Henry's successor, Governor Mary Fallin, reappointed Thompson in 2012.

Personal life
Thompson resides in Edmond, Oklahoma.

References

Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Southeastern Oklahoma State University alumni
Northeastern State University alumni
University of Colorado alumni
People from Poteau, Oklahoma
People from Edmond, Oklahoma
American bankers
Heads of Oklahoma state agencies
Democratic Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives

Mick Thompson


Shinyei Nakamine (January 21, 1920-June 2, 1944) was a United States Army soldier. He received the Medal of Honor because of his actions in World War II.

Early life
Nakamine was born in Hawaii to Japanese immigrant parents. He is a Nisei, which means that he is a second generation Japanese-American.

Soldier
One month before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Nakamine joined the US Army in November 1941.

Nakamine volunteered to be part of the all-Nisei 100th Infantry Battalion.  This army unit was mostly made up of Japanese Americans from Hawaii and the mainland.

For his actions in June 1944, Nakamine  was awarded the Army's second-highest decoration, the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC).  In the 1990s, there was a review of service records of Asian Americans who received the DSC during World War II.  Nakamine's award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. In a ceremony at the White House on June 21, 2000, his family was presented with his medal by President Bill Clinton. Twenty-one other Asian Americans also received the medal during the ceremony, but only seven of them were still alive.

Medal of Honor citation
Nakamine's Medal of Honor recognized his conduct in frontline fighting in central Italy in 1944. Without help from others, he destroyed a machine gun nest and led attacks on two other machine gun nests.

The words of Nakamine's citation explain:
Private Shinyei Nakamine distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 2 June 1944, near La Torreto, Italy. During an attack, Private Nakamine's platoon became pinned down by intense machine gun crossfire from a small knoll 200 yards to the front. On his own initiative, Private Nakamine crawled toward one of the hostile weapons. Reaching a point 25 yards from the enemy, he charged the machine gun nest, firing his submachine gun, and killed three enemy soldiers and captured two. Later that afternoon, Private Nakamine discovered an enemy soldier on the right flank of his platoon's position. Crawling 25 yards from his position, Private Nakamine opened fire and killed the soldier. Then, seeing a machine gun nest to his front approximately 75 yards away, he returned to his platoon and led an automatic rifle team toward the enemy. Under covering fire from his team, Private Nakamine crawled to a point 25 yards from the nest and threw hand grenades at the enemy soldiers, wounding one and capturing four. Spotting another machine gun nest 100 yards to his right flank, he led the automatic rifle team toward the hostile position but was killed by a burst of machine gun fire. Private Nakamine's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.

Related pages
 List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II
 List of Asian American Medal of Honor recipients
 Posthumous recognition

References

Other websites
 "Army Secretary Lionizes 22 World War II Heroes" at Defense.gov

1920 births
1944 deaths
Military people from Hawaii
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
American people of World War II

Shinyei Nakamine


A kennel club is usually a gathering of dog breeders, discussing things relevant for breeding of dogs. They became popular in the mid 1800s. They keep up breed standards (what they think the breed should be similar to) and make the rules for dog shows, and occasionally training programs (where the dog is trained to do a certain thing).

Examples of kennel clubs include the American Kennel Club (or AKC), the Australian National Kennel Council, Canadian Kennel Club, (CKC), and The Kennel Club (United Kingdom).

There are a large selection of types of kennel clubs. They can be "all-breed clubs", (where there are a list of dogs they have decided to recognize), or a breed club which simply handles one breed.

Sometimes, a kennel club is only concerned with one race of dogs.

Dogs
Animal organizations

Kennel club


Keiko Cecilia Bonk (born 1954) is an American artist, musician and former  politician from Hawaii. Bonk co-founded the Hawaii Green Party and was the first person in North America elected to a partisan level office as a member of the Green Party of the United States. In the US most local elected offices are nonpartisan, meaning the candidate is not running as a member of a political party. State and federal offices are partisan, meaning that the candidates represent political parties.  In Hawaii local government, such as county government, it was formerly necessary to declare your political party. Other people who called themselves "Greens" had been elected to local government offices in the United States prior to Keiko Bonk, but they were  not representing a legally established political party.  In the United States, it is very difficult to win an election in a partisan race if the candidate does not run as a Democrat or Republican. Keiko Bonk was the first person in the United States to run as a representative of the Green Party and beat a Republican and Democrat.

Life
Born July 13, 1954 in Honolulu, her mother was Fumie Matsuoka and her father was William Bonk. Bill was a professor at the University of Hawaii.  He was an anthropologist/archeologist who studied Native Hawaiian.  He worked with Kenneth Emory to date the first arrival of people to the Hawaiian islands.  Fumie was a public school teacher and ceramicist.  Bill and Fumie were both stalwart figures in the progressive wing of the Hawaii Democratic Party, working for decades to elect many of the states most prominent politicians.

Keiko grew up making art with her mother, working on archeological digs with her father, and participating in electoral politics with both. When Keiko co-founded the Hawaii Green Party with University of Hawaii professor, Ira Rhoter, and decided to run for office herself, the more conservative members of Hawaii's Democratic Party saw the Green Party as a threat to the Democratic Party, and organized to defeat Keiko.  Her father, who worked for the Democratic Governor as the Director of the Office of Culture and Historic Preservation, publicly resigned his position, quit the Democratic Party, and joined the Green party to support his daughter's political career.

Bonk attended Hilo High School on the Island of Hawaii and graduated in 1972.  She then attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where she obtained a bachelor of fine arts degree in 1976.  Bonk went on to achieve a master of fine arts degree from Hunter College in New York City in 1982.

Art
Bonk's first career was as a painter and musician in New York. She sang in the bands "His Masters Voice," and "Cosmic Oven," in the 1980s.

After returning to her home in Hawaii, Bonk continued to play original music and paint. Her first band was the Monkey Wrench Gang.  She then formed a new band called "Kazan", and released a CD called "Save the World" in 2007.

Keiko had a show of her paintings at the Honolulu Academy of Art in 2009. She then spent 15 years caring for her parents and other elderly family members.  Her mother Fumie was the last, and passed died in 2019.

Politics
Bonk made her national political reputation as an elected official by becoming the first person in North America elected to a partisan level office as a member of the Green Party. She was one of the co-founders of the Green Party in Hawaii.  She was elected to two terms on the Hawaii County Council from 1992 to 1996, and as chair of the council from 1995 to 1996. In 1996 and 2000 she ran for mayor.  In 1996 she was narrowly defeated by the Democratic incumbent, Stephen K. Yamashiro. In 2000 she was defeated by Harry Kim, who ran as a Republican. Bonk worked building the Green Party, and spoke in support of Ralph Nader as the presidential nominee of the Green Party in 1996.

After leaving office Bonk taught art at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.  She moved to Honolulu with her second husband, Michael Christopher, when he returned to school to pursue a second doctoral degree.  Christopher holds doctorates in sociology and clinical psychology, and has been her political partner even before they married in 1998.  She met Christopher after he heard of her electoral success.  She put him on the county payroll even as she began an affair with him. This led to cries of impropriety. Comments still abound that he is the power behind her.

After moving to Honolulu, Bonk was chosen as Executive Director of the Japanese Cultural Center in Honolulu in 2003. She was fired in February 2005 by its board of directors citing "philosophical differences".

Bonk went on to become the campaign coordinator of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Network. She promoted Congress' investigation into corruption in Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council, the government advisory council responsible for management of the pacific fishery. Bonk worked as the Executive Director of the Hawaii branch of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI).

In 2012 Keiko Bonk was nominated as the Green Party candidate for Hawaii House of Representatives, 20th district. The incumbent in that district, Democrat Calvin Say, was easily reelected.

References

1954 births
Living people
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American women politicians
21st-century American women politicians
Women in Hawaii politics
Hawaii County Council members
People from Hilo, Hawaii
Musicians from Honolulu
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
Hawaii politicians of Japanese descent
American women of Japanese descent in politics
Artists from Honolulu
Hunter College alumni
Hawaii Greens

Keiko Bonk


Justine Cathrine Rosenkrantz (1659 – 1 August 1746) was a Dano–Norwegian noblewoman, courtier and spy.

Rosenkrantz was the daughter of baron Ludvig Rosenkrantz and Karen Mowat. Between 1680 and 1699, she was lady-in-waiting to Christian V's queen consort, Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel. She was placed in her position by the queen's enemies to spy on the queen; officially to place a Lutheran in the queen's circle, which was otherwise dominated by people of the reformed faith. Rosenkrantz was described as unattractive but very skillful in the art of handling the plots of the royal court and an excellent informer and held a powerful position at court—it was also noted that she was rude and a torment to the queen. She fell from her position after a great scandal in 1699, when she poisoned the soup of her colleague Anna Emilie von Dalwig, who was her rival over her love interest Emanuel Friedrich von Kötzschau: Dalwig survived the poisoning, but Rosenkrantz was sentenced to death for attempted murder on 17 April 1699, which was commuted to exile in Rønne.

References
 Rosenkrantz, Justine Cathrine i Carl Frederik Bricka, Dansk biografisk Lexikon (första utgåvan, 1900)

1659 births
1746 deaths
17th-century spies
Danish ladies-in-waiting
17th-century Danish nobility
18th-century Danish nobility
17th-century Norwegian nobility
18th-century Norwegian nobility
Poisoners
Rosenkrantz family

Justine Cathrine Rosenkrantz


Sepp Kusstatscher (born 17 March 1947 in Villanders) is an Italian politician and former Member of the European Parliament for North-East with the Federation of the Greens, part of the European Greens and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. Furthermore, he is speaker of the Green Party of South Tyrol.

He was a substitute for the Committee on Transport and Tourism, a member of the Delegation to the EU-Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee and a substitute for the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

Education
 1974: Master of Theology
 1977: Teaching certificate (vocational schools)
 1974–1979: Teacher at various schools
 1979–1986: Director of the Brixen vocational school for trade, commerce and industry
 1986–2001: Hotel and catering section
 2001–2003: Training officer for vocational teachers in the province of South Tyrol

Political career
 1973–1974: Chairman of the South Tyrol Students' Union
 1974–1985: Mayor of Villanders
 1983–1988: Chairman of the Lower Eisack Valley Water Treatment Association
 1984–2004: Chairman of the Villanders Education Committee
 1988–1993: Member (SVP), Provincial Council of South Tyrol and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Regional Council, Chairman of the First Legislative Commission
 1989–1994: Chairman of the social affairs committees, South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)
 2003–2004: Member Green Party of South Tyrol, Provincial Council of South Tyrol and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Regional Council
 2004–2009 Member of the European Parliament
 2009– Chairman of the Green Party of South Tyrol

See also
 2004 European Parliament election in Italy

External links

1947 births
Living people
Federation of the Greens MEPs
Politicians of South Tyrol
People from Villanders

Sepp Kusstatscher


Joseph "Jack" Buren Cassel II (born August 8, 1980) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres and Houston Astros organizations. He retired from professional baseball in 2010 after suffering a career ending shoulder injury. He now runs the Listings and Capital Markets group for Nasdaq. In addition, he is a co-founder and board member of Players for the Planet, a non-profit organization that utilizes professional athletes to promote and inspire environmental awareness.

Major League Baseball career
Cassel made his Major League Baseball debut with the San Diego Padres on August 10,  in Cincinnati against the Reds. He struck out the first batter he faced, Alex Gonzalez, and surrendered his first hit to Ken Griffey Jr. He was sent back down the next day however, after he gave up 2 runs in 3 innings in his debut. On August 31, Cassel returned to the Major League club and made his first MLB start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cassel pitched 5 innings, gave up 3 runs on 10 hits with 5 strikeouts, and was awarded a no decision. He earned his first Major League win on September 17, 2007, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates by pitching 6 scoreless innings. Cassel got his first hit against Milwaukee Brewer's right hander, Yovani Gallardo on an infield single.

Cassel was not offered a new contract by the Padres and became a free agent on December 12, 2007. He signed with the Houston Astros shortly afterwards and competed for a spot in the starting rotation in spring training, but began the year in the minor leagues. Cassel was promoted shortly after and earned his first win of 2008 beating the Cincinnati Reds. A free agent at the end of the season, he signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians in January . Cassel's 2009 season was shortened with a shoulder injury.

Cassel also pitched in the Caribbean Winter Leagues. In 2006, he pitched for the Atenienses de Manatí in Puerto Rico. He was elected to Puerto Rican All Star Game and led the league with the lowest ERA (1.89). In 2009–10, he pitched for the Águilas Cibaeñas in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Following the regular season, he was traded to the Toros del Este in La Romana, Dominican Republic for the playoffs. The team lost in the championship to the Gigantes del Cibao.

Minor League Baseball career
Drafted in the 25th round by the San Diego Padres, Cassel signed a minor league contract June 21, , he served mainly as a reliever in the minor leagues until . Cassel pitched for the Idaho Falls Padres, Fort Wayne Wizards, Lake Elsinore Storm, Mobile BayBears and Portland Beavers during his minor league career in the San Diego Padres organization. In 2003, he was awarded the Lake Elsinore Storm Pitcher of the Year. In 2005, he pitched for the Peoria Javalinas in the Arizona Fall League. In 2007, he represented the Portland Beavers at the Pacific Coast League Allstar Game in Albuquerque, New Mexico. On April 19, 2009, Jack earned the very first Win in the new Huntington Park in Columbus, OH as a pitcher for the Columbus Clippers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.

Jack hosted a variety of radio shows throughout his time in the minor leagues. During the 2005 - 2007 seasons, he hosted the Toyota Pre-Game Show with Rich Burke on the weekends in Portland, OR.

College
Cassel attended Loyola Marymount University after graduating from John F. Kennedy High School in 1998, where he received All-State Honors in baseball. On February 9, 2008, Cassel's #14 jersey was retired by longtime coach, Manny Alvarado, and the John F. Kennedy Baseball program.

Cassel received his Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California.

Personal life
Jack's younger brother, Matt Cassel, is a former journeyman American football quarterback who notably played with the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs. His other younger brother, Justin Cassel, was a minor league baseball player in the farm system of the Chicago White Sox and won a silver medal for Team USA. Cassel's wife, Julie Mariani Cassel, is also a former athlete. She was a Captain and Defensive Specialist on the 2002 NCAA Championship USC Women's Volleyball team.

In a strange coincidence on September 7, 2008, Jack replaced injured teammate Wandy Rodriguez in the first inning at Colorado only hours after his brother Matt replaced injured teammate Tom Brady in the first quarter of the season-opening game vs Kansas City. They were the first pair of brothers to win games in two different major sports on the same day.

In 1999, Cassel's brother, Justin Cassel, was on the HBO reality television show Freshman Year.

In 2007, Cassel's mother, Barbara Brennan Cassel, won a Television Emmy Award for her work as a Set Decorator on Tony Bennett: An American Classic.

In 2008, Cassel's father, Gregory Cassel, died suddenly at his home in California. He was an actor and screenplay writer.

Cassel's grandfather, Joe B Cassel, was inducted into the Racing Tent Hall of Fame for the IAHA in 1996 and was inducted into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2002. He was the recipient of the Arabian Lifetime Breeders Award in 2001.

Community
Cassel and fellow baseball player Chris Dickerson are the founders of Players for the Planet, a charitable organization that brings professional athletes together to inspire communities to build awareness of the growing environmental crisis. Several athletes including Jay Bruce, Ryan Braun, Matt Cassel, Curtis Granderson are on board to spread the awareness.

On July 19, 2012, Jack Cassel was invited to the White House in Washington D.C for the "White House Sports and Sustainability Forum"

References

External links

1980 births
Living people
Baseball players from Los Angeles
San Diego Padres players
Houston Astros players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Columbus Clippers players
Idaho Falls Padres players
Fort Wayne Wizards players
Lake Elsinore Storm players
Portland Beavers players
Round Rock Express players
LAPC Brahma Bulls baseball players
Loyola Marymount Lions baseball players
Peoria Javelinas players

Jack Cassel


The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California, USA, is one of two locations of the J. Paul Getty Museum. The Getty Villa is an educational center and museum that covers the arts and cultures of Ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria. The collection has 44,000 Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities dating from 6,500 BC to 400 AD. The UCLA/Getty Master's Program in Archaeological and Ethnographic Conservation is here. The online GettyGuide as well as through audio tours tell about the items owned by the museum.

Collection

The collection has 44,000 Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities dating from 6,500 BC to 400 AD.  Among the outstanding items is Victorious Youth, one of few life-size Greek bronze statues to have survived to modern times. The Lansdowne Heracles is a Roman sculpture that was probably copied from an older Greek statue. The Villa also has jewelry and coin collections. The Villa's library has  20,000 books covering art from these periods.  The Villa also displays the 'Getty kouros', which the museum lists as "Greek, about 530 B.C., or modern forgery" because scientific analysis is inconclusive as to whether the marble statue can be dated back to Greek times. If genuine, the Getty kouros is one of only twelve remaining intact kouroi. The Marbury Hall Zeus is a  tall marble statue that was recovered from the ruins at Tivoli near Rome.

GettyGuide
The "GettyGuide" has detailed information about the items owned by the museum. This is available both at the Museum, at various points known as "GettyGuide stations", and externally on its website.

Photographs

References

Further reading

Other websites

 J. Paul Getty Trust official website
 A four-part documentary about the villa and its Roman model, the Villa of the Papyri
 Photos from the Getty Villa
 flickr.com photos tagged with "Getty Villa"

Buildings and structures in Los Angeles
Museums in California
Villa
1954 establishments in the United States
1950s establishments in California

Getty Villa


Julia Alison Noble  (born 28 January 1965) is a British engineer. She has been Technikos Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Oxford and a fellow of St Hilda's College since 2011, and Associate Head of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division at the university.  , she is the chief technology officer of Intelligent Ultrasound Limited, an Oxford spin-off in medical imaging that she cofounded. She was director of the Oxford Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME) from 2012 to 2016.In 2023 she became the Foreign Secretary of The Royal Society (jointly with Mark Walport).

Education
Julia Alison Noble was born on 28 January 1965 in Nottingham, England, to James Bryan Noble and Patricia Ann Noble. She was educated at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls in Kent and was an undergraduate student at St Hugh's College, Oxford, where she was awarded a first-class Bachelor of Arts degree in Engineering Science in 1986 followed by a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1989 for research on computer vision and image segmentation supervised by J. Michael Brady.

Career and research
Noble started her career as a research scientist at the General Electric Corporate R&D Center in Schenectady, New York, where she worked from 1989 to 1994 on developing inspection systems for aircraft engines. She returned to the University of Oxford as a lecturer in 1995 to work on medical applications of computer vision and was promoted to Professor in 2001, as the first female Statutory Professor in Engineering at Oxford.

Noble has made contributions to medical image computing, where her research interests combine knowledge of medical imaging and computational science to support decision-making in clinical medicine. Her research has advanced understanding of automatic extraction of clinically useful information from medical ultrasound scans and developed machine learning solutions to key problems in biomedical image analysis.

Noble has supervised or co-supervised over 50 successful PhD students to completion including Miklós Gyöngy, Nathan Cahill, Ramón Casero Cañas, and Grace Vesom. Her research has been funded by the European Research Council (ERC), the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Honours and awards
Noble was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2017. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours, elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) in 2008 and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET) in 2001. Noble was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to engineering and biomedical imaging.

She is a trustee of the Oxford Trust, a charity established by the founders of Oxford Instruments to encourage the study, application and communication of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. She is also a trustee of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and served as President of the Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Interventions (MICCAI) Society from 2013 to 2016. , Noble is an Honorary Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, and is a MICCAI Society Fellow. She was the first recipient of the Laura Bassi Award of the International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering in 2015. Previously she was a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, from 2005 to 2011. In 2018 she presented the Woolmer Lecture. In 2019, Professor Noble was awarded the Gabor Medal by the Royal Society "for developing solutions to a number of key problems in biomedical image analysis and substantially advancing automatic extraction of clinically useful information from medical ultrasound scans".

Personal life
Noble was a coxswain for the Oxford University Women's Lightweight Rowing Club in the Henley Boat Races in 1985.

References

Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford
Fellows of St Hilda's College, Oxford
Fellows of the Royal Society
Female Fellows of the Royal Society
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Female Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering
People educated at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls
Scientists from Nottingham
Living people
British women engineers
1965 births
21st-century women engineers
Fellows of the Women's Engineering Society
Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford

Alison Noble


was a yakuza, the president of the Fourth Aizukotetsu-kai. An ethnic Korean, he rose to power as the head of the Kyoto-based gang until his retirement in the 1990s.

When he was a young man, his parents returned to Korea, leaving him to earn a living alone in Japan:  "At that time," Takayama said in 1998, "I had no choice but to join the Japanese gangster world. This is because segregated people at that time had no way to survive in Japan."

For a yakuza boss, he was a remarkably public figure, often granting interviews to Japanese and foreign reporters for articles in which he always came off as a gentleman.  He even filed a lawsuit against the  Shiga Prefectural Police for infringing on his rights to free expression. (See court testimony).  He viewed himself as an honorable outlaw, championing the weak and upholding the yakuza code of ninkyo (chivalry): "We did not regard ninkyo as a bad thing," he said. "Thus, we never killed anyone without reason. I strongly believed ninkyo must help the people. It was my job."

In 1992 the Aizukotetsu-kai became one of the first yakuza syndicates named under Japan's new anti-violence group legislation, which gave police expanded powers to crack down on yakuza.  Takayama campaigned publicly against the new laws, even writing a book on the subject, and the group launched a lawsuit challenging their constitutionality.  Takayama eventually faced pressure from outside and from within his group to drop the suit, but he refused to compromise.  According to Manabu Miyazaki, Takayama said at the time: "I can't accept what the government is doing.  If I pull out now, I won't be able to die in peace.  I'm not prepared to make any compromises, and I certainly don't intend to quit."  But in September 1995 the Kyoto District Court threw out the lawsuit.

Takayama retired as kaicho (Godfather) in 1997.  He died in June 2003.

References

External links
 Photo
 Article & profile
 Article
 Interview

Yakuza members
Japanese crime bosses
1928 births
2003 deaths
Zainichi Korean yakuza members

Tokutaro Takayama


Kreenholm ( for crow islet) is a river island in Estonia, located in the Narva River, within the city limits of Narva.

The island is  in area, and is  long and  wide. The island divides the Narva Waterfall into eastern and western branches; the Estonia–Russia border runs through the eastern branch.

In the 14th century a sawmill was already operating on Kreenholm. In 1538 the Livonian Order built a watermill on the left bank of the river just opposite the island, and in 1823 a cloth factory operated by a local merchant, Paul Momma, was opened on the right bank of the Narva River. Baron Stieglitz's flax mill was located on the right bank.

In 1856, Ludwig Knoop acquired the whole island and founded a textile factory there which was known as the Krenholm Manufacturing Company.

See also

References

Islands of Estonia
Narva
River islands of Estonia

Kreenholm


Marta Esther Rocafort y Altuzarra, later hyphenated Rocafort-Altuzarra (18 September 1913 – 4 February 1993) was the second wife of the Count of Covadonga (previously known as Alfonso, Prince of Asturias).

Rocafort, a fashion model, was the eldest daughter of Blas Manuel Rocafort y González, a prominent Cuban dentist, and wife Rogelia Altuzarra y Carbonell. Her siblings were Elvira and Blas Rocafort y Altuzarra, later hyphenated Rocafort-Altuzarra.

Rocafort began dating the Count in New York City before his first marriage to Edelmira Sampedro y Robato ended.

On 3 July 1937, the Count married Rocafort-Atuzarra in a civil wedding at the Spanish Embassy in Havana, Cuba, attended by the President of Cuba, Federico Laredo Brú. Two months later they separated and on 8 January 1938, they were divorced in New York City.

She then married the Miami millionaire, Thomas E. H. "Tommy" Atkins Jr. at the Central Baptist Church in Miami on 19 March 1938. Her former husband died six months later in Miami on 6 September 1938.

Marta Atkins married a third time to Rodolfo Caballero.

Her nephew is the Spanish fashion designer Juanjo Rocafort (Juan José Rocafort Huete).

References

 Anuario Social de La Habana 1939, (Havana, Cuba: Luz-Hilo S.A., 1939)
 "Covadonga Flown to Florida", The New York Times, 29 November 1937, page 5
 "Covadonga Divorce Given; Former Spanish King's Son and Cuban Wife Are Separated", The New York Times, 9 January 1938 page 40
 "Hace Siete Decadas Dos Cubanas Fueron Princesas de Asturias", El Nuevo Herald, 23 May 2004, Page PAGE: 4A
 "Countess Covadonga Wed To Law Student; Former Wife of Son of Alfonso of Spain Married in Miami to E. H. Adkins Jr.", The New York Times, 19 March 1938, Page 16

Spanish royalty
1913 births
1993 deaths
Cuban emigrants to the United States

Marta Esther Rocafort-Altuzarra


Goodenia angustifolia  is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to northern Australia. It is a prostrate or ascending herb with linear, channelled, needle-shaped leaves, and racemes of bright yellow flowers with leaf-like bracteoles at the base.

Description
Goodenia angustifolia is a prostrate or ascending herb with glabrous, glaucous foliage. The leaves are needle-shaped but channelled,  long and about  wide, those on the stem sometimes clustered. The flowers are arranged in racemes up to  long on a peduncle  long, each flower on a pedicel about  long with leaf-like, linear to triangular bracteoles at the base. The sepals are lance-shaped,  long and the corolla is bright yellow,  long and hairy inside. The lower lobes of the corolla are about  long with wings about  wide. Flowering has been observed in August.

Taxonomy and naming
Goodenia angustifolia was first formally described in 1980 by Roger Charles Carolin in the journal Telopea from material he collected near Nockatunga in 1964. The specific epithet (angustifolia) means "narrow-leaved".

Distribution and habitat
This goodenia grows on stony downs near the type location in Queensland, but has also been recorded along roadsides and in other arid areas of the Northern Territory.

References

angustifolia
Flora of Queensland
Flora of the Northern Territory
Plants described in 1980
Taxa named by Roger Charles Carolin

Goodenia angustifolia


The 1%Club is a non-profit organization which uses an online platform to connect people with ideas in developing countries with people, money and knowledge around the world. The basic idea is that people or organizations can offer 1% of their time, knowledge and income directly to a development project of their own choice. These projects need to be sustainable projects that stimulate the self-reliance of individuals anywhere in the world and improve their standard of living.

Founders
The 1%Club was founded by Anna Chojnacka and Bart Lacroix who both have backgrounds in development cooperation. Anna Chojnacka began as youth representative on the General Meeting at the United Nations in 2003. She also worked as campaign leader at Fair Trade Original.  Besides that Anna is a member of the Worldconnectors think tank, a think tank for international cooperation. Bart Lacroix worked in Tanzania as business and marketing manager at VSO. Furthermore, he was online marketing consultant for Africa Interactive and he worked as project manager for Butterfly Works They both specialized in applying Web 2.0 in order to increase participation, democracy and empowerment of disadvantaged groups worldwide.

History
1%Club was established in 2008. The Dutch website was launched on April 1, 2008. The international website was launched on March 12, 2010. Anna Chojnacka developed the vision that money intended for development could be better spent, especially because internet was developing into a big cooperation system where people who never even met each other were able to create things together, for example Wikipedia! That is why she wondered what could happen if such a system would be used for developmental issues. Bart Lacroix also came up with the idea that people nowadays want to have a personal influence on development cooperation and that they want to see what happens with their money. The Manifesto International Cooperation 2.0 was written. This manifesto states that we live in a world where economic means are very unequally divided. The '1.0' way of dealing with this would hold that authorities come up with a fixed policy for a couple of years to fight poverty. In International Cooperation 2.0 the people have the power. Internet has become available all over the world through which we have become the first generation that has the knowledge and means to collaborate on a global scale. That is why an online marketplace platform was designed where projects can be started and people can personally choose which projects they want to direct their money, time or knowledge to. This website combines social media sites: both the people who created a project as the members introduce themselves in an interactive way and explain why they support certain projects with their gifts or time.

International co-operation 2.0
'International co-operation 2.0' is characterized by massive collaboration, self organisation, open-source marketing, collective intelligence and crowd sourcing. Anna Chojnacka and Bart Lacroix decided to apply this concept to development co-operation. In essence, the person itself is at the centre and can create his or her own world. The idea behind this is that participants of the marketplace become owners of the process, instead of it being directed from the top, this way trying to solve poverty together.
By connecting people's energy, passion, means, experience and knowledge on a world-wide scale, a structure comes into being where worldwide one to one development co-operation is possible. People can come together, publish small pieces of information online, share specific knowledge, ask specific questions and offer concrete expertise and solutions.

Organizational structure
The 1%Club is a foundation with a Board that consists of five people. Furthermore, the 1%Club has a Recommendation Committee in the Netherlands consisting of prominent people who are concerned with the poverty problems and who are supportive of the goals of the 1%Club. The members of this Recommendation Committee are former minister-president Ruud Lubbers, rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, lawyer and professor Tineke Lambooy and lawyer Naema Tahir. At the moment 6 people work at the 1%Club offices in Amsterdam and Nairobi (Kenya). They are supported by volunteers, interns and partners (e.g. Accenture).

Financing
The 1%Club calculates a service fee of 1% per donation from individuals and 5% from businesses. Sponsors and grants further cover 1%Club's own costs. The 1%Club has developed the first version of the website with a start-up grant from NCDO. For 2009 and 2010 the 1%Club received a grant from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the category 'young and renewing'. The 1%Club receives MFSII from 2011 till 2016. Therefore the 1%Club has joined the IMPACT alliance ('Innovative Mitigation of Poverty Actions'). Also Oxfam Novib, Butterfly Works, Somo, Hirda and Fairfood joined this alliance.

Projects
Within the 1%Club individual responsibility and trust are of importance. Members have their own profile page and can choose which projects they want to support. All people can see where the projects stand for, where the money, knowledge or time goes to and what the progress is. It can be monitored what went well and what went wrong. Ultimately it can be seen whether or not the project is completed. The people who run the projects are responsible for the outcome of the project and they have to demonstrate who they are, what they do and why they are doing it. All knowledge and information about the projects have to be available directly for everyone. A few of the conditions to become a 1%Club project are:

The initiators of the project need to be living in a developing country (which is stated on the DAC list);
The projects need to be small, concrete and limited in time and resources;
The projects can receive a maximum contribution of €5.000 from the 1%Club;
The project owner needs to have internet so regular updates can be given;

References

External links

 Official Dutch site
 Website Worldconnectors
 Website NCDO

Development charities based in the Netherlands
Dutch fundraising websites
2008 establishments in the Netherlands
Organizations established in 2008

1%Club