The American Association of University Women Lansdale chapter is educational, informational and inspirational.

On Tuesday night, it held a meet and greet with Montgomery County women candidates at the Educational Services Center.

You will also find the AAUW-Lansdale influence at Discover the Future, the fifth- to seventh-grade program that promotes S.T.E.M. careers for women in science and math; the G.O.L.D. program, which promotes leadership roles for eighth-grade girls; the Excellence in Writing program at North Penn High School; the Women’s Project, which promotes self-development of women and positive societal change; and its scholarship programs for graduating high schoolers and for women returning to school.

More recently is the program Let’s Read Math, offered three times a year at the North Penn Valley Boys and Girls Club in which math activities and reading are tied together.

“We promote equality for women and girls. We do seven to eight major projects a year,” said AAUW-Lansdale Parliamentarian Nancy Adelman. “We’re busy.”

Adelman said a lot of women in our area still don’t have pay equity.

“It’s a big issue all over,” she said. “Women only earn 73 cents for every dollar men earn.”

But on the other side, a lot of men don’t receive equity in the workplace either.

“We provide opportunities for everyone to do well,” Adelman said.

The meet and greet Tuesday was open to the public and featured a number of candidates for county and local offices, including school board candidates Josie Charnock (R), Carolyn Murphy (D), Martina Stoll (D) and Suzan Leonard (D); sheriff candidate Eileen Behr (R); and county recorder of deeds candidate Nancy Becker (R).

The guest speaker at the event was Dr. Lara Brown, assistant professor of political science at Villanova University. She is the author of “Jockeying for the American Presidency.”

AAUW-Lansdale Executive Board Co-Vice President Jeanne Cook heard Brown speak at an engagement recently and invited her to speak at the meet and greet.

“She did a workshop for Elderhostel with Road Scholar, and she was just dynamite,” said Cook. “She makes politics understandable and down to earth. She doesn’t present it in a dry way; she makes it real.”

Cook said political candidates can win on something as simple as personality, so it’s good to understand where the influence lies in politics.

“You can approach anything intellectually, and politics is important and a challenge,” she said, “but you can also have fun doing it.”

The AAUW-Lansdale meets the third Tuesday of the month at the Educational Services Center, 401 E. Hancock St., Lansdale, in Conference Room A or B at 7:30 p.m.

Its next event is a Trivia Night at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at Church of the Messiah, 1001 DeKalb Pike, Lower Gwynedd.

Its next meeting is Nov. 15, featuring a panel discussion with The Anna Packer Project and North Penn staff.

Visit its website at aauw.lansdale.org

Will you be voting for any women candidates for local or county elections this year? Tell us in the comments!