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Stasek to speak at Parents Weekend
Aug 10, 2006 9:39 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
This summer, Darlington’s faculty, staff and students were asked to read Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner,” a novel that illuminates the realities of life in Afghanistan that are not covered in television news reports. On Sept. 29 during Parents Weekend, Rosemary Stasek, a friend of Hosseini, will give an address at 9 a.m. in the A.J. Huffman ’67 Memorial Athletic Center.
Stasek, who currently lives in Kabul, Afghanistan, is a logistics consultant on reconstruction projects. She has traveled to Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, leading projects directly benefiting women, including the women’s prison, maternity wards and employment training.
The former mayor of Mountain View, Calif., Stasek has a broad history of political involvement, especially women’s issues activism. In 1989, she co-founded California Catholics for Free Choice and serves as state director. She has served on the Board of Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte and the Santa Clara County Commission on the Status of Women. Her honors include being named a Distinguished Woman of the 14th Congressional District, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights Freedom of Religion Award and the Alameda National Women’s Political Caucus Pro-Choice Champion Award. She was a nominee for the Silicon Valley Women of Achievement Award and a candidate for the California State Assembly in March 2002.
In 1999, Stasek was selected by the Secretary of Defense to participate in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, which took her to military installations across the country and aboard an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. She broadened her knowledge of military affairs, especially issues involving women in serving in the Armed Forces. She now also serves as a member of the U.S. Air Force Space Commanders Group.
Stasek has also worked for over a decade in the computer industry as a Web developer and system administrator for prominent high tech firms in Silicon Valley. She spent six years as an instructor at DeAnza Community College teaching Introduction to Microcomputer Networks.
Stasek’s interest in international issues has taken her to Nepal, Ecuador, France, Britain, Holland, Germany, Italy, The United Arab Emirates, The Czech and Slovak Republics, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Azerbaijan and Venezuela. In 1998, she traveled to Cuba as a member of a special women's delegation, and in May 2002 she was a member of a one of the first delegations to return to Afghanistan.
In addition to her social and political involvements, Stasek is an award-winning food preserver and teaches classes on food preservation including making jams, jellies and pickles. In June 2004, she developed and led a class to teach Afghan women to make preserves in an income-generating project.
Stasek holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Cornell University, where she currently serves on the President’s Council of Cornell Women. Please click here for more information.
Stasek, who currently lives in Kabul, Afghanistan, is a logistics consultant on reconstruction projects. She has traveled to Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, leading projects directly benefiting women, including the women’s prison, maternity wards and employment training.
The former mayor of Mountain View, Calif., Stasek has a broad history of political involvement, especially women’s issues activism. In 1989, she co-founded California Catholics for Free Choice and serves as state director. She has served on the Board of Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte and the Santa Clara County Commission on the Status of Women. Her honors include being named a Distinguished Woman of the 14th Congressional District, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights Freedom of Religion Award and the Alameda National Women’s Political Caucus Pro-Choice Champion Award. She was a nominee for the Silicon Valley Women of Achievement Award and a candidate for the California State Assembly in March 2002.
In 1999, Stasek was selected by the Secretary of Defense to participate in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, which took her to military installations across the country and aboard an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. She broadened her knowledge of military affairs, especially issues involving women in serving in the Armed Forces. She now also serves as a member of the U.S. Air Force Space Commanders Group.
Stasek has also worked for over a decade in the computer industry as a Web developer and system administrator for prominent high tech firms in Silicon Valley. She spent six years as an instructor at DeAnza Community College teaching Introduction to Microcomputer Networks.
Stasek’s interest in international issues has taken her to Nepal, Ecuador, France, Britain, Holland, Germany, Italy, The United Arab Emirates, The Czech and Slovak Republics, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Azerbaijan and Venezuela. In 1998, she traveled to Cuba as a member of a special women's delegation, and in May 2002 she was a member of a one of the first delegations to return to Afghanistan.
In addition to her social and political involvements, Stasek is an award-winning food preserver and teaches classes on food preservation including making jams, jellies and pickles. In June 2004, she developed and led a class to teach Afghan women to make preserves in an income-generating project.
Stasek holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Cornell University, where she currently serves on the President’s Council of Cornell Women. Please click here for more information.
