General Sessions

Saturday, June 24, 8 AM – 9:30 AM

OPENING General Session

This General Session begins with Special Welcomes and FERM-sponsored featured speaker, Cindy Hounsell, President, Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER). Family Economics & Resource Management brings you a speaker in the personal finance practice setting. Later during the conference, be sure to join FERM's Meeting on June 26th to discuss tips from the presentation and how you can apply them in your life!

What You Need to Know & Do: Avoiding Retirement Pitfalls & Preparing for the Future

Developing financial knowledge, building confidence and taking action are essential, yet all too often there is a knowledge gap which delays planning, especially for decisions requiring immediate action. This session will include the issues of caregiving and explore the financial responsibilities, costs and decisions while managing someone else’s money. It will provide tools, information and resources to help caregivers develop strategies and feel more in control. This session will also focus on retirement “pitfalls” that can throw your long-term financial security off track. This includes the longevity risks and ways to avoid costly mistakes by understanding how to claim Social Security and Medicare benefits and drawing down savings. It's difficult to do everything right but knowing how to find help and starting early are positive steps.  Learning about surprise issues such as Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) and Health Savings Accounts are ways to avoid the “gotchas” of future financial planning.

Speaker and Bio: Cindy Hounsell (Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement)

Saturday, June 24, 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM

Future-Proofing Family & Consumer Sciences:  Back to the Future 

This supersession is a step toward strengthening our collective ability to better understand our place in transforming ourselves, our profession, and others so that we strengthen the lives of the people and families we serve.  Become comfortable with the uncomfortable as we examine our on again/off again leadership and commitment to our professional mission. What’s to learn from our predecessors about historical professional [dis]engagement with social justice? About our strengths and vulnerabilities? How might social justice literacy inspire a new generation? Collaboratively reframing our shared professional lens and practices through thought-provoking, critical conversations and question-raising, will deepen our intellectual commitments to the human condition, and sustain FCS. 

Session Facilitators

Janine Duncan
Virginia Vincenti, CFCS
Janet Laster
Gladys Gary Vaughn
Cynthia Miller, CFCS, CPFFE

Sunday, June 25, 9:45 AM – 11:15 AM

From Home Economics to Home Equity – How Education Can Help Close the Chore Gap

Elizabeth Kinney, Communications guru at Procter & Gamble, will share about the new free curriculum, “Home Eq[uity]” at the most opportune setting – to a room full of educators and college students! And in time for the next school planning period!

Over the past several decades we’ve made exciting progress for women outside of the home, but inside of our homes we’re holding onto some habits that are holding women back. In 65% of homes across the US, the sole responsibility for household work still falls on women. At P&G, we believe that equality starts at home, which is why our Home Care brands like Dawn, Swiffer and Cascade are on a mission to promote equality at home by making household tasks easier to do – and easier to delegate. The latest step in this journey involved partnerships with Fair Play and educators to develop a free curriculum called “Home Eq[uity]” – which is designed to help teach kids how to create equal partnerships, own tasks and take part in caring for a home. This curriculum is meant to complement the existing, incredible efforts of the Family and Consumer Sciences community, so we’re thrilled to share more about it here, and spend time learning from you!

Speaker and Bio: Elizabeth Kinney (Procter & Gamble)

 

Sunday, June 25, 3:45 PM – 5 PM
 
In lieu of a SuperSession, attendees are invited to participate in the FCS Fast Talks roundtable session. Location TBA.

Monday, June 26, 9:15 AM – 10:45 AM

Consumer Research on the Economy & Affordability of Appliances among U.S. Households

The home appliance industry is providing consumers of all income levels with a range of energy efficient options at point of purchase. We believe it is critical that consumers at lower income levels have equal access to newer, more efficient appliances that perform well and are affordable because without such options, these consumers will find alternatives, which in most cases are less efficient. For instance, a clothes washer today on average is approximately 70% more efficient in energy and water compared to one from 2000, and has a 50% larger capacity.  The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) studied the perspectives of consumers at various income levels about their financial realities and their home appliance purchase journeys and this research will be shared in the Monday morning general session.

Speaker and Bio: Jill Notini (Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers)

Monday, June 26, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Our Home Economics History: The New Deal, Home Ec, and Why Our Past Matters

Drawing on her forthcoming A New Deal for Quilts, Janneken Smucker shares some of the vital ways government-employed home economists who worked in various New Deal programs helped Americans persevere during the Great Depression. This slice of home economics’ history demonstrates the significance in preserving and interpreting the profession’s legacy and sheds light on ways we can apply home ec thinking to today’s challenges. Dr. Smucker’s presentation includes a brief introduction to oral history methodologies and suggests ways that the American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences can create meaning from its own history.