Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND) is an independent grassroots, woman-led organization that seeks to direct women's voices into a powerful movement for social change. WAND was established in 1982 by Helen Caldicott, long-time anti-nuclear activist and founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Atlanta WAND, the only Georgia Southeast chapter, was established a few years later in 1984. The name was later changed to Georgia Women's Action for New Directions as our membership grew and our impact was felt statewide. Georgia WAND has a diverse state and regional membership; weekly communications and an “alerts” network; a professional staff of four and a tight working relationship with National WAND and the Women’s Legislators Lobby (WiLL). Georgia WAND’s entire program focus is devoted to progressive social change. The chapter is recognized as a bridge-building organization and a key coalition partner of the progressive community in Atlanta and the Southeast. Our chapter is well-positioned because of our coalition-building in Georgia’s political epicenter, which has the largest concentration of progressive activists and voters in the southeast. We have strong alliances with, and the respect of, civil rights leaders, labor leaders, students, people of faith, health advocates, environmental justice advocates, and women’s organizations. We have a diverse board of directors, an accomplished and dedicated advisory board, and an active supportive base of over 2,500. Our collaborative programs are designed for sustainable change, capacity building in communities and engagement in co-designed initiatives. Georgia WAND’s outreach efforts cross class, cultural, and racial boundaries. They include but are not limited to working with Concerned Black Clergy, Eco-Action, Southern Truth and Reconciliation, The Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda, Georgia Rural Urban Summit and the Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition and southeast environmental groups working for clean air, clean water, and a carbon-free, nuclear free future. Georgia WAND monitors activities and policy decisions that affect the Savannah River Site (SRS) and nuclear power plants. We translate technical information about nuclear weapons and waste, its effects on national security, and its environmental impacts into terms that are meaningful to our members and to the communities near nuclear facilities. Our involvement with the international Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) and IEER (Institute for Energy and Environmental Research) over the past decade strengthens our capability to disseminate updated and detailed information in a timely fashion that can enable communities to organize and take action. As a compliment to our environmental justice work, we maintain working relations with our peace and justice, human rights and civil rights, and more traditional environmental community partners: Church Women United, Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America, Altamaha Riverkeepr, both Georgia and South Carolina Sierra Clubs and their radiation committees, the Georgia River Network, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, Aiken Peace, South Carolina and Georgia League of Women Voters, Georgia Organics, and Georgia STAND UP (to name a few). We have intensified our working relationships and cooperative partnerships with Friends of the Earth, other strong members of Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, and women state legislators, especially in Georgia.
