A forum exploring the effect the current economic crisis has on women will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 10 at Lundring Events Center, California Lutheran University, 60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks.

The keynote speaker will be Lilly Ledbetter, whose experiences inspired the Lilly Ledbet-ter Fair Pay Act, which was signed by President Barack Obama in January.

The legislation relaxes the statute of limitations on when an employee can sue for pay discrimination. That statute had been tightened when judges ruled against Ledbetter in her lawsuit against Goodyear Tire in 1998.

The forum, called “Economic Insecurity,” is the third presented by the Ventura County Women’s Forum Collaborative. The group is made up of activists and organizations who work in support of women’s issues.

The collaborative’s events focus on 12 areas of concern developed at the Fourth World Conference on Women that took place in Beijing in 1995.

That conference involved 17,000 representatives worldwide who created a strategy for overcoming obstacles to the advancement of women. Areas identified as requiring action included poverty, healthcare, gender equality, education and training, and violence against women.

Marie Francois, forum co-chair and associate professor of history at California State University Channel Islands, said this forum was “especially timely” and offered groups and individuals a chance to “take stock in both the challenges facing women today and the considerable collective and individual power that we can channel through education and action to meet those challenges.”

Francois is a member of the faculty board of the Center for Multicultural Engagement.

Program topics include gendered political economy past and present, foreclosures and bankruptcy, loss of job and/or benefits, and domestic crisis.

Workshops will focus on disenfranchised women, power organizing for women, policy solutions, and nontraditional and green jobs.

“What is especially inspiring for me personally is the interaction of women from across generations and among diverse communities that the collaborative represents and their commitment to the well-being of all women in the county,” Francois said.

The cost to attend is $35 through Sept. 26 and $40 after that date.

Continental breakfast and lunch are included.

Register at www.vcwf.org, or send a check to the Ventura County Women’s Forum Collaborative, c/ o NWPC, PO Box 7362, Ventura, CA 93006-7362.