{"id":1355,"date":"2009-02-08T14:58:22","date_gmt":"2009-02-08T14:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/08\/kim-gandy-would-be-a-perfect-director-of-the-womens-bureau\/"},"modified":"2009-02-08T14:58:22","modified_gmt":"2009-02-08T14:58:22","slug":"kim-gandy-would-be-a-perfect-director-of-the-womens-bureau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/08\/kim-gandy-would-be-a-perfect-director-of-the-womens-bureau\/","title":{"rendered":"Kim Gandy Would Be a Perfect Director of the Women’s Bureau"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kim<\/a>
\nThis is Kim Gandy, currently moving toward the end of her second term as President of the National Organization for Women<\/a> – known to most as NOW<\/a>. <\/span> Throughout her tenure she has been a fierce, sensitive and sensible advocate for women's rights and the rights of women as workers, whether at WalMart or West Point.  (see her bio here<\/a> or at the bottom of this post*) The initiatives she's launched have raised visibility and prospects for issues<\/a> ranging from equal rights to violence against women, and she's been a national political force for women and girls.   As a modern leader and early adopter of the Web, she has been a frequent speaker at online conferences including BlogHer<\/a>, and Fem 2.0<\/a> among others.   She is also, warm, smart, funny and determined.<\/p>\n

Now she is a prime candidate to become Director of the Women's Bureau<\/a> in the Department of Labor, a job she was born, and trained, to do, and there is a vague but nasty smear campaign emerging from a new organization that has very little track record and claims what appears to be a non-partisanship.  I don't want to give them any more traffic by linking to them.  But believe me, Kim Gandy, (full disclosure:  I have worked a bit with her on a broad women's initiative) is a spectacular leader, committed to the equality and well-being of all women.  If she is chosen, she will use her vast experience – and her vast network – to serve the women of this country with determination and political savvy.  <\/p>\n

We need and deserve her as our advocate in the Women's Bureau, and any who question her commitment or capacity are, in my view, sadly mistaken.  Please ignore any groups detracting from her and her dedication to the safety, equality and success of American women and
\nthose around the world.  And if you're so inclined, you might want to post about it yourself!<\/p>\n

\n

\n

*Kim Gandy – President<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kim
\nGandy is serving her second term as president of the National
\nOrganization for Women, elected by the group's grassroots members in
\n2001 and again in 2005. She has served as a national officer of NOW
\nsince 1987 and in state, local and regional leadership positions since
\n1973.<\/p>\n

Gandy also is president of the NOW Foundation<\/a>, chair of NOW's Political Action Committees<\/a>, and serves as the principal spokesperson for all three entities. Gandy oversees NOW's multi-issue agenda<\/a>,
\nwhich includes: advancing reproductive freedom, promoting diversity and
\nending racism, stopping violence against women, winning LGBT rights,
\nensuring economic justice, ending sex discrimination and achieving
\nequality for women.<\/p>\n

Since 2001, Gandy has led NOW's campaigns on issues ranging from
\nSupreme Court nominations to the rights of mothers and caregivers, from
\nSocial Security reform to ending the war in Iraq. Through grassroots
\npolitical action, Gandy helped increase the women's vote and change the
\nface of Congress in 2006 and is leading the organization's efforts
\naround the pivotal 2008 elections.<\/p>\n

Gandy regularly appears in print, television, radio and Internet
\nmedia, and she appreciates the enormous impact the media have on
\nwomen's lives. Under her direction, NOW has continued a decades-long
\ncommitment to media issues, such as expanding women's opportunities in
\nthe broadcast industry, increasing news coverage of women's issues, and
\nimproving the portrayal of women and girls in advertising and all media.<\/p>\n

During Gandy's presidency, NOW celebrated its 40 year anniversary,
\norganized conferences on issues affecting women of color and women with
\ndisabilities, campaigned against Wal-Mart as a Merchant of Shame, and
\nexpanded efforts to win equal marriage rights and benefits for same-sex
\ncouples. Through the creation of NOW's Campus Action Network<\/a>
\nand the Young Feminist Task Force, Gandy has demonstrated a commitment
\nto reaching out to young women and encouraging their leadership in the
\norganization.<\/p>\n

During her first presidential term, Gandy was one of the lead organizers of The March for Women's Lives<\/a>
\nin 2004. Gandy was a key organizer of the 1989 and 1992 marches, and
\nher expertise in mass actions helped ensure that 1.2 million activists
\nmade the 2004 march for women's reproductive freedom the largest and
\nmost diverse grassroots mobilization in our nation's history.<\/p>\n

In the legislative arena, Gandy served on the drafting committees for two groundbreaking federal laws: the Civil Rights Act of 1991<\/a>, which gave women the right to a jury trial and monetary damages in cases of sex discrimination and sexual harassment, and the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act<\/a>,
\nwhich has dramatically decreased the daily violence at abortion
\nclinics. In addition, Gandy led the fight against anti-abortion
\nterrorists through the landmark racketeering case NOW v. Scheidler<\/em><\/a>, which was in litigation for two decades and reached the Supreme Court three times. <\/p>\n

In 1991 Gandy directed the WomenElect 2000 Project, a nine-month
\ngrassroots organizing and recruiting effort in Louisiana which tripled
\nthe number of women in the legislature, elected the state's first woman
\nLieutenant Governor, and helped to defeat former Klansman David Duke
\nfor Governor.<\/p>\n

A long-time activist, Gandy served three years as Louisiana NOW
\nPresident. She was elected to the NOW National Board in 1982 and held
\nthe position of Mid-South Regional Director for four years before being
\nelected to national office.<\/p>\n

Gandy graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 1973 with a B.S.
\nin mathematics. Her NOW involvement inspired her to attend law school,
\nand she received her law degree in 1978 from Loyola University School
\nof Law, where she was a member of the Loyola Law Review and the
\nNational Moot Court Team. Gandy went on to serve as a Senior Assistant
\nDistrict Attorney in New Orleans, and later opened a private trial
\npractice, litigating countless cases seeking fair treatment for women.<\/p>\n

Currently, she resides in Silver Spring, Md., with her husband Dr.
\nChristopher "Kip" Lornell, an ethnomusicologist and part-time Professor
\nof Music at George Washington University. They have two daughters,
\nElizabeth Cady Lornell and Katherine Eleanor Gandy.<\/p>\n

<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is Kim Gandy, currently moving toward the end of her second term as President of the National Organization for Women – known to most as NOW.  Throughout her tenure she has been a fierce, sensitive and sensible advocate for women's rights and the rights of women as workers, whether at WalMart or West Point.  … Continue reading Kim Gandy Would Be a Perfect Director of the Women’s Bureau<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,9,29],"tags":[831,835,834,836,21,44,832],"class_list":["post-1355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs","category-politics","category-women","tag-kim-gandy","tag-national-organization-for-women","tag-now","tag-obama-administration-nominations","tag-politics-2","tag-women-2","tag-womens-bureau"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4gBq8-lR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}