WiLL - The Women Legislators' Lobby

WiLL Pacesetters: Class of 2003 (and 2001)

WiLL Pacesetters are recognized for their outstanding legislative service and for their contributions to sound and progressive public policy. The achievements of these leaders reflect a commitment to excellence and a resolve that the voices of women of all races and stations in life are fully and fairly represented at the policy table.

Some of the 2003 Pacesetters at the National Conference in September 2003.

Sen. Ellen Anderson (MN)

Ellen Anderson has served as a Minnesota State Senator since 1992. Anderson chairs the Senate Commerce and Utilities Committee and is also a member of the following Senate committees: Environment, Agriculture, and Economic Development Budget Division, E-12 Budget Division, and Jobs, Housing and Community Development. She has been a leader in the areas of sustainable energy policy, affordable housing, family friendly workplace policies and workers’ rights, violence prevention, progressive tax structures, and inner city revitalization. She was instrumental in drafting nuclear facility radioactive waste management legislation in her state. Anderson graduated from Carleton College and the University of Minnesota Law School.

Del. Viola Baskerville (VA)

Viola Baskerville has been a member of the Virginia House of Delegates since 1998, following her service on Richmond City Council. A champion of women’s issues, Baskerville has been , she wasa strong and consistent voice addressing reproductive health issues and health disparities. instrumental in the drafting of legislation accommodating nursing mothers on state owned property and in the workplace. A longtime civic activist, she has served in leadership rolescapacities for the YWCA, the Coalition of 100 Black Women, and the Ginter Park Residence Association. A Fulbright Scholar, BaskervilleShe is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and was a Fulbright Scholar. Baskerville and earned her law degree from the University of Iowa.

Sen. Kate Brown (OR)

Kate Brown was elected to the Oregon State Senate in 1996 and has served as the Senate Democratic Leader since 1998. AsShe is co-chair of the Rules Committee and the Legislative Counsel Committee, she has a pivotal role in shaping policy in Oregon. She also serves on numerous commissions and councils on healthcare, human resources, legislative administration, Indian services, Asian aAffairs and domestic violence. Brown practiced family and juvenile law, and has taught at the Mark Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. She calso completed the Professional Leadership Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government . Brownand received her law degree from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter (SC)

Gilda Cobb-Hunter has been a South Carolina State Representative since 1992. She is a woman of many firsts. She was the first African-American woman in Orangeburg County elected to a statewide office. She became the first freshman ever appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee, where she still serves. Cobb-Hunter also became the first person of color to lead a legislative caucus when she was elected House Minority Leader, a position she held for 4 years. She is an advocate of welfare reform and leads her state on issues of responsible fathers and domestic violence. As the executive director of CASA/Family Systems, a family violence agency, Cobb-Hunter also works as a licensed social worker.

Rep. Joyce Elliott (AR)

Joyce Elliott, a second-term n Arkansas State Representative, is a member of the Committee on Education and chairperson for the Subcommittee on Higher Education. She is also serves ona member of the Committee on State Agencies and the Budget Committee. Elliott leads her state in advocating for legislation improving conditions for public employees. For the past thirty years, Elliott has taught high school juniors and seniors. This past August she took leave from her classroom duties to accept a position with the College Board as Director of Advanced Placement Field Initiatives, which will focus on expanding access to students currently underrepresented in Apadvanced placement classes.

Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez-Kenney (WA)

Phyllis Gutierrez-Kenney, a leader in the Hispanic community of Seattle, was appointed to the Washington State Legislature in 1997. She is the Chair of the Higher Education Committee in the House and also serves on the Appropriations, Commerce and Labor, and Rules Committees. She wasA child of migrant workers, she is thea co-founder of the Washington State Migrant Child Care Centers and also foundedfounder of the Educational Institute for Rural Families. Gutierrez-Kenney also helped establish the Farmworkers Clinics and was instrumental in establishingthe statewide Child Care and Early Childhood Education training programs . She is aand is a nationally recognized speaker addressing on educational issues.. Gutierrez-Kenney is a trustee on the board of Center for Policy Alternatives.

Sen. Toni Harp (CT)

Toni Harp is currently serving her sixth term in the Connecticut State Senate. She is the cChair of the powerful Appropriations Committee and and a member of the Executive and Legislative Nominations and the Program Review and Investigations Committees. She also chairs the Medicaid Managed Care Council. Harp has championed many important initiatives, important to her constituents, including managed care reform, providing insurance for uninsured children, raising the minimum wage, advocating economic development for cities, encouraging an early detection system for child abuse, prohibiting drive-through deliveries, supporting truancy court, and ensuring the safety of children in child care. Harp received a Master of Environmental Design from Yale University and works in community-based health services.

Rep. Babette Josephs (PA)

Babette Josephs has been a Pennsylvania State Representative from the city of Philadelphiaor Pennsylvania for almost 20 years. She is the ranking female Democratic legislator and Democratic Chair of the State Government Committee. Josephs is also the co-founder of the Pro-Choice Legislative Caucus. She works on a number of critical issues, including education, crime, neighborhoods, public transportation, civil liberties, health insurance, campaign finance reform, disaster recovery and emergency preparedness. Josephs earned her law degree from the Rutgers-Camden School of Law.

Rep. Arthenia Joyner (FL)

Arthenia Joyner is serving her second term in the Florida House from the city of Tampa. In addressing policy concerns on aging issues and family violence, Joyner was selected by the Japan Society and Center for Policy Alternatives to visit Japanese projects and host Japanese women leaders visiting the US. Her policy work is also informed by her participation in the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women. This past year she sponsored the ERA bill, to add Florida to the list of states that has passed the Equal Rights Amendment. Joyner was appointed to a number of commissions and advisory councils under the Clinton Administration. She became, in 1968, the first African-American female attorney in Tampa. She has been in private practice for over thirty years, longer than any other African-American woman in the state of Florida. As a founding partner at Stewart, Joyner, & Jordan-Holmes, P.A., certified as an African-American owned law firm, her practice areas include probate, guardianship and public finance. Joyner was re-elected to the Florida House of Representatives last year. She sponsored the ERA bill in her state and has been appointed to a number of commissions and advisory councils under the Clinton Administration.

Sen. Betty Karnette (CA)

Betty Karnette was first elected to the California State Senate in 1996. Karnette’s strong interest in transportation, campaign spending reform, job development and streamlining government is reflected in her Senate committee assignments. She chairs several committees related to transportation and trade, and sits on a number of other committees, including Education, Public Employment and Retirement, Rules, Appropriations and Governmental Organization. Karnette was a teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District for over 30 years, and continues her long-standing community service and activism to this day.

Sen. Ellie Kinnaird (NC)

Ellie Kinnaird is in her fourth term as a North Carolina State Senator, after serving as Mayor of Carrboro. Kinnaird is firmly committed to environmental protection, campaign finance reform, and safeguarding the rights of seniors and the disabled, and is a strong supporter of education. She has introduced bills for a moratorium against the death penalty and worked to pass the ban on executing the mentally retarded. She also introduced and worked for bills to reform statutes that impact gays and lesbians. She is a staff attorney for North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services.

Rep. Judy Manning (GA)

Judy Manning has served four 3 terms in in the Georgia State LegislatureHouse. As a member of Appropriations, she is a strong voice for education, community-based services for the disabled, and funding for children’s services. She passed a model bill to protect babies from careless abandonment. She has worked for tax relief, education, stiffer penalties for crimes, community-based service for citizens with disabilities and a strong local economy. She is the first woman chair of the Cobb Legislative Delegation and a long-standing leader of the Women’s Legislative Caucus. Her civic work includes board service She serves on the board of many Cobb County organizations, such asfor the American Red Cross, Girls, Inc., Kennestone Wellstar Hospital, Department ofCobb Advisory Board on Family and Child Services, Leadership Cobb, Cobb Emergency AidSafe Path, Another Chance,, and Cobb Youth Leadership. She is the vice chair of the Cobb Legislative Delegation and the chair of the Women’s Legislative Caucus. Manning was a teacher in Cobb County and is the co-owner of Manning Properties.

Rep. Liane "Buffie" McFadyen (CO)

Liane “Buffie” McFadyen, elected in 2002 to the Colorado State House, is the first Democrat to represent Pueblo County in over eight years. Growing up in Niagara County, New York, the home of Love Canal, McFayden gained first hand knowledge of the effects of toxic materials on a community. In the last legislative session, she co-sponsored a bill to regulate radioactive classified waste disposal in Colorado. McFadyen is a small business owner and holds a Master of Psychology and Counseling from Adams State College, Colorado where she was All-American in Track and Field.

Sen. Angela Monson (OK)

Angela Monson was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate in 1993. She is a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Social Services, Business & Labor, Finance, Human Resources, Retirement and Group Health and Rules Committees. Monson previously has served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and was the executive director of the Oklahoma Health Care Project. She currently serves asrecently completed her term as the president of the influential National Conference of State Legislatures. She holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma.

Rep. Anne Paulsen (MA)

Anne Paulsen has served as a Massachusetts State Representative since 1993 from the city of Arlington, and currently sits on the Criminal Justice and Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committees. Paulsen previously served on the Belmont School Committee and the Belmont Board of Selectman. Her priorities in the state legislature include education, transportation, the environment, elderly issues, women in poverty and housing. She also serves as co-chair of the Rails to Trails, Bicycles & Pedestrian Caucus and the Progressive Legislators Group.

Del. Salima Siler-Marriott (MD)

Salima Siler-Marriott, a native Baltimorean, has been a member of the Maryland House of Delegates since 1991. She has been instrumental in working towards death penalty moratorium legislation in her state. She currently serves as the House Chairperson for the Joint Committee on Children, Youth and Families and the chairperson for the Ways and Means Children and Youth Subcommittee. Dr. Siler-Marriott is also the Chairperson for the Baltimore City Delegation. She holds a doctorate of Social Work from Howard University.

Rep. Marjorie Smith (NH)

Marjorie Smith has served four terms in the New Hampshire General Court. She sits on the Rules and Finance Committees. Smith is active on issues of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and a frequent contributor of op eds and letters to the editor. She is a former executive director for Women’s Action for New Directions and was the first to launch the WiLL/WAND national conference.

Rep. Mimi Stewart (NM)

Mimi Stewart has served as a New Mexico State Representative for almost 10 yearsfive terms. She lconsistently advocates for workplace rights and women’s rights and has passed landmark legislationeads her state in initiating several pieces of progressive legislation relating to dealing with reproductive rights, the environment, human rights and education reform. She has gained national recognition for her innovative work her successful model bill toon prohibiting insurance companies from discriminating against victims of domestic abuse. Her comprehensive reform of her state’s unemployment insurance system this year included coverage for victims of domestic violence. by passing legislation that has become a model for other states. Stewart has taught in the public schools for over more than 24 years and is a member of the American Federation of Teachers.

Rep. Kathy Tingelstad (MN)

Kathy Tinglestad was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1996. She is Vice Chair of the Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee and sits on Capital Investment, Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Rules and Legislative Administration. Her current priorities in the legislature include lowering taxes, equity funding for education, the health of children, and the environment. Tinglestad is the co-author of the “Fix Failing Systems that are Contaminating Minnesota Waters” legislation. She has become a national spokesperson on issues related to healthy indoor air quality in schools and children’s environmental health. She holds an MBA certificate from the University of St. Thomas and is a business consultant with Consulting Excellence.

Rep. Maggie Tinsman (IA)

Maggie Tinsman has been an Iowa State Senator since 1989. Tinsman has led her state inbeen a consistent proponent for human rights and women’s issues. In a state with the highest elderly population, she has advocated for sound geriatric and long term care policies.issues of women and human rights. She serves as the Senate Chair of Health and Human Resources Appropriations Subcommittee and sits on Human Resources, Appropriations,Judiciary and State Government. She has contributed her expertise on health and human services issues in her longstanding leadership in the National Conference of State Legislatures. Tinsman is a lifelong resident of the Quad Cities, and holdsholds a Master of Social Work from the University of Iowa, and has served with numerous civic organizations..

Rep. Velma Veloria (WA)

Velma Veloria has been a member of the Washington State House of Representatives since 1992. She is the Chair of the Trade and Economic Development Committee, and a member of the Capital Budget Committee, and is a strong proponent of economic development initiatives.. Veloria was instrumental in the drafting of the Washington State Sex Trafficking Law, which is seen as model legislation. and is committed to economic development in her state. She is a former member of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council of the EPA, a member of the State Advisory Council, a member of the Community Advisory Board of the University of Washington Women’s Center, Chair of the Asian Elected Officials of Washington, and an Honorary Founding Board Member of the Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Foundation.

2001 Pacesetters

State Rep. Carolyn Allen (AZ)

State Sen. Diana Bajoie (LA)

State Sen. Ginny Burdick (OR)

State Sen. Harriette Chandler (MA)

State Rep. Martha Fuller Clark (NH)

State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter (SC)

State Rep. Barbara Cooper (TN)

State Rep. Lois DeBerry (TN)

State Rep. Marcia deBraga (NV)

State Rep. Patricia Godchaux (MI)
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State Rep. Verla Insko (NC)