It Takes a Village... To Work for Women's Rights
by Lisa Bennett-Haigney, Communications Director

The five staff members featured in this edition of "It Takes a Village" all joined the National NOW Action Center this year. Some are longtime NOW activists and others are newcomers to the organization, but all share a concern for women's rights, a dedication to moving the movement and the ability to take on a demanding workload.

LaShawn Clinkscale, Action Center Administration

LaShawn is the new voice and front-door face of the National NOW Action Center, greeting all visitors and callers. She also fulfills requests for general information about NOW, answers and distributes e-mail for now@now.org, provides administrative support for the Action Center staff and contributes to specific projects and campaigns. LaShawn is a Washington, D.C., native who spent 8 years at the National Institutes of Health in computer operations before coming to NOW this April. Her love of children inspires her to perform volunteer work at local neighborhood childcare centers. In the future, LaShawn hopes to extend her devotion to children through adoption.

Elizabeth Gilchrist, Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving

Liz just started at the Action Center on June 5, working with our donors to help them identify projects and campaigns that match their interests. She came to NOW from Greenpeace USA, where she worked for more than seven years in fundraising, growing a modest direct mail program into a sophisticated major and planned giving program. Liz has a law degree from Emory University and her first career was as a civil rights lawyer in Mississippi. She spent 14 years there, first at Legal Services, then in private practice as a litigator with a special interest in federal employment discrimination law.

Olga Kolchina-Andrew, Staff Accountant

Olga is responsible for handling all aspects of NOW's accounts payable, preparing daily cash flow reports and monthly revenue statements, along with assisting NOW's comptroller. She also reviews and verifies payroll, processes expense reports for staff and board members, keys and generates chapter rebate checks, and handles deposits for the membership department and the products catalog. Having started at the Action Center in March of this year, Olga is one of the old-timers of this group. She is originally from Russia and moved to the U.S. in 1999. Olga is currently a part-time student at George Washington University's School of Business and Public Management.

Linda Olson, Administrative Assistant

Linda is the administrative assistant to NOW Executive Vice President Kim Gandy and Action Vice President Loretta Kane. She is also responsible for acknowledging donors and handling requests for assistance. Linda comes to the Action Center from Black Hawk College in Moline, Ill., where she worked in the Intercultural and Community Affairs office. An active member since 1992, Linda served as Quad City NOW coordinator and President of Illinois NOW before arriving here in June. Linda credits her sisters, children and grandchildren with supporting her feminist work and making it possible to pursue her dream of working for NOW in D.C.

Lesley Nicole Ramsey, Conference Manager/Field Organizer

After joining the NOW Action Center this May, Lesley dove head-first into organizing NOW's National Conference, which was only two months away! She is now helping plan the Women's International Symposium on Health that will take place the weekend of the World March of Women 2000. Lesley moved to the Washington, D.C., area last year after earning a master's degree in journalism at the University of Texas. She has a publishing background and is currently taking time off from her PhD work to organize within the feminist movement. Lesley names her mom as her best friend and a huge influence in her life.