
July 1, 2001
Nearly one thousand feminists cast their votes this weekend for a new team of leaders to head the National Organization for Women (NOW). NOW activists elected Kim Gandy to lead the largest group of feminist activists in the country for the next four years. Gandy has served as a National NOW Officer since 1987, most recently as Executive Vice President.
"From the Bush administration's attacks on women's rights to preparing for a vacancy on the Supreme Court, NOW activists have our hands full protecting the advances we've made together over the past decades and moving forward on women's rights," said NOW President-Elect Kim Gandy.
"I've worked with Kim for 14 years," said Patricia Ireland, the longest serving President of NOW who will retire August 1 due to term limits. "I'm proud to pass the torch to her, and I'm confident that under Kim's leadership, NOW will continue to enact more groundbreaking laws that ensure our rights, elect more feminists to all levels of government and prevent the packing of the courts with anti-women's rights nominees."
Originally from Louisiana, Gandy has held NOW office at every level from chapter task force chair to state president. An attorney by trade and former Senior Assistant District Attorney in New Orleans, Gandy prosecuted child sexual abuse offenders, won sex discrimination cases and rewrote or eliminated some of Louisiana's worst family laws. Gandy has overseen the landmark NOW v. Scheidler case and helped draft numerous pieces of women's rights legislation that has been enacted into law.
Other members of Gandy's team include Karen Johnson for Executive Vice President, Olga Vives for Action Vice President and Terry O'Neill for Membership Vice President.
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