Nevada Commission for Women Chair Selected to National Board

Nevada February 12, 2018

The Chair of the Nevada Commission for Women was recently selected to serve on the 14-member Board of Directors for the National Association of Commissions for Women (NACW). NACW is the only national professional association connecting board and staff of Commissions for Women across the country. Their mission is to sustain, strengthen, and advocate for women’s commissions in their work to promote equality and justice for all women and girls and ensure they are represented and empowered in their communities. NACW considers state, county and city level Commissions for Women as the bridge between the public sector and the community. “I am honored to have been selected to serve at the national level and be a voice for Nevada,” Richann Bender said. “Bringing a national spotlight to the work the Nevada Commission is doing will significantly strengthen and propel our ability to accomplish great things for women of all ages in our state.”

Richann was appointed to the Nevada Commission for Women by Governor Sandoval July 1, 2016, and is serving a three year term. In September 2017, the Governor appointed Richann to serve as the Commission’s Chair. The Nevada Commission for Women was created per NRS 233I and is charged with the duty to study the changing and developing roles of women in society, including the recognition of socioeconomic factors that influence the status of women, and recommend proposed legislation. The Commission is comprised of 10 members with equal representation from the north and south as well as balanced political party representation. Its current six strategic goals are as follows:

1) Increase the number of women on state and local boards and commissions and in leadership positions in government.
2) Participate with the interim Task Force on Financial Security and ensure a wide diversity of women’s voices are heard.
3) Create a recognition event to honor a woman and an organization making a contribution to the state/participate in the national 2020 women’s suffrage event.
4) Document the role of Nevada Women in the State Capitol Building, Carson City, and the Grant Sawyer Building, Las Vegas.
5) Publicize the Commission’s activities and accomplishments.
6) Create a voluntary Gender Equality Survey with the Secretary of State’s office per AB 423.

As a result of the 2017 Legislature, a full-time staff position was created for the Commission for Women per AB 423 and is housed within the Department of Administration’s Director’s Office. The staff person, Molly Walt, was hired into this new position December 2017.

To learn more about the Commission for Women, please visit their website http://admin.nv.gov/CommissionForWomen/ or reach out to Molly at m.walt@admin.nv.gov, (775) 684-0296.

Contact

Mary Woods
Public Information Officer
(775) 684-0202