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LATER ON...
Since 1992, thirty five remakable women have been appointed to serve the Commission on Women. Among those not yet mentioned are The Honorable Penny Brown
Reynolds of Atlanta, The Honorable Stephanie Stuckey Benfield of Decatur, Elizabeth Plunkett Buttimer of Bowdon, Jean M. Turner of Rome (now deceased),
Helen Barrios of Marietta, Martha Murphy Long (current Member) of Bremen, Ayesha Khanna of Atlanta, Margaret Ball of Dalton, Maritza Soto Keen of Buford,
Ann Stallard of Atlanta, Sharon Baker (current Member) of Rome, Denise C. Leggett, Esq. (current Member) of Duluth, Patricia Bryant (current Member) of
Augusta, Carole Dabbs (current Member) of Kennesaw, Valerie Jackson of Atlanta, Elizabeth Klemann (current Member) of Albany, Debbie Connell (current Member)
of Eastman, Lynn Murphy (current Member) of Macon, Bette Rose Bowers (current Member) of Commerce and Betty Brady (current Member) of Summerville.
A HOME OF THEIR OWN...
The Commission had no home until 1994, when Nellie Duke was elected Chair, and Secretary of State (later U.S. Senator) Max Cleland found a place for the
Commission to be housed in the Archives Building near the Capitol, sharing space with the Commission on the Holocaust. Vickie Traylor was hired as Executive
Assistant and Nita Cohen, University of Georgia, served an internship.When Traylor resigned in 1996, Cohen assumed her responsibilities as Executive Assistant,
after which Janet Payne assumed that position. Hope Talley and Jessica Jones followed, with Jones being promoted in 2003 to the position of Executive Director,
a position she still holds.
In 1995, Governor Miller, by Executive Order, assigned the administration of Commission finances and services to the Georgia Department of Labor. David
Poythress was Commissioner at the time, and he offered offices on the sixth floor of the Sussex Building, DOL headquarters in Atlanta. Marti Fullerton,
Chief Deputy Commissioner, was instrumental in seeing that the Commission's needs were met. That beneficial relationship continues today with Michael
Thurmond as Commisioner of Labor. In 2004, Commissioner Thurmond moved the Commission into a larger, more convenient suite on the 2nd Floor of the CARE
Building at 151 Ellis Street.
SETTING GOALS & PRIORITIES...
In 1993, Commissioner Duke recommended that Public Hearings be held throughout the state to hear what Georgia women considered important issues for women and
families, and to determine priorities for the Commission. She chaired the Public Hearings Committee, holding thirteen formal hearings in 1993 and 1994.
The proceedings were usually held in courtrooms, transcribed by court reporters, and paid for with funds provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, Women's
Bureau headed by Delores Crockett.. Testimony was analyzed by sociologists and five priorities emerged, including Health (and access to healthcare);
Violence (domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and elder abuse); Discrimination (in all its forms); Sexual Harrassment; and Children's Issues
( child support, child custody and quality, affordable childcare). A short time later, it was apparent that women were not being recognized for their
achievements, so that was added as a priority as well, re sulting in formation of the Georgia Woman of the Year Committee, Georga's Legacy: Older Women,
and additional Women's History events.
CONSTITUTIONAL & LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT
Georgia's Legislators and Constitutional Officers have provided encouragement and financial support to the Commission from the beginning in 1992. House Speaker
Thomas B. Murphy supported the creation of the Commission, and its funding. House Speaker Terry Coleman continued that tradition and present Speaker
Glen Richardson has assumed that role. Representatives Grace Davis and Nan Orrock served as Legislative Liaison to the Commission for the first four years.
Senators providing early support included Governor Miller's Floor Leader, then Senator Mark Taylor (now Lt. Governor) and David Scott, now a Member of Congress,
and Representative Tracy Stallings and Buddy Childers, as did Representatives Judy Manning, Gail Buckner, Kathy Ashe, Lynn Smith, Debbie Buckner, Barbara Reece,
Michele Henson, Sharon Cooper, Hinson Mosely and Mike Snow, along with State Senators Gloria Butler, Liane Levitan, Steen Miles, Nadine Thomas, Rene Unterman,
George Hooks, Phil Gingrey (now a Member of Congress), Horacena Tate, George Hooks, Don Thomas and others. The Women's Legislative Caucus assists the Commission
with encouragement and legislative support, participating in Commission programs and supporting appropriate funding. The Office of the Governor, the Office of
Lieutenant Governor, the Office of the Secretary of State, the Office of the Commissioners of Labor, Agriculture and Corrections all provide services,
cooperating fully with the Commission to fulfill their mission to advance the health, educational, economic, social and legal status of women in Georgia.
RESEARCH
One of the pre-requisites contained in legislation was that the Commission was empowered, even mandated, to conduct studies and do research to determine status
of women in Georgia. In 1995, the Commission contracted with Dr. Linda Grant, Ph D, Department of Sociology, University of Georgia, to fund a study and report on
the status of women in Georgia. A similar, smaller study had been done in the 1970's by the Committee on the Status of Women. Published in April, 1996, Women in
Georgia: A Report to the Commission on Women provided a baseline for developing a Vision for the Commission's Strategic Plan . A copy of the report is on file
at the Commission office, and a summary is available on this website under the Status of Women Committee.
From 2001 through 2004, the Commission, in partnership with the Georgia Osteoporosis Initiative and DHR's Division of Public Health, contracted with Dr. Tommy
Johnson, UGA's College of Pharmacy, to study data collected in the osteoporosis screenings done by the Commission and its partners. From the thousands of free
screenings, it was documented by the Initiative and their volunteers, that osteoporosis was indeed a major factor in the health of Georgians, especially older
women who have the disease at a rate of one of every two persons. Long before the Surgeon General's Report was released in 2005, it was known in Georgia that
men have disease at a higher rate than anticipated, or one in five instead of one in eight, that people of color are not immune to the disease, but are
vulnerable at a higher than earlier reported rate, that women of all ages can get osteoporosis, and that good nutrition and physical activity are essential
to good bone health.
In 2004, the Commission partnered with the Atlanta Bar Association's Women in the Profession Committee to publish a report, It's About Time: A Study of Part
Time Policies & Practices in Atlanta Law Firms. The study documented the impact of the practices on women attorneys, especially those who have families and
work part time or at their home offices, and the degree of cooperation and acceptance offered by their employers.
LEGAL SERVICES
From 1992 through 1997, the Department of Law, Michael Bowers, Attorney General, provided legal assistance and support. During that time, the legal guide,
Women & the Law; A Guide to Women's Legal Rights in Georgia was published with his guidance and approval. Since 1997, Attorney General Thurbert Baker has
advised and supported the Commission and its programs. He is currently assisting with re-publication of the legal guide, along with programs of health and
nutrition and the prevention of violence. Past liaison from the Department of Law included Deputy Attorneys General Stephanie Manis, Brenda Cole and Penny
Brown Reynolds, all of whom are now Judges. They assisted Atorney General Bowers with the legal guide, Women & the Law, which was co-edited by Sandra
Cuttler, Esq. and Jacquelyn Saylor, Esq., and widely distributed. Nicole Harrison, Esq. is currently working on the re-publication of the book, expected
to be ready before the end of 2006. In 1998, a supplement was published under the supervision of Attorney General Thurbert Baker, along with a condensed
version in Spanish and English, printed and distributed in 1999.