Patrice Douglas Receiving 2011 Kate Barnard Award Today

Today is Kate Barnard Luncheon at Capitol Blue Room.

Edmond Mayor Patrice Douglas is being honored for her "elected service" as an Outstanding Oklahoma Woman.

The event is hosted by the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women. You can read more about Mayor Douglas and the Commission's event by clicking here.

Congrats, Mayor Douglas!

Nancy Day Named Tulsa Press Club 2011 Headliner

Club President Ashley Parrish has announced that Nancy Day, executive director of the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice, is one of the Tulsa Press Club's 2011 Headliners. Read more here.

Cheryl Evans Named First Female President of an Oklahoma Two-Year College

Cheryl Evans has been named president of Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa, Oklahoma. She is the first woman to serve as president of a two-year college in Oklahoma. The announcement was made Thursday. She will oversee NOC campuses in Tonkawa, Enid and Stillwater. You can read more about Cheryl here.

Cheryl is a member of the Okahoma Women's Coalition board and serves as  vice chair of the Coalition's Education Committee.  She will be a fabulous college president.

Okie Women in the News:

Jane Haskins, president and CEO of First Bethany Bank and Trust in Bethany, OK has been appointed to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's new Community Depository Institution Advisory Council.

Danne L. Johnson, associate professor of law at Oklahoma City University was recently elected chair of the American Association of Law Schools' section on Women in Legal Education.

Kimmi Houston was recently installed as national chair of the Professional Women in Building Council of the National Association of Home Builders. Last year she was named "Woman of the Year" for the Oklahoma Professional Women in Building Council which she helped found and chaired. Interesting aside: During the current economic downturn, her firm shifted from building homes to remodeling and Kimmi is a certified "aging-in-place" specialist.

Source. The Journal Record

Oklahoma City University Honors Four Exceptional Women

The Societies of Oklahoma City University is honoring four women during its Annual Awards of Excellence dinner on February 26 at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City. Honorees are Jenny Love Meyer, Julie Hall, Lori Hill, and Jeannette Sias. Learn more at http://bit.ly/hLCpGq.

Okie Women in Law: Gurich, Reheard, Christensen, Strubhar

This year three extraordinary women hold the top three positions in our state bar association which is a first for Oklahoma.

Deborah Reheard (right above) of Eufala is OBA President, Cathy Christensen of Oklahoma City is president-elect and Judge Reta Strubhar of Piedmont is vice-president. Think there are other states that can claim three women at the top of their bar leadership?

Meanwhile Oklahoma County District Judge Noma Gurich (left above) is the third woman ever named to serve on the Oklahoma Supreme Court but she is waiting to be sworn in until a lawsuit brought by Tulsan Jerry Fent that challenges the appointment process is resolved in the courts.

Okie Women in the News: Martin, Kavanaugh-Williams, Holland, Jayroe

JaRaia Martin, a senior at Central High School in Tulsa, won the Martin Luther King, Jr. Oratorical Contest this year. The event has been sponsored since 1997 by Oneok.

Marty Kavanaugh-Williams will be honored by A Change to Change on February 22 for her 31 years of dedicated service to individuals and families coping with addiction. A Chance to Change offers education classes, school-based programs and counseling related to drug abuse, trauma, depression, anxiety and other disorders.

Kim Holland, former Oklahoma State Insurance Commissioner, has joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association in Washington, DC as their Executive Director for State Affairs.

Jane Jayroe has a new book out entitled Devote 40 Days. It is a collection of devotionals that also tell about her life. Some chapters were written by friends including Sherri Coale, Yvonne Kauger, Cathy Keating, Donna Nigh and Linda Cavanaugh.

Reducing Oklahoma's Incarceration Rate (#1 for Women): But Will Legislators Take Action

Have you noticed that we are seeing more and more excellent articles on women incarcerated in Oklahoma? For example, in yesterday's Oklahoman there was this piece: :

Social factors and Oklahoma law lead to high female imprisonment rate, experts say

Here is the good news: Leaders across Oklahoma are moving from being "tough on crime" to being "smart on crime." The Oklahoma Women's Coalition hosted a statewide conference on this subject last spring (see Oklahoma SIS website for background and to view the Public Agenda  Action Plan for getting OK down from #1 at incarcerating women).  The Oklahoma Women's Coalition then helped organize the "Count the Costs" collaborative effort (see Count The Costs website).

Tell your State Senator and State Representative Oklahoma needs to stop incarcerating nonviolent female offenders with addiction problems and the Legislature needs to pass bills that let the courts assign those women to alternative sentencing programs where they can overcome their addiction, learn coping skills and stay in contact with their children.

Why might they actually do this? Because a number of our legislative leaders recently traveled to Texas to learn how Texas radically reduced their incarceration rates (and the tax dollars they spend on corrections). Now Texas uses those saved tax dollars to provide more slots for citizens seeking drug addiction  treatment -- a win-win solution.

Women Leaders in the 2011 Oklahoma Legislature

SENATE

There are 48 Oklahoma State Senators; 32 are Republicans.

There are four women in the Senate -- one Republican (Kim David) and three Democrats (Constance Johnson, Judy McIntyre, and Susan Paddack).

There are 21 Senate committees, subcommittees and joint committees. The sole Republican woman, Kim David, is Vice Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

HOUSE 

There are 101 Oklahoma State Representatives; 70 are Republicans.

There are fifteen women in the House -- 11  Republicans (Lisa Billy, Ann Coody, Marian Cooksey, Lee Denney, Elise Hall, Sally Kern, Skye McNiel, Jadine Nollan, Leslie Osborn, Pam Peterson and Sue Tibbs)  and four Democrats (Rebecca Hamilton, Jeannie McDaniel, Anastasia Pittman and Emily Virgin).

There are 26 House committees, subcommittees and joint committees. Eight of the 11 women Republicans in the House were appointed as chair or vice chair of a House Committee.

The women chairs are:

Pam Peterson (Human Services)
Sue Tibbs (Public Safety)
Ann Coody (Common Education)
Sally Kern (Long-Term Care and Senior Services)
Lee Denney (Appropriations Subcommittee on Education)
Lisa Billy (Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety)

The women vice-chairs are:

Marian Cooksey (Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Health and Social Services)
Leslie Osborn (Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Regulatory Services)

Florence Mubichi Memorial Room at OU

Urge employers to provide women with a clean, pleasant, private place (other than a bathroom!) where they can nurse or pump breast milk. There is such a room at the OU School of Nursing that is named in honor of my dear friend Florence Mubichi of Meru, Kenya.

Oklahoma Women in State Elective Office in 2011

Now that the November elections are behind us and the Legislative session is about to begin, I thought I'd tally up how many women in Oklahoma hold a statewide-elective position, how many women are State Senators and how many women are State Representatives. I've also tried to determine how many women state legislators are in a position of leadership this year. Here is what I came up with; let me know if I got any of this wrong, please! Thanks...
 :-)

WOMEN IN STATEWIDE ELECTIVE OFFICE (3 of 8 positions or 38%)

There are 11 statewide elective offices in Oklahoma of which three are currently held by women. They are:
Mary Fallin, Governor
Dana Murphy, Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner 
Janet Barresi, Superintendent of Public Instruction

WOMEN IN OKLAHOMA STATE SENATE ( 4 of 48 or 8%)

Of the 48 members of the Oklahoma State Senate, four are women. One is a Republican and three are Democrats. 
They are:
1.) Judy Eason McIntyre (D - District 11)
2.) Susan Paddack (D - District 13)
3.) Kim David (R - District 18)
4.) Constance N. Johnson (D - District 48) 

Women in Senate Leadership Positions for 2011-2012 (Republicans 0%; Democrats 22%):

Thirty-two of the 48 Senate members are Republican. There are 11 Senate Majority Leadership positions. None are held held by a women. 

Sixteen of the 48 Senate members are Democrat. There are 9 Senate Minority Leadership positions. Two are held by women; Judy Eason McIntyre is a Minority Whip and Susan Paddack is the Democratic Caucus Vice Chair.

Women Senate Committee Chairs for 2011-12 (all Republican - 0%):

There are 21 Senate committees, subcommittees and joint committees. Kim David, the sole woman Senator, was not selected to chair a committee this year but does hold the position of Vice Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.


WOMEN IN OKLAHOMA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (15 of 101 or 15%) 

Of the 101 members in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, 15 are women. They are:
1.) Sue Tibbs (R - District 23) 
2.) Skye McNiel (R - District 29)
3.) Lee Denney (R - District 33)
4.) Marian Cooksey (R - District 39)
5.) Lisa Billy (R - District 42)
6.) Emily Virgin (D - 44)
7.) Leslie Osborn (R - District 47)
8.) Ann Coody (R - District 64)
9.) Jadine Nollan (R - 66)
10.) Pam Peterson (R - District 67)
11.) Jeannie McDaniel (D - District 78) 
12.) Sally Kern (R - District 84) 
13.) Rebecca Hamilton (D - District 89)
14.) Anastasia Pittman (D - District 99)
15.) Elise Hall (R - 100)

Women in House Leadership Positions for 2011-2012 (Republicans 21%, Democrats 7%)

Of the 101 members of the House of Representatives, 70 are Republican. There are 24 House Majority Leadership positions of which five positions are held by four Republican women. They are: 
Lisa Billy is an Assistant Majority Floor Leader. 
Leslie Osborn is an Assistant Majority Floor Leader. 
Skye McNiel is the Majority Whip. 
Marian Cooksey is an Assistant Majority Whip. 
Marian Cooksey is also Secretary of the Majority Caucus.

There are 31 Democrats in the House and 14 House Minority Leadership positions. One is held by a woman; Rep. Jeannie McDaniel is an Assistant Minority Floor Leader.

Women House Committee Chairs for 2011-2012 (all Republicans - 23%)

There are 26 House committees. Six chairmanships went to women:
Pam Peterson (Human Services)
Sue Tibbs (Public Safety)
Ann Coody (Common Education)
Sally Kern (Long-Term Care and Senior Services)
Lee Denney (Appropriations Subcommittee on Education)
Lisa Billy (Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety)

However, two vice-chairmanships went to women; they are Marian Cooksey (Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Health and Social Services) and Leslie Osborn (Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Regulatory Services).