Two Spokane women have been named by Gov. Jay Inslee to the newly created nine-member Women's Commission: Regina Malveaux, Spokane YWCA CEO, and Monica Holland, Spokane managing attorney for the Unemployment Law Project, a statewide not-for-profit law firm.
They'll be the only members east of the Cascades to serve on the state commission, which was created by the Legislature this year, months after the #MeToo movement brought new national focus and attention to sexual misconduct and women's issues.
The commission will "address issues relevant to the problems and needs of women, such as domestic violence, childcare and support, sexual discrimination and harassment in the workplace, equal compensation and job pathways in employment, and the specific needs of women of color," according to the Governor's Office, which oversees the commission.
In addition, they'll help prepare a celebration in 2020 for the 100-year anniversary of national women's suffrage. In Washington territory, women actually had the right to vote for a few years in the 1880s before court rulings overturned it, and then Washington state officially gave women the right in the state constitution in 1910.
