Commission on the Status of Women Garners National Award, Gains Membership on National Board

Commission on the Status of Women Garners National Award, Gains Membership on National Board

For Immediate Release

STILLWATER— The Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women (OCSW) was presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award for its Oklahoma Women’s Almanac at the National Association of Commissions for Women (NACW) recent 37th annual convention in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Another honor for the OCSW, Bernice Compton Mitchell of Stillwater, a former chair and current member of the OCSW, was elected to a two-year term on the NACW Board of Directors. Mitchell was one of seven national board members elected or re-elected at the NACW convention.

The Oklahoma Women’s Almanac, which documents the achievements of Oklahoma women, was recognized as an exemplary and innovative project and a model of excellence for other commissions to follow. The Almanac is a project of the OCSW and the Women’s Archive at Oklahoma State University. It is the first comprehensive reference work on the women of Oklahoma.

The book is edited by R. Darcy, Regents Professor of Political Science & Statistics at Oklahoma State University, and Jennifer Paustenbaugh, Associate Dean of the Oklahoma State University Libraries, Puterbaugh Professor of Library Service and Director of the Women's Archives at OSU. Paustenbaugh is also chair of the OCSW.

Paustenbaugh said, “The annual NACW convention is an opportunity to strengthen our coalitions, expand knowledge on issues, gain expertise and skills in effective commission operations and institute and implement the programs that will reflect the issues of urgency today. We are also providing strong representation for Oklahoma. It demonstrates that this state recognizes the important challenges that face women today and that they are strongly committed to addressing those challenges.”

The convention brought together women’s commissions from across the country to focus on the theme, “Making it REAL – Respect – Equality – Achievement - Leadership.” Attending the convention to represent Oklahoma were Commissioner Bernice Mitchell of Stillwater, Commission Chair Jennifer Paustenbaugh of Stillwater, Commissioner Anita Norman of Perry, and Commission Advisory Council Member Kathy Huston of Stillwater.

The National Association of Commissions for women is a nonpartisan membership organization composed of regional, state, county and local commissions created by government to improve the status of women. Information can be found at www.nacw.org. For information on women’s commissions in the community, contact Jennifer Paustenbaugh, chair of the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women, at 405-744-9778.

#