Kim Gandy
President of the National Organization for Women
Live Webcast December 11, 2001, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT

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Kim Gandy submerged herself in women's rights issues as a new college grad, when she discovered she still needed her husband's signature on a job application. She began working for the National Organization for Women's chapter in Louisiana in 1973 and made steady progress to the top. In June 2001, she was elected NOW's president.

Gandy, 47, decided to go to law school when she had trouble finding attorneys to advise her NOW chapter. She graduated from from Loyola University School of Law in 1978 and became senior assistant district attorney in New Orleans before opening a family practice. Gandy drafted Louisiana's first Domestic Abuse Assistance Act, and several successful bills, including the pioneering Louisiana Child Support Enforcement Act.

In 1987, Gandy left NOW's regional offices, joined the national board and moved to Washington, D.C. She served as secretary treasurer until 1991, when she became NOW's executive vice president. Her primary focus has been government relations and legislative issues, including NOW vs. Scheidler, a landmark case against anti-abortion terrorists.

As the first new NOW president in a decade, Gandy says her top priorities are preventing President Bush from rolling back hard-won concessions to women's rights -- especially the installation of Supreme Court justices who would outlaw abortion. "From the Bush administration's attacks on women's rights to preparing for a vacancy on the Supreme Court, NOW activists have our hands full protecting the advances we've made together over the past decades and moving forward on women's rights," Gandy said when she won her post.

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