Women’s Commission welcomes new leadership
By Maribel Ramos
ALEXANDRIA,VA–This has been a busy month of comings and goings for the Alexandria Commission for Women. First, we would like to thank Kendra Martello, two-term chair of the Commission for Women, for her tireless support and leadership over past years to ensure equality for Alexandria’s women.
Kendra will continue to serve as a commissioner, but she has passed the chair to Maribel Ramos. In addition to the chair, the executive committee consists of First Vice Chair Nicole Hutchinson and Second Vice Chair Julie Harbour.
The new executive committee will lead the commission into the next phase of championing many issues impacting women and girls in our city. We plan to start implementing recommendations that the commission made in the ACW 2018 Status of Women Report.
We have a lot of work to do in coming years to make Alexandria a more equitable city for women and girls. Women make up more than 50 percent of the population in the City of Alexandria, but continue to make less than their male counterparts. Unfortunately, black and Latina women in Alexandria face higher unemployment, lower incomes, and more significant pay gaps. Black residents represent 22 percent of Alexandria’s population, followed by Latino/a residents at 17 percent.
Our goal for the coming year is to continue to build strong partnerships with a diverse group of organizations to help ameliorate the economic disparities that disproportionately impact all women in the city, in addition looking at the unique challenges facing our diverse communities.
Many immigrant women in our city face challenges such as isolation, fear, language barriers, and a lack of proper documentation. We look forward to playing a larger role in educating our communities, City Council, and City employees on the unique issues impacting women and girls and how we all can play a role in addressing many of these issues.
We encourage all Alexandrians to read the ACW Status of Women Report, which can be found on the www.alexandriava.gov website. If you have questions or would like to know more about areas in which you can assist, please email us at AlexandriaWomen@gmail.com.
