Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg Attends the 2010 Women’s Legislative Briefing in Shady Grove

Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg attended the 2010 Women’s Legislative Briefing yesterday January 31st and moderated the workshop Caring for Women’s Health.

This year marked the 30th anniversary of this conference which has drawn as many as 600 attendees in recent years. This year’s keynote speaker was world-renowned pay equity activist Lilly Ledbetter.

The briefing was sponsored by more than 70 women’s and community organizations from all across the state, with the Montgomery County Commission for Women serving as the lead agency.

Besides Councilmember Trachtenberg, panelist of the Caring for Women’s Health workshop included:

• Anne S. Kasper, Ph.D. Organizer and Chair, Maryland Women's Coalition for Health Care Reform
• Laura Meyers, PhD., President and CEO, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC;
• Heather R. Mizeur, Delegate (District 20, Montgomery County) and
• Judy Waxman, Vice President, Health and Reproductive Rights, National Women's Law Center

Anne S. Kasper, Ph.D. is a founding member of the U.S. Women’s Health Movement and an advocate, sociologist, researcher, and public policy expert on women’s health for more than 30 years. As the first co-chair of the National Women’s Health Network in 1976, she was instrumental in gaining national attention for women’s health. Anne is the founder and chair of the Maryland Women’s Coalition for Health Care Reform, a statewide alliance of women and women’s organizations working to bring comprehensive health care to all Marylanders. Anne also counsels women with breast cancer for Mobile Medical Care, the clinic system that serves the uninsured, poor, and homeless in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Laura Meyers recently took the helm of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington. Dr. Meyers comes from Planned Parenthood of Buffalo and Erie County, Inc. where she was the CEO since 2003. Laura Meyers holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University at Buffalo (UB), a Masters in Counseling from UB and an undergraduate degree from SUNY Albany. She is a graduate of UB’s Jacobs School of Management Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Core Program as well as the Community Health Foundation of WNY and CNY’s Community Health Leadership Fellowship. Prior to Planned Parenthood, Dr. Meyers was Vice President of National Program for EPIC-Every Person Influences Children headquartered in Buffalo.

Delegate Heather R. Mizeur was elected to represent Takoma Park and Silver Spring in the Maryland House of Delegates in 2006. She serves on the Appropriations Committee. Since her election, Heather sponsored and won passage of the Family Coverage Expansion Act, the Kids First Act, and the Foster Kids Coverage Act, accomplishments noted by the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, and National Public Radio. Heather spent nearly four years as Director of Domestic Policy for U.S. Senator John Kerry. As one of his top advisors, she was the principal architect of Senator Kerry’s agenda for health care reform during the 2004 presidential campaign. Her tenure on Capitol Hill also includes significant work in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she worked for three Democratic members from 1994-1998. In 2008, Heather founded The Mizeur Group, a federal government affairs consulting firm. Heather attended the University of Illinois, where she was a National Truman Scholar.

Judy Waxman is the Vice President and Director of Health and Reproductive Rights at the National Women’s Law Center. She pioneers advocacy, policy and educational strategies to promote the quality and availability of health care, including reproductive choice, for American women. Prior to joining the National Women’s Law Center, Ms. Waxman served as Deputy Executive Director at Families USA for over a decade. In that capacity, she worked to achieve high quality, affordable health and long-term care for all Americans and was a leader on grassroots and activities on Medicaid, Medicare and other health care access legislative issues.