Rep. Sherry Appleton elected Washington state director of National Foundation for Women Legislators

March 5, 2009

State Rep. Sherry Appleton (D-Poulsbo) has been elected Washington state director of the National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL), a non-partisan resource group for the growing numbers of women serving in state legislatures, local governments, the U.S. Congress and tribal governments throughout the country. Appleton was tapped for the post at the annual NFWL meeting in Sarasota, Florida.

By accepting the unpaid position, Appleton takes on liaison and communications responsibilities between women elected officials in Washington and their counterparts in other states.

“Women hold between a fifth and a quarter of all the state legislative seats in the country,” Appleton said. “That’s a number that’s grown quite a bit in the last couple of decades, and it’s a trend that’s bound to continue. My job here in Washington will give me a chance to make sure women in office, Democrats and Republicans alike, know about the valuable resources available from the foundation.

“I’m honored to have been given this privilege and responsibility, especially here in a state that continues to be a leader in electing public officials based on their qualifications, not their gender.”

A former Poulsbo city council member, Appleton has represented Kitsap County's 23rd legislative district since 2005. She is a former member of the Washington State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the state Commission on Judicial conduct, and the Puget Sound Partnership. Today, in addition to her legislative work, she is a charter member of the Legislators' Leadership Council on HIV/AIDS at the Center for Women's Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., a member of the Washington Sentencing Guidelines Commission, and co-chair of the Juvenile Sentencing Guidelines Committee.

The NFWL was established in 1989 as an outgrowth of the National Order of Women Legislators, which was founded in 1938. With a membership now approaching 2,500, the foundation says on its website (www.womenlegislators.org) that its mission is “to provide strategic resources to women leaders for leadership development and effective governance through conferences, seminars, issue-education materials, professional and personal relationships, and networking at both the state and federal levels.” As a non-profit, non-partisan foundation, the NFWL does not take ideological positions on public policy issues.