Pennsylvanians for Fair Representation

Pennsylvanians for Fair Representation (PFR) is an initiative of the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania. PFR is a non-partisan collaboration of over 60 individuals and organizations representing the non-profit, corporate, and public sectors who are working together to ensure that Pennsylvania public boards are representative of the populations they serve. In November 2004, City Council voted on fair representation legislation that was drafted in coordination with PFR and co-sponsored by Council Members Peduto, Carlisle, and Udin.

In June 2004, the PFR initiative organized a community press conference on the steps of the City County building demanding fair representation on public boards. Participants included representatives from WGF, NAACP, YWCA, EWC, and public officials from both sides of the aisle. This conference was extensively covered in the print, TV, and local radio press. Within hours Senate Republican Leadership appointed the first woman to the Fiscal Oversight board.

During the Pittsburgh mayoral primaries the PFR initiative secured pledges of support for fair appointments from all of the mayoral candidates. Since then, WGF has continued to work with the community and the city council to pursue action as follow up to the mayoral pledges. In July, City Council passed a resolution in favor of a fair representation policy at the city level and on Tuesday October 11th Councilman Bill Peduto and Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle introduced legislation to the city council to implement a fair appointments process. This legislation was created with community input led by WGF and with inspiration from a report created by a team of Masters Students from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School for Public Policy which was prepared for WGF and released to the media in August. This report quantified that women made up less than one quarter of city board membership. The purpose of the city legislation is to establish standard procedures for appointing members to City Boards and to encourage fair representation on all city boards, commissions, and authorities.

During October 2005 leaders from the PFR initiative met with leadership in Allegheny County government and with bi-partisan leadership at the General Assembly in Harrisburg and with representatives of the Governor’s office.

In summary, the fair appointment policy has gained significant momentum from local media coverage and steady support at the city level. In fall 2005, WGF identified possible Senate and House sponsors for state level legislation. We have learned that in the state of Iowa after they passed gender parity legislation regarding state board appointments women went from being 30% of boards to 48% of boards. Also, in 1987 when Iowa first passed their fair appointments legislation women had 16 seats in their State House. They now have 33! This is encouraging data to support our theory that if more women start to participate on BACs more women will think about running for office.


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Introduction Events Grantmaking Regional Change Agents Will Work For Equality Coalition Building Public Advocacy	ACTIVITIES Public Advocacy: Fair Representation Pennsylvanians for Fair Representation Pennsylvanians for Fair Representation (PFR) is an initiative of the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania. PFR is a non-partisan collaboration of over 60 individuals and organizations representing the non-profit, corporate, and public sectors who are working together to ensure that Pennsylvania public boards are representative of the populations they serve. In November 2004, City Council voted on fair representation legislation that was drafted in coordination with PFR and co-sponsored by Council Members Peduto, Carlisle, and Udin. In June 2004, the PFR initiative organized a community press conference on the steps of the City County building demanding fair representation on public boards. Participants included representatives from WGF, NAACP, YWCA, EWC, and public officials from both sides of the aisle. This conference was extensively covered in the print, TV, and local radio press. Within hours Senate Republican Leadership appointed the first woman to the Fiscal Oversight board. During the Pittsburgh mayoral primaries the PFR initiative secured pledges of support for fair appointments from all of the mayoral candidates. Since then, WGF has continued to work with the community and the city council to pursue action as follow up to the mayoral pledges. In July, City Council passed a resolution in favor of a fair representation policy at the city level and on Tuesday October 11th Councilman Bill Peduto and Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle introduced legislation to the city council to implement a fair appointments process. This legislation was created with community input led by WGF and with inspiration from a report created by a team of Masters Students from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School for Public Policy which was prepared for WGF and released to the media in August. This report quantified that women made up less than one quarter of city board membership. The purpose of the city legislation is to establish standard procedures for appointing members to City Boards and to encourage fair representation on all city boards, commissions, and authorities. During October 2005 leaders from the PFR initiative met with leadership in Allegheny County government and with bi-partisan leadership at the General Assembly in Harrisburg and with representatives of the Governor’s office. In summary, the fair appointment policy has gained significant momentum from local media coverage and steady support at the city level. In fall 2005, WGF identified possible Senate and House sponsors for state level legislation. We have learned that in the state of Iowa after they passed gender parity legislation regarding state board appointments women went from being 30% of boards to 48% of boards. Also, in 1987 when Iowa first passed their fair appointments legislation women had 16 seats in their State House. They now have 33! This is encouraging data to support our theory that if more women start to participate on BACs more women will think about running for office.