Debra L. Ness is the president of the

National Partnership for Women & Families The National Partnership for Women & Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)3 organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1971, the National Partnership works on public policies, education and outreach that focuses on women and familie ...

. She has previously worked for the

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of member ...

and

National Abortion Rights Action League NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

Career

Ness graduated summa cum laude from

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...

with an undergraduate degree in psychology and sociology. Ness received a Master of Science from the

Columbia University School of Social Work The Columbia University School of Social Work is the graduate school of social work of Columbia University. It is the nation's oldest social work program, with roots extending back to 1898, when the New York Charity Organization Society's first s ...

in social welfare and public policy. From 1980 to 1986, Ness worked at the

(SEIU). In 1986, Ness moved to the

(NARAL) to head up field operations, and in 1989 was promoted to deputy director of the organization. In 1991, Ness joined the National Partnership for Women & Families (then the Women’s Legal Defense Fund) as executive vice president. In 2004, she assumed her current position as president. Ness also serves as the leader of the Campaign for Better Care, a health care initiative of the National Partnership for Women & Families, Community Catalyst, the

Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (The Leadership Conference), formerly called the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, is an umbrella group of American civil rights interest groups. Organizational history The Leadership Con ...

, and the National Health Law Program. It is funded by

Atlantic Philanthropies The Atlantic Philanthropies (AP) was a private foundation created in 1982 by Irish-American businessman Chuck Feeney. The Atlantic Philanthropies focused its giving on health, social, and politically left-leaning public policy causes in Australia ...

. Under Ness’s leadership, First Lady Michelle Obama said of the National Partnership in 2011, “Thanks to your tremendous efforts, the landscape of this nation has been fundamentally changed for the better: our workplaces are more family friendly, women and girls do have more opportunities, and many discriminatory practices have been completely abolished.”

Notable contributions

Ness is a recurring contributor to the

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

. Ness has provided expert testimony at more than a dozen congressional hearings. She advocated for paid sick leave policies during the

2009 swine flu pandemic The 2009 swine flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1 influenza virus and declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) from June 2009 to August 2010, is the third recent flu pandemic involving the H1N1 virus (the first being the 1918–1920 Span ...

before the House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee and the Senate Health Subcommittee on Children and Families. Ness has testified in support of the Healthy Families Act and the FIRST Act before the House Education Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. She has spoken before the House Energy Subcommittee on Health, endorsing H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, and H.R. 2279, Eliminating Disparities in Breast Cancer Treatment Act of 2009.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ness, Debra L. American women chief executives American feminists Drew University alumni Columbia University School of Social Work alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women