Patricia E. "Pat" Ryan is a human rights and women's rights advocate. She served as executive director of the Maine Human Rights Commission, a

state agency A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government The machinery of government (sometimes abbreviated as MoG) is the interconnected structures and proc ...

tasked with enforcement of Maine's

anti-discrimination law Anti-discrimination law or non-discrimination law refers to legislation designed to prevent discrimination against particular groups of people; these groups are often referred to as protected groups or protected classes. Anti-discrimination laws ...

s, for over three decades. Prior to that, she chaired the Maine Commission for Women and the Maine State Personnel Board. She was a co-founder of the

Maine Women's Lobby The Maine Women's Lobby (MWL) was founded in 1978 and is dedicated to legislative action on behalf of Maine's women and girls. The Maine Women's Lobby believes women and girls should have economic security, access to health care, and freedom from ...

. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.

Career

Ryan began her career as a personnel administrator at Polaroid Corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She next worked as projects coordinator for the nonprofit Center for Natural Areas, an environmental resource management company. Ryan moved to Maine in 1973. That year, she assumed the role of statewide coordinator for the Maine Coalition for the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and ...

. In 1974 Maine became the seventh state to ratify the amendment. In 1975 Ryan was appointed chair of the Governor's Advisory Council on the Status of Women, a post she held until 1979. During that time, she also served as chair of the Maine Commission for Women and chair of the Maine State Personnel Board. In 1977 she was appointed as chair of the Maine State Meeting, which crafted proposals for improving women's rights in advance of the

1977 National Women's Conference The National Women's Conference of 1977 was a four-day event during November 18–21, 1977, as organized by the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year. The conference drew around, 2,000 delegates along with 15,000-20,0 ...

. In 1978 Ryan and eight other women founded the

, a group that lobbies for equal opportunities for women and girls. In June 1979 she became executive director of the Maine Human Rights Commission, a state agency established in 1971 to investigate complaints of discrimination. The Commission tries to resolve these complaints by working with claimants, but if a resolution cannot be reached, the case is taken to court. Ryan anticipated that she would stay in the position for five years, but ended up serving for 32 years. During her tenure, the Commission saw an increase in the number and type of complaints, with disability, sexual harassment, age, race, and retaliation charges making up 95 percent of the Commission's caseload. Following her retirement from the Commission in 2011, Ryan continued to volunteer as a mediator for that body. She also returned to the Maine Women's Lobby as treasurer.

Other activities

Ryan has served as co-chair of the EEOC/Fair Employment Practices Agencies State & Local Programs Re-Engineering Committee and co-chair of the State Immigrant and Refugee Resettlement Task Force. She has been a board member of the Maine Women's Lobby, the Maine Women's Political Caucus, and the State Agency Advisory Board of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Awards and honors

In 2015 Ryan received the Deborah Morton Award from the

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 18,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 3,000 students See also *New England Colle ...

. In 2014 she was the recipient of the Roger Baldwin Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine. Also in 2014, she was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Ryan is married to Charles R. Priest, an attorney. Priest served a total of seven terms as a representative in the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...

as a Democrat representing the 63rd District. They have two daughters and reside in Brunswick.

References

External links

“Remarks by Patricia E. Ryan, Maine Women's Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, March 15, 2014”
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Patricia E. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Brunswick, Maine American women's rights activists