Representing Women and Girls in Marin County Since 1974

About the Marin Women's Commission


Our Work

Increase the Visibility of Female Role Models in the Community

A picture paints a thousand words and that’s why the Marin Women’s Commission has embarked on a program to raise the profile of those individuals and organizations that highlight and encourage the success of women and girls. By showing the success of women and girls in a variety of areas from business to sports, from arts to science and everything in between, other women see and can emulate positive role models. Read more about our Recognized Role Models.

The Female Lens and Inclusion

The Commission is partnering with local organizations, agencies and groups to make sure that they are specifically working to attract and present women in their activities. If they are hosting a science fair, we are asking, “How are you attracting more girls to participate in your Fair?” If they are having a workshop on housing, we are working to make sure the women in our community know about it and that topics specific to their needs are being covered. When a panel of speakers is being assembled, we are asking that women are equally represented and we assist in connecting the organization to qualified women.

Teen Girl Knowledge

Knowledge is power and for many years the Marin Women’s Commission has hosted the Teen Girl Conference. The Conference is held annually with hundreds of girls attending to learn about topics that are of specific interest to them. Each year Teen Ambassadors are selected from County schools and work with the school student bodies to develop a list of workshop topics. Ambassadors meet regularly to develop the day’s events. Working hands on with a team of Commissioners, the Ambassadors develop invaluable leadership skills. Click Here to read more….

Teen Girl Leadership

Each year over twenty girls are selected to be Teen Ambassadors for the Teen Girl Conference and work alongside Commissioners to create and organize the Teen Girl Conference. From this group of Ambassadors a small group of teens is also selected to be presenters at the YWCA Women’s Hall of Fame Gala. In 2018, the Marin Commission named its first Teen Leader of the Year who was also honored at the YWCA Women’s Hall of Fame Gala and in a ceremony at a Marin Women’s Commission Meeting.

Increase the Visibility of Female Role Models in the Community

A picture paints a thousand words and that’s why the Marin Women’s Commission has embarked on a program to raise the profile of those individuals and organizations that highlight and encourage the success of women and girls. By showing the success of women and girls in a variety of areas from business to sports, from arts to science and everything in between, other women see and can emulate positive role models. Read more about our Recognized Role Models.

The Female Lens and Inclusion

The Commission is partnering with local organizations, agencies and groups to make sure that they are specifically working to attract and present women in their activities. If they are hosting a science fair, we are asking, “How are you attracting more girls to participate in your Fair?” If they are having a workshop on housing, we are working to make sure the women in our community know about it and that topics specific to their needs are being covered. When a panel of speakers is being assembled, we are asking that women are equally represented and we assist in connecting the organization to qualified women.

Teen Girl Knowledge

Knowledge is power and for many years the Marin Women’s Commission has hosted the Teen Girl Conference. The Conference is held annually with hundreds of girls attending to learn about topics that are of specific interest to them. Each year Teen Ambassadors are selected from County schools and work with the school student bodies to develop a list of workshop topics. Ambassadors meet regularly to develop the day’s events. Working hands on with a team of Commissioners, the Ambassadors develop invaluable leadership skills. Click Here to read more….

Teen Girl Leadership

Each year over twenty girls are selected to be Teen Ambassadors for the Teen Girl Conference and work alongside Commissioners to create and organize the Teen Girl Conference. From this group of Ambassadors a small group of teens is also selected to be presenters at the YWCA Women’s Hall of Fame Gala. In 2018, the Marin Commission named its first Teen Leader of the Year who was also honored at the YWCA Women’s Hall of Fame Gala and in a ceremony at a Marin Women’s Commission Meeting.

Resources for Women

The Yellow Card

The Yellow Card is a list of agencies, organizations and groups specifically for the needs of women. Wallet sized version are handed out at events and in are available at many of our partner’s locations. In addition, an online and pdf version are available on our website.

The Reading List

We love to read and Promote Positive Role Models in Print! The Marin Women’s Commission maintains a list of books that are by women authors, are about women or have strong female lead characters. Online you can easily sort by categories such as fiction, non-fiction, history, young adult, LGBT and other categories. Copies of the Marin Women’s Recommended Reading List are available through the County’s libraries as well. Read more…

Expand The Reading List

Book Title

Author

Author Gender

Fiction/Non Fiction

The One Thing

Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan

M

Non-fiction

Start With Why

Simon Sinec

M

Non-fiction

Secret Lives of First Ladies

Cormac O'Brien

M

Non-fiction

Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History Hardcover 

Vashti Harrison

M

Non-fiction

I am Rosa Parks

Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos

M

Non-fiction

Feminist Baby Board book

Loryn Brantz

M

Non-fiction

Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World

Matthew Goodman

M

Non-fiction

Catherine the Great

Robert Massie

M

Non-fiction

Africa: Unplugged

Robyn Keene-Young

M

Non-fiction

Yes Please

Amy Poehler

F

Non-fiction

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World

Rachel Ignotofsky

F

Non-fiction

Why Not Me?

Mindy Kaling

F

Non-fiction

When Everything Changed

Gail Collins

F

Non-fiction

West with the Night

Beryl Markham

F

Non-fiction

We Should All Be Feminists

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

F

Non-fiction

Tulip Fever

Deborah Moggach

F

Fiction

To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee

F

Fiction

The Shadow King: The Bizarre Afterlife of King Tut's Mummy

Jo Marchant

F

Non-fiction

The Poisonwood Bible

Barbara Kingsolver

F

Fiction

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Emily M. Danforth

F

Fiction

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B

Sandra Gulland

F

Fiction

The Making of Markova: Diaghilev's Baby Ballerine to Groundbreaking Icon

Tina Sutton

F

Non-fiction

The Last Great Dance on Earth

Sandra Gulland

F

Fiction

The Lady and the Unicorn

Tracy Chevalier

F

Fiction

The Joy Luck Club

Amy Tan

F

Fiction

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot

F

Non-fiction

The Creative Habit

Twyla Tharp

F

Non-fiction

The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women 

Naomi Wolf

F

Non-fiction

The Art of Tough

Barbara Boxer

F

Non-fiction

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

Doris Kearns Goodwin

F

Non-fiction

Tatiana and Alexander

Paulina Simons

F

Fiction

Tales of Passion Tales of Woe

Sandra Gulland

F

Fiction

She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World

Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger

F

Non-fiction

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality

Jonah Winter and Stacy Innerst

F

Non-fiction

Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem

Gloria Steinem

F

Non-fiction

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Azar Nafisi

F

Non-fiction

Radium Girls

Kate Moore

F

Non-fiction

Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History . . . and Our Future!

Kate Schatz and Miriam Klein Stahl

F

Non-fiction

Princesses Wear Pants

Savannah Guthrie

F

Fiction

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Marjane Satrapi

F

Non-fiction

Out of Africa

Isak Dinesen

F

Non-fiction

On Beauty

Zadie Smith

F

Fiction

Notorious RGB

Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik

F

Non-fiction

My Life on the Road

Gloria Steinem

F

Non-fiction

My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams

Abigail Adams

F

Non-fiction

My Beloved World

Sonia Sotomayer

F

Non-fiction

Men Explain Things to Me

Rebecca Solnit

F

Non-fiction

Malala's Magic Pencil

Malala Yousafzai

F

Fiction

Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria

Noo Saro-Wiwa

F

Non-fiction

Likewise: The High School Comic Chronicles

Ariel Schrag

F

Non-fiction

Interview with the Vampire

Anne Rice

F

Fiction

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark

Debbie Levy and Elizabeth Baddeley

F

Non-fiction

House of Spirits

Isabelle Allende

F

Non-fiction

Herstory: Women Who Changed the World

Deborah Ohrn and Gloria Steinem

F

Non-fiction

Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World

Richard Rhodes

F

Non-fiction

Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women

Catherine Thimmesh and Melissa Sweet

F

Non-fiction

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Tracy Chevalier

F

Fiction

Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love

Dava Sobel

F

Non-fiction

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Fannie Flagg

F

Fiction

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

F

Fiction

Founding Mothers

Cokie Roberts

F

Non-fiction

Eleanor and Hick

Susan Quinn

F

Non-fiction

Desert Queen

Janet Wallach

F

Non-fiction

Cleopatra

Stacy Schiff

F

Non-fiction

Bossypants

Tina Fey

F

Non-fiction

Bad Feminist: Essays

Roxane Gay

F

Non-fiction

Are You My Mother?

Alison Bechdel

F

Non-fiction

A Town Like Alice

Nevil Shute

F

Fiction

A Daughter of the Samurai

Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto

F

Non-fiction

Legislation

Often the greatest impact can be achieved through legislative changes. The Marin Women’s Commission has worked to eliminate inequities in state and local laws and practices. The Commission provides leadership through research, education, collaboration and advocates for legislation that directly affects women and girls. The Commission has been instrumental in advancing local legislation supporting efforts to curtail human trafficking, administer the Consent Decree and provide additional resources for women and girls affected by domestic violence. Recently, the Commission has supported legislation that ensures equal pay for women, has advocated for the United Nations Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in California and worked to increase pre-kindergarten educational offerings for children in Marin County.

Issues

From time to time, certain issues are brought to the attention of the Marin Women’s Commission that require attention. In 2017, the process around transporting victims of sexual assault for SART exams was brought to the Commission. The Commission is currently in the process of gathering information and an understanding of the past and present processes.

In 2013/14 the Commission embarked on a study of human trafficking in Marin County and delivered a report and recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. The Report put a new spotlight on Human Trafficking in the County and resulted in a number of steps being taken by various agencies and non-profits to address the issue.

A Long Legacy

The work done today by the current Commission is informed by and is a continuation of past efforts. Since 1974, the Marin Women’s Commission has been working on behalf of all women in Marin. Read about past work here.

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