I’m Doing What Matters To Me!

It’s difficult to beat making your living thinking and writing about subjects that matter to you. —Eleanor Holmes Norton

Eleanor, I couldn’t agree with you more, and I think what you’ve said is the key to success and happiness in any type of work that we do.

Since 1990 Eleanor has served as a delegate to Congress, representing the District of Columbia (that’s 10 terms, if you’re counting). She came to Congress as a national figure who had been a civil rights and feminist leader, tenured professor of law, and board member at three Fortune 500 companies. Here are a few highlights from her career prior to serving in Congress.

- In the early 1970s she was appointed as the head of the New York City Human Rights Commission, and she held the first hearings in the country on discrimination against women.

- President Carter appointed her as the first female chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and through her work with the EEOC, she released the first set of regulations outlining what constitutes sexual harassment.

- She was one of the founders of the Women’s Rights Law Reporter, the first legal periodical that covers the rights of women.

Eleanor has one of the traits I find most admirable in a person—she has a sense of humor. Watch this hilarious video from her appearance on The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert, regarding the D.C. Voting Rights Act, which would allow the District of Columbia to have a vote in the House. Eleanor, even though this legislation is on hold right now, I hope someday D.C. does win the right to vote!

She also loves to dance and has introduced a resolution to make July 31 National Dance Day to promote dance education and physical fitness across the United States!

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Tags: Civil Rights, D.C. Voting Rights Act, Delegate to Congress, District of Columbia, Doing what you love, Eleanor Holmes Norton, feminist leader, National Dance Day, Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, women in congress, Women in Politics, women politicians, Women's Rights, Women's Rights Law Reporter