National Council for Research on Women Names Aine Duggan President

NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Council for Research on Women has named Aine Duggan as its new president, the Council's Chair of the Board of Directors Lucie Lapovsky announced today. Ms. Duggan is a well-known leader of public policy, education, and advocacy programs related to social justice. The thirty-year-old Council is a network of more than 200 members and partners – including university, nonprofit, and stand-alone research, policy, and advocacy centers focused on women, as well as corporate and government partners – and has an "expert bank" of more than 2,000 researchers and specialists at organizations across the country.

As of November 15, Ms. Duggan becomes the Council's fourth leader, succeeding Linda Basch, Ph.D., who has led the organization for 16 years of growth. Ms. Basch has been awarded a year-long fellowship to Harvard University's Advanced Leadership Initiative beginning in January 2013.

"Aine's coming aboard represents a new chapter in the National Council for Research on Women, as we work to make an even greater impact on the lives of women and girls across the economic spectrum," says Ms. Lapovsky. "Her vision embraces the enormous power of hard research as an agent of change."

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Duggan served as Vice President for Research, Policy, and Education at the Food Bank for New York City. Previously, she was Director for Public Education at the Coalition for the Homeless in New York. Born in Cork, Ireland, and trained at University College Dublin, Ms. Duggan's formative work was with the Irish Refugee Council, and Cairde, an Irish AIDS organization. She came to the US permanently in 1999.

"In leading the Council, my goal is to leverage and support the power of research, and its ability to embolden women's progress, empower change, and achieve gender equity," says Ms. Duggan.

"We want to harness the force that data brings to women's stories, and to show how imperative it is that we increase efforts to eradicate gender inequality.

"Part of the Council's work in the immediate future," she says, "is to show how the connection between developing women's leadership and building economic security for low-income women is crucial to the ongoing development and shaping of the nation's economic recovery strategies."

At the Food Bank for New York City, Ms. Duggan created and implemented a multi-year policy, advocacy, and program strategy for the group's network of 1,000 member organizations, establishing a research wing and positioning the Food Bank as the regional hub of food poverty services for more than two million New Yorkers.

Ms. Duggan is taking the reins of the Council as the organization, under Ms. Basch's leadership, has broadened its reach in the academic, business, philanthropic, and government communities, including the establishment of a Corporate Circle of Fortune 500 companies and major law firms, a Presidents Circle of college and university presidents, and a network of over 2,000 leading researchers. The Council's reports have been called "the gold standard of research on women and girls."

"The Council has become a primary advocate – based on solid research – for advancing women's rights and opportunities in traditionally male-dominated arenas such as the sciences, corporations, and the financial community," says Ms. Basch. "Aine Duggan's exceptional credentials and passion for new research will help advance the Council's mission even further."

For more information, please contact Davia Temin or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at 212-588-8788 or [email protected].

About NCRW

The National Council for Research on Women is a network of more than 200 leading research, policy and advocacy centers committed to improving the lives of women and girls. Headquartered in New York City, the Council provides the latest news, information and strategies needed to ensure fully informed debates, effective policies, and inclusive practices. In partnership with business, academic, non-profit and philanthropic organizations, the Council advances collaborative and transformative change.

SOURCE National Council for Research on Women