The Board of Virginia NOW is pleased to announce the election of Lisa Sales of Fairfax County as president and Kobby Hoffman of Charlottesville as executive vice president for the 2022-2024 term. Virginia NOW is the grassroots arm of the women’s movement in Virginia, with more than 3,500 members and supporters throughout the Commonwealth.
Ms. Sales and Ms. Hoffman were elected at the statewide Virginia NOW conference June 4, 2022, honoring “Equality Champions” and featuring Virginia political leaders including state Senator Jennifer McClellan and former delegates Hala Ayala and Jennifer Carroll Foy.
Ms. Sales announced the start of an initiative, the Virginia NOW Law Audit Project (VLAP), to review the Virginia Constitution, state statutes and administrative code. The purpose is to identify instances of sex/gender discrimination and make recommendations for use of gender-neutral terms.
Ms. Sales and Ms. Hoffman are actively involved in the Virginia and national social justice community. Ms. Sales is a former chairwoman of the Fairfax County Commission for Women, a member of the Advisory Council for the national Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Coalition and a member of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance policy committee. Ms. Hoffman is a member of the Charlottesville NOW board and founder of both the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund and the Take Back the Night rally, march and vigil in Charlottesville. She is also a member of the National NOW board and chair of its Equal Rights Amendment Committee.
The Virginia NOW Board honored former Virginia NOW President Diana Egozcue of Fredericksburg and Loudoun County NOW Board Member Jessica Berg. Ms. Egozcue received the Lifetime Achievement Award for her perseverance in the years-long struggle in Virginia to ratify the ERA, which was finally passed in 2020. Ms. Berg was honored for creating and teaching the Women’s Studies and Gender curriculum in Loudoun County high schools and for speaking out against book banning and censoring American history.
The retiring officers - Connie Cordovilla, president; Pat Reuss, executive vice president and coordinator of the Virginia NOW PAC, and Marj Signer, legislative vice president - will all maintain positions on the Virginia NOW PAC. Other officers will be appointed to the Board.
For information on joining the Virginia NOW leadership team, please contact Lisa Sales.