Pelosi appoints Patti Chang to Commission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 24, 2003

Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

WASHINGTON - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has appointed Patti Chang, President and CEO of the Women's Foundation of California, to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent and bipartisan federal agency. Ms. Chang serves on the board of the Women's Funding Network of which she is the former chair, is the co-founder of The Women's Leadership Alliance, and is on the National Advisory Board for Gender Public Advocacy Coalition. She has served on the board of the National Committee for Responsible Philanthropy (NCRP), is an Advisory Board member of the Women's Institute For Leadership Development (WILD) for Human Rights and EMERGE, and serves on the Council on Foundation's Strategic Planning Committee. She is a former President of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women, a past Commissioner with the San Francisco Commission on the Environment, and is a current member of the Justice and Courage Domestic Violence Oversight Panel of the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women. Ms. Chang has a B.A. from Stanford University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

"The Commission welcomes Patti Chang's appointment. She will bring much to our important and urgent work, and will enhance our capacity to fulfill our mandate to advise the Administration and Congress," said USCIRF Chair Michael K. Young.

The Commission consists of nine voting Commissioners and the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, who is a non-voting member. Three Commissioners are selected by the President, two by the leaders of the President's party in Congress, and four by the congressional leaders of the other party.

Patti Chang joins Preeta Bansal, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Khaled M. Abou El Fadl, Felice D. Gaer, Richard Land, Bishop Ricardo Ramirez, Nina Shea and Dean Michael K. Young on the Commission. Commissioners serve for one- or two-year terms and are eligible for reappointment.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and the Congress.