Paterson was born on June 28, 1955, in New York City. She received a bachelor;s degree in communication from Oral Roberts University in 1977. She has been employed as a television spokesperson as well as an associate television producer.
She served as a Tulsa County Republican chairman, as the Republican Party’s First Congressional District vice chairman, and as a national delegate to the Republican Convention.
Peterson won the election to the Oklahoma House of Representatives from District 67 in January 2004. She was appointed commissioner for the Oklahoma Commissions on the Status of Women , and serves as the chair of the Task Force to Stop Sexual Violence (2006). She continues active participation in ALEC, Alliance to the Tulsa Medical Society, and MEND Pregnancy Resource Center.
Peterson and her husband, Paul, have two grown children. Peterson’s hobbies include tennis.
Anastasia was born in Miami, Florida. She has resided in Oklahoma for over 30 years. Her parents are Maye B. Pittman and C. Anthony Pittman. She is the granddaughter of the late Jazz Hall of Famer C.E. Pittman, Juanita Pittman, Mary Lee Thurman-Taylor, and Seminole Freedman Rayfield (Tom) Barkus. Anastasia has one daughter and one foster son.
She has a B.A. in Journalism/Public Relations from the University of Oklahoma. She also has a M.Ed. in Urban Education & Behavioral Science from Langston University.
She is an educator, works in the communications field & Case Management.
She is a board member of the YWCA, Metropolitan Better Living Center, Aids Walk of Oklahoma, former board member of BLAC, Inc. and the Association of Concerned Citizens for HIV Awareness. She is a former mentor/tutor of the National Weed and Seed Program and the Oklahoma Public School System, U.S. Department of Justice Western District, and the PTA President of K.I.P.P. College Preparatory School. She is also the founder of the Magic Star Foundation, Inc.
ORGANIZATIONS: Northeast Church of Christ
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc.
Urban League Young Professionals
Life Member of NAACP
A. Philip Randolph Institute
Metro Federation Democratic Women’s Club
Eastside Capitol Gateway
State & Community Organizations Promoting Education (S.C.O.P.E.)
HONORS: Outstanding Community Service Recognition for Magic Star Foundation, Inc., former president William Jefferson Clinton
Cooperative Extension-Outreach Service and Leadership Award,
Langston University
Unity in the Community State Award, Oklahoma Federal Executive Board
Lecia D. Swain/Theodis Payne Media Award, OKC Branch NAACP
Outstanding Black Woman’s Award, Girl Scout Honor Troop 18
Media Advocacy Award, Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence
and Sexual Assault
Oklahoma Achiever’s Award, Metropolitan Better Living Center
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: House of Representatives, 51st Legislature
Susan Paddack received a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Colorado and a Master of Education Degree in Secondary Education from East Central University. She earned a Certificate of Excellence in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Susan was elected in November 2004 as the State Senator for District 13, which includes Pontotoc, Hughes, portions of Garvin and Coal Counties. She serves as a Democratic Whip and Co-Chair of the Judiciary Committee. In addition, she serves on the full Appropriations Committee, Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, the Education Committee, and the Tourism and Wildlife Committee. She represents Oklahoma as a board member on the Southern Regional Education Board, a member of the Annual Meeting Committee for the Council of State Governments, a board member of the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust, a board member on the Healthcare Workforce Resources Center Board, and serves on the Governor’s Elimination of Health Disparities Task Force, the Task Force on Achieving Classroom Excellence, the State Coverage Initiative to reform healthcare in Oklahoma, and the Governor’s Catastrophic Health Emergency Planning Task Force.
With a passion to promote both education and healthcare in Oklahoma, Senator Paddack has successfully authored numerous pieces of landmark legislation in these areas, resulting in multiple honors for her efforts. Susan was the principal author of the 2005 legislation, Rx Oklahoma, which expands the Prescription Assistance Program to make it available statewide. That same year, she also authored legislation creating a physician assistant scholarship program aimed at helping ensure rural communities have greater access to medical care. She was also instrumental in passing legislation to create the Health Care Workforce Resource Center to help identify shortages in nursing and allied health as well as developing strategies to address those gaps. In addition, she authored laws to ensure that schools provide information about meningococcal meningitis to parents of students in the sixth through twelfth grades and to require vision screenings for elementary students. She also authored a bill which gives lawsuit protection to healthcare providers who provide charitable medical services to medically indigent persons in a free medical clinic setting.
Susan’s honors for her legislation include being named the 2005 Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians Patient Advocate of the Year as well as 2006 Legislator of the Year for the Rural Health Association of Oklahoma. She was also named the Legislative Newcomer award recipient in 2005 by the Higher Education Alumni Council of Oklahoma. In 2006, Susan was awarded the Oklahoma Nurses Association Friend of Nursing award and the Legislative award from the Oklahoma State School Boards Association. In 2007, she was awarded the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Alumni Association “Amicus Medicinae Award, and the Higher Education Alumni Council of Oklahoma Friend of Higher Education Award. Also in 2007, she received the Metropolitan Environmental Trust Legislator of the Year and the Oklahoma Professional Economic Development Council Legislative Advocate of the Year. In 2008, she received the Oklahoma Academy Exceptional Commitment Award and was inducted into the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy’s Child Advocate Hall of Fame. The Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians awarded her the 2008 Legislator of the Year. She also received the 2008 Distinguished Service Award from the Oklahoma Association of Career and Technology Education, 2008 Legislator of the Year from the Oklahoma State Troopers Association-District 13, 2008 Honoree for the Journal Record’s 50 Making a Difference/Woman of the Year. In 2009 she received the Outstanding Member of a State Legislature, Dr. Nathan Davis Award, from the American Medical Association and the Partners in Conservation Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior. She also received the Oklahoma District Attorneys Association’s Legislative Award of Appreciation and the Friend of Retired Educators from the Oklahoma Retired Educators Association.
Prior to her election to the Senate, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence employed Susan for nine years as their Director of Local Education Foundation Outreach. She traveled the state working with LEF boards and tailored presentations and workshops based on each foundation’s specific need. During this tenure, the number of local education foundations grew by 31% and over $22 million was awarded to schools by their LEFs since their formation in the early 1980s. She also consulted with LEFs in states such as Missouri, Indiana, and Arkansas. She was employed as a secondary science teacher in middle and junior high schools in Texas, Colorado, and Oklahoma. She also served as an adjunct faculty member for East Central University’s Education Department.
Susan serves in various capacities in local, state, and national volunteer organizations. She served as the 2000-2001 president of the American Medical Association Alliance, and traveled to 32 states as a part of their Speakers’ Bureau. Susan served as a representative from the AMAA to the Commission for the Prevention of Youth Violence, which was a call to action from medicine, nursing, and public health to address the epidemic of youth violence in the nation. On the state level, she is a board member for the Jasmine Moran Children’s Museum, a board member for the Oklahoma Academy, a board member for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence where she was presented with an Honorary Circle of Excellence in 2003, and a board member of the Oklahoma Arts Institute. Susan was a member of the Leadership Oklahoma Class XVI. She was named among the 2004 and 2008 honorees for The Journal Record’s 50 Women Making a Difference. She also was a board member of the Oklahoma Institute of Child Advocacy, having served as Vice-president of Development and Vice-president of Trustees, was a board member of the Center for Nonprofit Management and was on the advisory board of governors for the Communities Foundation of Oklahoma. Susan served as the 1991-92 president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association Alliance.
On the local level, Susan served on the board of the Ada City Schools Foundation where she was previously president, vice-president, and was grant review chair for ten years. She has also served as: president for the Pontotoc County Medical Alliance, board member for the City of Ada’s Board of Adjustments, board member of the Kiwanis Club of Ada and chairman of Young Children - Priority One, parent representative on the Ada City Schools Professional Staff Development Committee, vice-president for the Ada Arts and Humanities Council, the 1992 United Way fund drive chair and board president in 1993, a member of the Mayor’s Advisory Task Force and steering committee on Economic Development, and a member of the 1991 Leadership Ada class. She was named the Ada Education Association’s 1992 Friend of Education. Susan is an elder of First Presbyterian Church of Ada. She is married to Gary, an internal medicine physician.
Debbe Leftwich, State Senator from District 44 in South Oklahoma City, was elected in a special election December 9, 2003 to fill the vacancy left by her husband, Senator Keith Leftwich who died of cancer in September that year. She was re-elected in 2006.
She authored the Breast & Cervical Cancer Treatment bill, the Quality Investment Act, the Graduated Driver’s License Program and major Nursing Home Reforms, along with bills that increased fines and punishments for crimes of Domestic Violence, increased statute of limitations for sex crimes against children, expanded the Victims Impact Panel’s DUI programs, enhanced penalties for negligent homicide and created Oklahoma’s Elevator Safety Act. She’s pushed freezing property taxes for seniors and tax cuts for retirees and veterans. She’s supported raising teacher’s pay to the regional average, additional funding and accountability to our schools as well as performance audits for state government.
Debbe serves on Business & Labor, Transportation, Retirement & Insurance and General Appropriations committees. In addition to the legislative committees she serves on, Debbe has been appointed to various boards, committees and commissions.
She currently serves as:
Chair of the Oklahoma Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Advisory Committee
Co-Chair of Oklahoma Women’s Legislative Caucus
Co-Chair of Oklahoma’s Cancer Caucus
Member of Oklahoma Women’s Coalition
Member of YMCA Youth & Government Advisory Board
Debbe also served on the Attorney General’s Task Force to improve End-of-Life Care as well as a Governor’s appointee to the Oklahoma Health Information Security & Privacy Collaboration Steering Committee. She is also a member of the Commission on the Status of Women (and past Chair), Youth Services SKIL Board, the American Legion Auxiliary, South OKC Rotary and the South OKC Chamber of Commerce.
Her efforts have earned Leftwich special recognition from the Oklahoma Nurses Association, Oklahoma Unified Chiropractic Association, AARP, Oklahoma Association of Marriage and Family, Oklahoma Safe Kids Coalition, AARP and Oklahoma Aging Partnership. She also has received an Action Award from the American Cancer Society and in 2008 was inducted into the Oklahoma Institute of Child Advocacy’s Hall of Fame. In 2009, she was honored by Oklahoma State Home Builders Association with their “Champions of the Industry” Award and was selected as one of the Oklahoma Journal Record’s “50 Making a Difference”.
Debbe has worked in both the private and public sectors. She has held management, supervisory and administrative positions for Globe Life, Aetna, Kerr McGee and the OSU Extension Center. She was Division Administrator and then later Director of Administration and Personnel for the Chief Medical Examiner’s office. She’s had training and experience in Strategic Planning, Government Purchasing and Administrative Law. Debbe has conducted training sessions in Strategic Planning, Grassroots Campaigning and Group Advocacy. She served as a member of the Office of Personnel Management’s Advisory Council and the Employee Benefit Coordinator’s Association.
Debbe is also a past president of her hometown Alumni Association, a past PTA Vice-Chair, former Sunday school teacher and assistant little league coach. She is a member of Southern Hills United Methodist Church. She was born in Chandler, grew up in Wellston, Oklahoma, and graduated from Wellston High School, and attended Oklahoma Baptist University and the University of Central Oklahoma. Debbe has two sons, Kevin and Kurt.
State Representative Skye McNiel is a fifth-generation Oklahoman and life-time resident of Bristow, Oklahoma. In 2006, Rep. McNiel, the owner of a small business in Bristow, was elected to represent State House District 29 at the age of 28. She was unopposed for re-election in 2008.
Rep. McNiel serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Regulatory Services as the Vice-Chair. She is also a member of the Higher Education and Career Tech Committee, the Wildlife Committee and the Economic Development and Financial Services Committee.
She currently serves on Speaker of the House Chris Benge’s leadership team as Vice-Chair of the Republican Caucus.
Rep. McNiel continues to work at her family’s livestock auction and has been featured in the Tulsa World newspaper for her interaction with customers at the auction’s restaurant.
In addition to her service as a state representative, Rep. McNiel is past president of the Bristow Education Foundation, a former president of the Bristow Chamber of Commerce and was formerly employed as Marketing Coordinator for Community Bank in Bristow.
Rep. McNiel is a member of the Rural Caucus, Native American Caucus, is an At-large member of the Lion’s Club and is a member of the Mannford and Oilton Chambers of Commerce. She is also a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council. She attends the Presbyterian Church of Bristow.
Rep. McNiel is a graduate of Bristow Public Schools and Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Communications and Animal Science. She is married to Pecos and has two daughters, Paike Marie and Jamison.
Sally Kern was first elected to the Oklahoma State House of Representatives on November 2, 2004. Sally and her husband, Dr. Stephen D. Kern, a Southern Baptist minister, were married in 1970 and have two grown sons, one daughter-in-law, and one grandson. Sally is a member of Olivet Baptist Church where her husband is pastor.
Prior to her election, Sally was very active in her church as a Bible teacher and member of the choir, and continues to serve there. She was teaching high school government in Oklahoma City when elected, as well as coaching girl’s golf and volleyball. Sally has taught school about 20 years.
Since Sally is an educator, her priorities in the House revolve around education. Her desire is to see the quality of education improve for all children. Her emphasis in education has been on reading. Reading is a skill students must become proficient in if they are to learn the various subject matters. Although education is a high priority because that is where her life experience is, Sally, also, has many other issues that are important to her
Since being elected, Sally has served on various committees in the House. In 2005-2006 she was the Vice Chair for the Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Education, member of the Common Education, Health and Human Services, and Business and Economic Development committees.
In 2007-2008 she was the Chair of the Human Services Subcommittee on Social Services, and member of the Education, Common Education, and Human Services committees.
Sally graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1971 with a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in History. In 1986, she received her teacher certification in Social Studies with an emphasis in Government from East Texas State University.
Sally’s memberships include Olivet Baptist Church, the Northwest Chamber of Commerce, Heart and Hand non-profit ministry, Eagle Forum, Frontier Country Republican Women’s Club, Advisory Board for the Master of Leadership Public Administration at Mid-America Christian University, Tri-Cities Republican Women’s Club, Oklahoma City Republican Women’s Club, and the American Legislative Exchange Council. She is, also, a board member of the Advisory Council for BOTT Radio, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, member of the Office of Personnel Management’s Employee Assistance Program Advisory Council, and member of the Advisory Board for HIRE (Help in Reaching Employment) at the Moore Norman Technology Center. Sally is also a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
After her first session in office, Sally was voted “Outstanding Lawmaker of the Year 2005” by the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) for her conservative voting record. OCPAC also voted Sally “Runner Up Lawmaker of the Year 2005.” In April of 2008, Sally was honored as the first ever recipient of the Family Research Council’s (FCR) “Champion of Faith, Family, and Freedom Award.” OCPAC has again voted Sally “Runner Up Lawmaker of the Year 2008.”
Sally enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and playing golf, and watching football.
Representative Leslie Osborn Graduated from OSU with a degree in Business Administration.
She has been married to her husband, Tim Osborn, for 24 years.
Together they have 2 Children, Will age 21, Katie age 19 both attending Oklahoma State University.
Leslie has owned her own business for 20 years, Osborn Pick-Up Accessories.
She and her husband farm and ranch in Tuttle.
This is Leslie’s 2nd year in House of Representatives. She is a Deputy Majority Whip and serves on 4 committee’s—agriculture, public safety, government modernization, and the appropriations sub-committee for natural resource agencies.
State Representative Rebecca Hamilton is now serving her second tour of duty in Legislature, in a manner of speaking. She was first elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1980 and served until 1986 when she left politics to have her first child. She remained at home to raise a family and later resumed her political career when she was re-elected to the House in 2002.
During her tenure in the Oklahoma Legislature, Rep. Hamilton has been an advocate for human rights, believing that government must support and defend the sanctity of all human lives, regardless of age.
Rep. Hamilton has authored laws authorizing Victim’s Protective Orders to protect battered women, obtained funding for the first statewide program for adult day care and the first statewide program of domestic violence shelters, and she helped pass some of the first nursing home reforms in Oklahoma.
She has also carried legislation to prevent law enforcement officials from publicly posting the private information of rape victims, protect nursing home residents from sexual predators, require background checks for all nursing home employees, and impose significant penalties on those convicted of human trafficking.
Rep. Hamilton is one of four founding members of Oklahoma Pro-Life Democrat Legislators and authored a 2005 law hailed at the time as the most significant piece of pro-life legislation in Oklahoma in 30 years. The measure required informed consent, parental notification and created a “Laci Peterson” law allowing prosecutors to file criminal charges against anyone who intentionally causes the death of an unborn child by harming the mother.
Rep. Hamilton has also authored legislation ensuring taxpayers are not forced to subsidize elective abortions and this year she is carrying legislation to prevent women from being financially coerced into selling their eggs in a potentially dangerous extraction procedure.
Rep. Hamilton’s legislative career reflects her long-standing commitment to her community. In 1972, long before she sought elective office, she was one of six original co-founders of first rape crisis center in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma City Democrat has worked to bring a wide range of groups together to fight on the behalf of abused women, including the creation of the Annual Day of Prayer for an End to Violence Against Women at the Oklahoma Capitol.
Rep. Hamilton has been married for 25 years to her husband, Rodney, and the couple has two grown sons.
A member of St. James Catholic Church, Rep. Hamilton serves as an Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister who takes communion to homebound in her parish.
She has also been a long-time volunteer at Birth Choice of Oklahoma, a non-profit organization that helps women facing crisis pregnancies deal with the challenges involved - emotional, medical and financial.
Rep. Hamilton, a writer, is the editor of Economy Publishing Company.
She is a lifelong resident of south Oklahoma City, and previously served on the board of regents of Oklahoma City Community College.
Senator Connie Johnson won a special election in 2005, and was re-elected in 2006, after 24 years as a Senate analyst/drafter on subjects ranging from birth to death.
Her focus on children and families is a reflection of the needs of her district as a significant number of the children in her district are being reared by their grandparents, mostly due to their parents’ incarceration for nonviolent, addiction or mental health related offenses. Oklahoma’s status as #1 in women’s and 4th in overall incarceration has inspired her work on restorative justice issues ranging from clarifying the governor’s role in the parole process to sentencing reform and support for the children of incarcerated parents with an emphasis on child support arrearages. She successfully repealed occupational licensure restrictions for addiction or mental illness convictions.
Sen. Johnson serves on the General Government/Public Safety Appropriations Subcommittee, and the Health and Human Resources, General Government, Transportation, and Veterans standing committees. She is the National Black Caucus of State Legislatures executive board recording secretary, and former National Conference of State Legislatures executive board member. This legislative session, she is in her 30th Legislature.
Born to educators in Holdenville, Oklahoma, she is the mother of three and has one grandchild. An honors graduate of Frederick A. Douglass Sr. High in Oklahoma City, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and will be a May, 2010 Langston University Master’s graduate in Rehabilitation Counseling.
Debbe Leftwich, State Senator from District 44 in South Oklahoma City, was elected in a special election December 9, 2003 to fill the vacancy left by her husband, Senator Keith Leftwich who died of cancer in September that year. She was re-elected in 2006.
She authored the Breast & Cervical Cancer Treatment bill, the Quality Investment Act, the Graduated Driver’s License Program and major Nursing Home Reforms, along with bills that increased fines and punishments for crimes of Domestic Violence, increased statute of limitations for sex crimes against children, expanded the Victims Impact Panel’s DUI programs, enhanced penalties for negligent homicide and created Oklahoma’s Elevator Safety Act. She’s pushed freezing property taxes for seniors and tax cuts for retirees and veterans. She’s supported raising teacher’s pay to the regional average, additional funding and accountability to our schools as well as performance audits for state government.
Debbe serves on Business & Labor, Transportation, Retirement & Insurance and General Appropriations committees. In addition to the legislative committees she serves on, Debbe has been appointed to various boards, committees and commissions.
She currently serves as:
Chair of the Oklahoma Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Advisory Committee
Co-Chair of Oklahoma Women’s Legislative Caucus
Co-Chair of Oklahoma’s Cancer Caucus
Member of Oklahoma Women’s Coalition
Member of YMCA Youth & Government Advisory Board
Debbe also served on the Attorney General’s Task Force to improve End-of-Life Care as well as a Governor’s appointee to the Oklahoma Health Information Security & Privacy Collaboration Steering Committee. She is also a member of the Commission on the Status of Women (and past Chair), Youth Services SKIL Board, the American Legion Auxiliary, South OKC Rotary and the South OKC Chamber of Commerce.
Her efforts have earned Leftwich special recognition from the Oklahoma Nurses Association, Oklahoma Unified Chiropractic Association, AARP, Oklahoma Association of Marriage and Family, Oklahoma Safe Kids Coalition, AARP and Oklahoma Aging Partnership. She also has received an Action Award from the American Cancer Society and in 2008 was inducted into the Oklahoma Institute of Child Advocacy’s Hall of Fame. In 2009, she was honored by Oklahoma State Home Builders Association with their “Champions of the Industry” Award and was selected as one of the Oklahoma Journal Record’s “50 Making a Difference”.
Debbe has worked in both the private and public sectors. She has held management, supervisory and administrative positions for Globe Life, Aetna, Kerr McGee and the OSU Extension Center. She was Division Administrator and then later Director of Administration and Personnel for the Chief Medical Examiner’s office. She’s had training and experience in Strategic Planning, Government Purchasing and Administrative Law. Debbe has conducted training sessions in Strategic Planning, Grassroots Campaigning and Group Advocacy. She served as a member of the Office of Personnel Management’s Advisory Council and the Employee Benefit Coordinator’s Association.
Debbe is also a past president of her hometown Alumni Association, a past PTA Vice-Chair, former Sunday school teacher and assistant little league coach. She is a member of Southern Hills United Methodist Church. She was born in Chandler, grew up in Wellston, Oklahoma, and graduated from Wellston High School, and attended Oklahoma Baptist University and the University of Central Oklahoma. Debbe has two sons, Kevin and Kurt.
OETA aired a story about the Institute’s I Educate and Empower Women project. Two functions of the IEEW project are designed to teach and engage Oklahoma City women business owners (WBO) and entrepreneurial high school students in public policy, as well as mentorship with Oklahoma state legislators. The story airs Sunday, May [...]
Oklahoman Op-Ed: Helping Afghan Women Succeed in Business
The Oklahoman published an opinion article by Dr. Terry Neese regarding the future of women in Afghanistan. “They have tasted freedom and are determined to help their country succeed,” she said. Read the rest of the online version of the article now.
The Women’s Eye recently featured the work of the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women. The article mentions the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS program and IEEW’s involvement with a conference presented by the George W. Bush Institute titled Building Afghanistan’t Future: Promoting Women’s Freedom and Advancing Their Economic Opportunity. Read the article now.
Greta Van Susteren, host of FOX’s On the Record, attended a conference the George W. Bush Institute titled Building Afghanistan’s Future: Promoting Women’s Freedom and Advancing Their Economic Opportunity. She also moderated a panel that Dr. Terry Neese, founder and CEO of IEEW and Dr. Rahela Kaveer, a 2010 Afghan PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS graduate participated in. [...]
IEEW Inducts Afghan Woman Into Global Hall of Fame
Dr. Terry Neese, Founder of The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women, inducted Afghan leader, Dr. Sakena Yacoobi into the Enterprising Women’s Global Hall of Fame in Boca Raton, Florida. Read the article printed in the Oklahoman.
