WVE HIRES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MISSOULA, Mont. – Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE), a national nonprofit organization focused on women’s environmental health issues, has announced that Tracy Lakatua will be the organization’s new executive director, replacing Dori Gilels. Lakatua will begin on January 1, 2009.
“Tracy Lakatua brings a passion for supporting women's health, rights and leadership, and will be a strong advocate for WVE's mission and programs at both the grassroots and national levels,” said WVE Board President Lisa Woll. “We are delighted to have her join the WVE team.”
Lakatua serves as the chair of the National Coordinating Board of YWCA USA and is an active grant committee member of the Social Justice Fund Northwest. She has also co-founded and led a variety of gender and racial justice initiatives in Montana and Minnesota, earning several awards for her work. Prior to moving to Montana in 1998, Tracy spent 12 years in Minnesota, where she specialized in media, investor relations, and marketing communications.
“I’m thrilled to join one of the nation’s leading organizations working to eliminate toxic pollutants that affect the lives of women,” said Lakatua. “This is an exciting time to advance progressive issues, and I look forward to building upon WVE’s successes and rich history of empowering women to advocate for a healthy environment."
Since moving to Missoula in 1998, Lakatua helped establish the Montana Silent Witness Initiative, with the mission to end deaths due to domestic violence. She is also a founder of Montana Women Vote!, a coalition of Montana’s women’s organizations that works to educate and mobilize low-income women to participate in the democratic process, and was the past president of the board of YWCA Missoula, which honored her with a lifetime achievement award in 2008.
Lakatua has degrees in Journalism and Political Science, from Northwestern University and the University of Minnesota, respectively.
Women's Voices for the Earth (WVE) is a national organization that engages women to advocate for the right to live in a healthy environment.
WVE focuses on reducing and/or eliminating toxic pollution and creating opportunities for women to influence environmental decisions that affect their health. WVE’s current projects include a regional Mercury Campaign to phase out the sale and improve recycling of mercury products; a Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to promote market-based and legislative initiatives designed to regulate and eliminate the use of toxic chemicals in personal care products; and a Safe Cleaning Products Initiative aimed at reducing a woman’s exposure to toxic chemicals in household cleaning products.
For more information, go to www.womenandenvironment.org