SYLVIA GALE NAMED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NH COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

The New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Women has named Sylvia Gale as its new Executive Director. In her new capacity, Gale, of Nashua, N.H., will be providing leadership and taking responsibility for carrying out the mission and goals of the Commission as directed by the 15- members who are appointed by the Governor and Executive Council.. Gale joins the Commission after 7 years as District Office Supervisor of the Nashua District Office of the NH Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). She began her career in 1976 as co-founder and coordinator of New Hampshire’s third Rape and Domestic Violence Crisis Center. In 1980, Gale began work with DCYF as an investigator of child abuse and neglect in the Nashua District Office. In 1998 she became the Assistant Supervisor of the Central Intake Unit until she was put in charge of the Nashua District Office in 2000.

Throughout her career Gale has worked for the safety and well-being of New Hampshire’s children, women and families. She assisted in developing and implementing the DCYF/Law Enforcement After Hours Response System, the NH Child Fatality Review Committee and the DCYF Special Investigations Unit. More recently, she was instrumental in creating NH’s second fully accredited Child Advocacy Center for Hillsborough County. Gale has also made voluntary commitments in the past to the Nashua Area Health Center, NH Parents Anonymous and the NH Attorney General’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Commission Chair, Jan Markey states: "We are indeed very fortunate and delighted to welcome Sylvia into the role of Executive Director for the NH Commission on the Status of Women. She not only brings a valued breadth of experience, capabilities, and knowledge to the position from her work and life experiences, but her understanding and passion around women’s issues will serve the Commission and its constituents well as we continue to move forward and build on our past achievements."

Gale succeeds Theresa deLangis of Exeter, N.H. The New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Women advocates on behalf of the diverse population of the state’s women by identifying and seeking to remedy historical and institutional discrimination that act as social, political, and economic barriers to the full realization of women’s basic rights.

Dated: September 2007