Jeanne Kohl-Welles

Biography

Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, has represented the 36th Legislative District in the Senate since 1994 after serving for three years in the state House of Representatives where she was Majority Whip. In addition to her chairmanship of the Sen. Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection Committee, Sen. Kohl-Welles sits on the Senate Ways & Means and Judiciary Committees. She also is a member of the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Committee, Joint Legislative Systems Committee (Chair), Washington State Institute for Public Policy Board, K-20 Education Network Board, and the Washington State Arts Commission. She represents Washington on the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.

Kohl-Welles holds a Ph.D. in Sociology of Education and M.A. in Sociology from UCLA and a B.A. and M.A. in Education from California State University Northridge (CSUN) and was a Fannie Mae Foundation Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program.

Upon completion of her B.A., she worked as a public school teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District where she was a training and demonstration teacher for CSUN. She also earned a School Administration Credential at California State University Fullerton. Kohl-Welles has been an adjunct faculty member in the Women Studies and Sociology Departments and College of Education at the University of Washington for 23 years. She was the principal investigator of two federally–funded research grants on child sexual abuse prevention and girls and women in school sports. She has been a consulting expert and expert witness for lawsuits on Title IX and school sexual harassment.

Before moving to Seattle in 1985, Sen. Kohl-Welles served as Assistant Dean/Coordinator of Women’s Programs at the University of California, Irvine, and Educational Equity Specialist for the U.S. Department of Education Region IX, assisting school districts in implementing Title IX. She also served as a consultant with the U.S. Office of Civil Rights, monitoring school districts’ compliance with nondiscrimination in education laws and regulations. In addition, she taught sociology and women’s studies courses at California State University, Long Beach & Fullerton.

Kohl-Welles has served as President of the Women’s Legislative Network of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) as well as NCSL’s Overall Vice Chair of the Standing Committees and as an Executive Committee member. She is a member of the Center for Women Policy Studies’ Legislative Leadership Council on Women and HIV/AIDS and formerly a fellow with its Foreign Policy Institute and GlobalPower Program. She also was a fellow with the Center for Policy Alternatives’ Flemming Fellows Program and Eleanor Roosevelt Global Leadership Institute.

Kohl-Welles is an international speaker on women in politics and public policy and trafficking of human beings and has traveled to Cuba, Japan, Brazil, Chile, Niger, Sweden and the Baltics on official trips. She spoke on trafficking and domestic violence at the 2007 Vital Voices Global Partnership Women’s Leadership Summit in Kiev, Ukraine. Her legislation regulating international matchmaking organizations (mail-order bride protections) was the first enacted in the United States and served as a model for the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act, enacted in 2005 and sponsored by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA).

Kohl-Welles’ legislation enacted in 2008 establishing a statewide broadband deployment and adoption effort and community Technology Opportunity Program has received national attention. She spoke on Washington’s efforts as a panelist for the National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis in June, 2008, and is a member of Progressive States Network’s Broadband Steering Committee.

Sen. Kohl-Welles has received numerous recognitions and awards, including: Washington BUS Legislator of the Week (March 6, 2009); 2009 Planned Parenthood Shining Star; FUSE Washington Sizzle Award "Committee Chair of the Year" (2009); Legislator of the Year, Progressive States Network (2007); Pacesetter Award, Women’s Legislative Lobby (2007); Ancil Payne Leadership Award, Washington CeaseFire (2007); Public Policy Official Recognition, Jewish Federation of Seattle and King County (2007); Louise Miller Arts Advocacy Award, Washington State Arts Alliance (2007); Angel for Children Award, Parents for Safe Child Care (2007); Champion, School Meals Access Coalition (2007); Legislator of the Year, SEIU 775 (2006); Legislator of Year Award, AFT-Washington (2006); Anchor Award, Washington Credit Union League (Feb. 2006); Legislator of the Month for human trafficking legislation, Center for Policy Alternatives, June 2005; Good Deeds Recognition, Washington Conservation Voters, 2004; Queen Anne Citizen of the Decade, Queen Anne/Magnolia News, November 2002; Humane Hero Award, PAWS, Washington State (2002); Marching toward Equity Award, Washington Federation of Teachers (2001); Pacesetter Award, Women’s Legislative Lobby (2002); Honorary Advisory Board, National Education for Women’s Leadership Program (NEW Leadership), Washington State University (2001-02); Legislator of the Year, Washington Student Lobby (1999); Child Care Champion Award, Child Care Works, (1998); Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Women’s Conference Circle (1995-98); YouthCare Advocate of the Year (1995); Washington Defenders Association and Washington Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys Advocate of the Year (1995, 1996); Woman of Achievement Award, Business and Professional Women

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