THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Donna Lenhoff
“To be able to advance feminist legal principles within the constraints that the government faced was a real challenge.”
Attorney, Writer, Speaker. Policy Maker and Changer. Advocate for Workers’, Women’s and Consumers’ Rights. The first full-time Legislative & Public Policy Director of the National Employment Lawyers Association in Washington, D.C. The first General Counsel and Director of Work and Family Programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families; and the first Staff Attorney and first Director of Legal Policy and Programs at the Partnership (when it was called the Women’s Legal Defense Fund). Nationally known for having developed and led the coalition lobbying for the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. Executive Director of the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform.
Interviewed by Judy Waxman, October 2019
Photo 1. Donna Lenhoff on “It’s Your Business 1988: A Look Back.” Photo 2. Director for Legal Affairs in the Women’s Legal Defense Fund, 1993.
More About Donna:
- Family and Medical Leave Act
- Implementation of the Family and Medical Leave Act: Toward the Family-Friendly Workplace – Donna Lenhoff and Claudia Withers Fall 1994
- A Workable Balance: Report to Congress on Family and Medical Leave Policies April 30, 1996
- Family and Medical Leave in the US: Historical and Political Reflections, Donna R. Lenhoff, Oct. 1, 2004
- Pacifica Radio – Democracy Now – June 1996 interview with Donna Lenhoff on The U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a state supported all-male military academy must admit women. Discussion begins at marker 32:11
- National Partnership for Women and Families
- Donna on C-SPAN
- Webinar on the new OFCCP Rule on Sex Discrimination, 6/16/16
- U.S. Dept. of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
- A Look Back, 1988 – Parental Leave discussed at marker 12:20 by Howard Berman -Democrat, California, Donna Lenhoff – Women’s Legal Defense Fund, Richard Lesher – U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Sen. Thad Cochran -Republican, Mississippi and Sen. Orrin Hatch – Republican, Utah. Hagley ID, Box/folder number, Chamber of Commerce of the United States photographs and audiovisual materials (Accession 1993.230), Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, DE 19807