THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Inéz Casiano

November, 1926 – June 28, 2011

“In the 1960s I viewed women as powerless if we didn’t work together. That hasn’t changed.”

Lifelong advocate for youth. Champion of social and economic justice. Founding member of NOW, 1966. Executive assistant EEOC, 1967. Social Science adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Labor, 1968-1990. Involved in planning of the White House Conference on Children and Youth, 1970. First Hispanic graduate of the Federal Executive Institute, 1971. Founder and Washington Capitol area president, National Conference of Puerto Rican Women. Arizona Government, Department of Economic Security and Governor’s Office of Women’s Services, 1980s. 

Photo 1. Founding of NOW – Inéz Casiano, front row, first chair on the left, Washington, DC, October 1966. Photo 2. Inéz Casiano (right) receives recognition at NOW’s 40th anniversary celebration during the 2006 National NOW Conference. (Pictured at left is then-Action VP Melody Drnach.)