NORTH HOLLYWOOD : NOW Begins Push for Racial Diversity

A North Hollywood woman will lead the California effort to bring more minorities into the National Organization for Women as part of a nationwide affirmative-action push.

Rebecca Wickliff, 32, was elected into the newly-created post of racial diversity coordinator for the California National Organization for Women during a state conference in Sacramento last weekend. The volunteer position, which will begin June 15, is the only post of its kind in the state and one of the first in the country, NOW officials said.

“We have just started to work with this aggressively,” said Wickliff, who is half African-American and half Latina. “Initially, we will do some sensitivity training within NOW and try to break down any racism within the organization.”

NOW is the nation’s largest nonprofit organization for the advocacy of women’s rights, with about 250,000 members. California boasts the largest state chapter, with 44,000 members.

Eventually, Wickliff said, the goal of the position is to reach out and attract women of different ethnic backgrounds.

“Typically, NOW has been a middle-class, white organization and that’s something we have to work on,” Wickliff said. “We realize we cannot exclude any aspect of women’s culture in this world if we are going to fight for women’s equality.”

Patricia Ireland, president of NOW, said the organization has asked its state chapters to appoint a racial-diversity coordinator as part of its new affirmative-action agenda. She said California is one of the first states to actually do so.

“California is on the cutting edge,” Ireland said. “If we want to remain strong, we have to be aware of the growing Asian and Latina infusion. It’s the wave of the future.”