The Interagency Committee of State Employed Women (ICSEW) has evolved through a number of advisory councils since 1963, when Governor Rosellini established the Washington State Commission on the Status of Women. The Commission was formed in response to President Kennedy’s National Commission on the Status of Women. On October 19, 1970, Governor Evans established the Washington State Interagency Co
mmittee on the Status of Women. The first task of this 13-member committee was to evaluate Washington State’s response to the recommendations in the 1963 Commission report and express further requirements for change. When Governor Gardner reaffirmed his support for the committee by signing an Executive Order on November 7, 1989, he gave a 1990s focus to an effort that began in the 1960s. The committee’s name was changed to the Interagency Committee of State Employed Women (ICSEW) and was expanded to include members from institutions of higher education and the judicial system. On February 1, 2006, Governor Gregoire demonstrated her support by signing a new executive order allowing those participants and other small agencies to be appointed as members. This opened the ICSEW to all state agencies and institutes of higher education no matter how many females were employed at their departments.
