Board Member Spotlight: Holly Fechner

Board Member Holly Fechner.

From her college thesis on Mary Wollstonecraft to her current pro bono legal work in addressing the needs of women, IWPR board member Holly Fechner has dedicated her academic and professional pursuits to help ensure that women’s issues are front and center. As the co-chair of IWPR’s Communications and Marketing Committee, Holly helps encourage discussion about how IWPR can expand its outreach and visibility to policymakers and wider audiences. “IWPR has always been a first-rate think tank,” she says, “but not everyone knows that.” Often the only woman in the room during meetings, she uses these experiences to inform her role on IWPR’s Board, bringing passion and expertise to ensure that women have access to equal opportunities.

Currently an attorney at Covington & Burling, Holly’s familiarity with IWPR’s research traces back to the beginning of her career in public policy. After law school and a graduate program in women’s studies, Holly worked on the Family and Medical Leave Act the year before it was signed into law, which eventually landed her on Capitol Hill as an advisor to the late Senator Edward Kennedy.

It was during her time on Senator Kennedy’s staff that she became what she calls “a professional consumer of IWPR’s work.”  She spent eight years with the Senator, advising him on policies related to the economy, health care, and education. She worked closely with IWPR on paid sick days and equal pay legislation. Once Holly transitioned from public service to private practice in 2007, she was asked to join IWPR’s Board of Directors and contribute the wealth of her career experience to advising IWPR on how its research can reach different audiences that have a stake in improving public policies affecting women. She gladly accepted the invitation to join. For her, “It was a natural extension of my many years of policy work on women’s issues.”

During her tenure as co-chair, the Communications and Marketing Committee has tackled strategic questions about how best to expand IWPR’s reach and has provided invaluable guidance on the forthcoming redesign of IWPR’s website.  Holly describes IWPR’s role as “the preeminent think thank on women’s issues in the United States today.”  She considers her position as co-chair a rewarding experience which requires “giving great thought to how we can ensure that more people know about IWPR and its tremendous work.”

Back to Table of Contents