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Judith Vaughan-Prather, Executive Director

Judith Vaughan-Prather was appointed Executive Director of the Maryland Commission for Women (MCW) in July 2014. The MCW is a 25-member board, located in the Department of Human Services, providing advice on women’s issues to the Governor and the Maryland General Assembly. In this capacity she has coordinated the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame and Maryland Young Women Leader Awards programs each year, developed informational materials on Girls and STEM education and the status of women in Maryland, as well as developing the MCW’s outreach projects. In 2016, the MCW initiated its “Voices of Maryland Women Listening Tour,” for which the MCW traveled to jurisdictions across the state conducting 19 public forums and an online survey, in four languages, collecting data on the needs of women and girls. The report of that initiative was published in August, 2018. Ms. Vaughan-Prather led the Commission’s next research project – “Maryland Women – A Status Report,” published in 2021, followed by “At the Heart of the Pandemic – Maryland Women and the COVID19 Crisis,” published in 2022.

Ms. Vaughan-Prather served as Executive Director of the Montgomery County Commission for Women (MCCFW) for very nearly 35 years (1979 – 2014). The MCCFW is a 15-member advisory board providing counsel to the county, state and federal governments on the issues of concern to women. Under her leadership, the MCCFW conducted successful projects on Single Mothers and Poverty, Educational Equity, Immigrant Women, Sexual Harassment, Pay Equity, Family Equity in the Courts, the Status of Women in Montgomery County, Work and Family Issues, Women and Girls in Technology, and Relationship Violence, among others. The department won several awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) for these projects. This work included organizing public events such as the annual Women’s Legislative Briefing, a conference attended by over 600 individuals and co-sponsored by 80 community organizations. Under her leadership, the Commission also sponsored the 2010 conference for the National Association of Commissions for Women, including developing private donations and sponsorships to support the 3-day program, and coordinating briefings at the White House and on Capitol Hill.

Ms. Vaughan-Prather holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work Administration from the University of Maryland School of Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Maryland, College Park. Earlier in her career, Ms. Vaughan-Prather supervised a special unit of counselors for pregnant teens in Baltimore City, and the Emergency Shelter and Housing Service for the Prince George’s County Department of Social Services and was a counselor for pregnant teens in that agency’s Single Parent Service. She was a field instructor for Howard University and the University of Maryland Schools of Social Work for several years. She also taught Sociology at Montgomery College, courses in Social Work for Bowie State College, and professional training courses for the Universities of Maryland and Delaware Schools of Social Work.

Ms. Vaughan-Prather traveled to China in 2013 as a member of the Montgomery County Sister Cities Delegation to X’ian and served as a Professional Fellow in Turkey in a program sponsored by the American Councils for International Education. She continued to host professional fellows through that program and in 2017, she visited the Republic of Moldova discussing women’s issues and helping to launch a “Voices of Moldovan Women Listening Tour” in that country. Earlier, she represented the Montgomery County Commission for Women in the 1985–1986 U.S. – U.S.S.R. Women’s Exchange sponsored by Bridges for Peace, traveling to Moscow and Kyrgyzstan.

Ms. Vaughan-Prather served on the Montgomery County Limited English Proficiency Leadership Team and the County Executive’s Senior Sub-cabinet on Vital Aging, the Montgomery College Alumni Association Board of Governors, and the 2017 Family and Medical Leave Task Force appointed by the Maryland General Assembly. She served several terms on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Commissions for Women (NACW), helping to initiate NACW’s “Voices of Women in America” project.

On March 15, 2001 Ms. Vaughan-Prather was inducted into the Montgomery County Human Rights Hall of Fame. The Women’s Law Center of Maryland honored her with the Dorothy Beatty Award for Outstanding Contributions to Women’s Rights in 2005. On January 25, 2015, she was inducted into the Montgomery County Women’s History Archives. In October, 2019, she was presented the Enolia P. McMillan Women in NAACP Award, and the 2019 Woman of Achievement Award from the Maryland Federation of Business & Professional Women (BPW). She was selected by the Daily Record as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women in 2006, 2008, and 2023 when she was inducted into its Circle of Excellence.