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Victoria A. Budson

2013 Speaker

Victoria A. Budson is the founding executive director of the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP) at Harvard Kennedy School. Budson founded and chairs From Harvard Square to the Oval Office: A Political Campaign Practicum (Oval Office), an initiative of WAPPP that provides a select group of Harvard graduate students with the training and support they need to ascend in the electoral process at the local, state and national levels.   In addition she advises the Obama White House Administration on policies to close gender gaps. She serves on the planning committee for the Women in Public Service Initiative of the U.S. Department of State.  Budson was appointed by Governor Patrick in 2010 to serve on the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, which she now chairs.  She also serves on Boston Mayor Menino’s Women’s Workforce Council. Budson has also served on the board of directors for the National Council for Research on Women, ivillage cares and the National Women’s Political Caucus, among others. She has held a seat on the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee and has served as the Northeast Regional Development Director for EMILY’s List. She is often quoted in news publications, television, and radio programs, including CNN International, “Fox News Live,” The New York Times, The Daily Beast, The Boston Globe, New York Times Magazine, New England Cable News, and radio programs such as “Talk of the Nation,” Radio Boston and “The Connection” on National Public Radio. Budson earned a B.A. from Wellesley College and an M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School.

10:00 – 11:00AM Pioneering Pay Equity – MR 153