By Deputy County Executive Lisa Chimera

Each March, our nation celebrates Women’s History Month. During these 31-days we take the time to honor women’s accomplishments, while drawing attention to the challenges they still face.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak at a March 2 Kick-Off event, hosted by our Erie County Commission on the Status of Women. I have attended this celebration at the Buffalo History Museum for several years now, and always look forward to hearing from some of our region’s most inspirational, and influential women.

The ECCSW, under the direction of Commissioner of Pubic Advocacy, Karen King, is currently hard at work on a very exciting project. In 2019, our County Executive and Legislature committed $250,000 to support the Trailblazing Women of WNY Monument Project. In December of last year, artists and renderings for the first three historical women were chosen.

The first statues will depict: Louise Blanchard Bethune, the first female professional working architect in the United States and an advocate for equal pay, Mary Burnett Talbert, internationally respected human and civil rights leader who served on the board of directors of the NAACP, heading its 1922 anti-lynching campaign, and Geraldine “Gawö:Sid-Tah” Green, a devoted educator of the Haudenosaunee traditions, and leader in the Akweasne Mohawk community and Seneca Nation.

Work on the site at Old County Hall is already underway, with the monument designed as a walking trail, lined with the statues and signage providing information on these remarkable women. We look forward to dedicating the statues in October 2023.

A project like this is so important, as it not only gives our young women and girls the inspiration to break past barriers, and make real change, but demonstrates what we value as a community. Last November, I had the privilege of meeting with future female leaders as part of an ECCSW program, 1st Amendment, 1st Vote, and was so moved by their commitment and passion.

1st A-1st V is a unique, experiential learning opportunity program that prepares high school girls to engage in the US political process. They learn about how to cast their first official voting ballot, the political process, and how to mount a campaign for elected office. As a public official, I am so proud to see the push for more representation.

Women belong in government, and in every industry. That is why it is also so important to provide child care resources and subsidies, to keep working mothers in their careers. During the pandemic, we saw many working mothers forced to reduce their hours or leave the workforce altogether due to a lack of child care options. The working families group of our Live Well Erie initiative will continue to advocate for these families and our child care centers to provide accessible, quality child care options.

As the theme for this year’s WHM is “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories,” I would like to mention several events at our libraries throughout the month of March. Both Central and Merriweather libraries will host a WHM Movie Series, with dates and additional details available at buffalolib.org. On March 19 at the Central Library, join author and historian Rachelle Moyer Francis, for the Buffalo Presidential Center Program: “The Two Mrs. Fillmores.” On March 26 Merriweather Library will feature We All Story Tellers as they present “Along this Way: Storytelling in the African Tradition.”

I am proud to work alongside a network of outstanding women in our community. They are the leaders, trailblazers and role-models our children need to see. I feel so fortunate to have had my own great mentors throughout my life, and to be surrounded by inspirational women each and every day. Let us remember that representation is important, and that when our young girls “see it” they can “be it.” I wish everyone a very happy Women’s History Month!