Three women who bring experience with the concerns of black, Latina or Asian women have taken office with the Los Angeles City Commission on the Status of Women.
Barbara Ann Bramwell, a commission member for three years and former vice president, has been elected president for the 1986-87 fiscal year.
Active in advocacy for minority women, she was instrumental in the establishment of the commission's Women of Color Committee in 1985. Bramwell works in the USC University Publications Office, is adviser to the Black Women's Caucus at USC and a mentor to incoming freshmen. She is also a volunteer counselor at the Southern California Counseling Center and co-chair of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration at USC.
Nino Aguayo Sorkin was elected vice president of the commission. Entering her second year as a commissioner, Sorkin is co-chair of the Women of Color Committee. She is a member of the Comision Femenil Mexicana Nacional and serves on the boards of directors of Centro de Ninos and Big Sisters of Los Angeles. A licensed clinical social worker, she is director of Adult Outpatient Services at the Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center.
Yvonne Kim Woo was reappointed by Mayor Tom Bradley and confirmed by the City Council for a five-year term as a commissioner. She is president of Highland Capital Corp. and brings a real estate and investment background to the commission. She is founder of the Korean American Equestrian Assn. and a volunteer at the Korean Women's Senior Citizens Organization.
The commission was established in 1975 for the purpose of advocating for the welfare of women in Los Angeles and to ensure full and equal participation of women in city government. For those who'd like to have a look at its work, the commission holds public meetings at 8:30 a.m. the second Monday of each month in Room 416 at City Hall.
According to a new survey of employment issued by the National Commission on Working Women, minority women continue to lag behind white women in salary and opportunities, although the gap between white and minority women is by no means as great as the gap between women and men or between white and minority men. The statistical comparisons were derived from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau figures.
