Distinguished Alumni Award Winner Works for Gender Equality

During a keynote address in 2009, Sen. John Glenn said, “We are more fulfilled when we are involved in something bigger than ourselves.” The Glenn College reserves its highest honor for alumni who have made a career of doing just that. Lucy Gettman, the recipient of the Glenn College Distinguished Alumni Award for Career Achievement, is the embodiment of those words.

Gettman, a 1981 dual degree graduate in Public Administration and Social Work, is the executive director of Women In Government Inc.(WIG), a national non-profit, nonpartisan membership organization representing female state legislators. In this role, she works with state elected women legislators to implement leadership and educational conferences and other policy events to address the nation’s public policy issues. She is a tireless advocate for women and has made meaningful contributions to the advancement of women throughout her career.

“My interest in women’s leadership is something that started at a very young age,” said Gettman. “I had a very influential teacher in high school who increased my awareness about structural, financial and the education dynamics of our culture that didn’t offer equal opportunity to everyone regardless of gender.”

Gettman joined WIG after serving as chief advocacy officer for the National School Boards Association where she represented 90,000 local school board members. She played a vital role in advocating for the Every Student Succeeds Act, a landmark law that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the nation’s national education law and longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students.

During her tenure as director of government relations for a National Association of Reading Teachers, she received the Reading Recovery Teacher Leader Award in 2009 and has held professional positions at the Ohio House of Representatives, the Ohio Attorney General and the Inter-University Council of Ohio. Gettman’s credentials also include earning a Graduate Certificate in Women, Politics and Political Leadership from the Women and Politics Institute at American University’s School of Public Affairs, where she is now an adjunct faculty member. In 2014, she received the Alice Paul Faculty Award from the school.

Gettman also serves on the Leadership Circle for Women in Government Relations a professional society for government relations and public affairs professionals. She continues to engage in alumni support at the Glenn College by speaking annually at NEW Leadership Ohio, a program designed to encourage and empower college women to take on public and political leadership roles.