Working in Kansas since 1919

BPW/USA was founded in 1919. On June 12, 1919, seventeen delegates from Arkansas City, Coffeyville, Emporia, Hays, Hutchinson, Independence, Junction City, Kansas City, Manhattan, and Wichita gathered for the purpose of considering the formation of a state organization. A constitution committee was appointed and eventually a constitution was adopted and delegates were sent from Kansas to the First National Federation Conference in St. Louis in the fall of 1919. The state organization has provided a voice for working women ever since.

BPW/Kansas is managed by a board of directors from all over Kansas who are elected at an annual state convention.

BPW/Kansas Officers         BPW/Kansas Board Members

Past State Presidents

BPW/USA was the first among women's organizations to formally endorse the Equal Rights Amendment in 1937, and we have led the drive for ratification ever since. BPW/USA has been a leader in passing legislation from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act, to Title IX and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. In addition to supporting working women through advocacy and legislation, BPW educates its members on policy issues and provides them the tools to become effectively involved in policy development in their own workplaces and in grassroots efforts at the local, state, and federal levels.

BPW helps to inform members and others about candidates for public office. To read brief biographical information about candidates for the Kansas State Board of Education in 2006, please click Bios; for the candidates' answers to our questions, click on Answers.

The newsletter of BPW/Kansas is the Advocate.

For a summary of BPW history, see the national web site, www.bpwusa.org.

Business & Professional Women is organized into local chapters and state federations, all part of BPW/USA. In Kansas, there are 23 local organizations, listed below. Local organizations provide members with professional development programs, networking, participation in grassroots activism, and opportunities to support scholarships for disadvantaged women.