Welcome to the website of the Miami-Dade County Commission for Women!

The Miami-Dade County Commission for Women (formerly known as the Commission on the Status of Women) was formed in 1971 by the Board of County Commissioners and was founded originally by feminist leader Roxcy Bolton.  We serve as an advisory board to the Board of County Commissioners and the County Administration with respect to all matters affecting the status of women. Our members are appointed by the County Commissioners, and we are a diverse group representing the many cultures and ethnic backgrounds that make up Miami-Dade County.

During the past 37 years the Commission for Women (CFW) has done a great deal of work to improve the status of women throughout our community, yet there remains a great deal of work to do.

I am honored and excited to lead this organization, particularly during this amazing time for women in America.  For the first time in our history we have a woman and a man of color running for President and all sorts of glass ceilings are being broken.

For the past several years, among many other things, we have been very focused on the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).  The ERA passed in Congress in 1972 but failed to achieve the necessary 38 state ratification that would have made it part of the U.S. Constitution.  Thirty six years later we continue to fight this battle that would give equal rights to women in the United States.Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." This amendment, once ratified, will finally guarantee to the women of America the equal rights that should have been their birthright so many years ago.  There are three states needed to complete the ratification, and one of the unratified states is Florida. We will continue to fight this battle until it is not.

Another important project to the CFW is the creation of a statue in honor of Julia Tuttle, the founder of Miami.  We have worked on this project for several years now and expect its completion within the coming year.

Through our committees, we also have been working on the issues of ending domestic violence, ensuring that women who are sexually assaulted have a safe and accessible place to go for help, ending human trafficking, empowering  more women to run for political office, and the list goes on.

During the years that I have served on the CFW we have accomplished remarkable things and I hope that during the time I serve as Chair we will continue to make progress.  I look forward to my time as Chair and would encourage anyone reading this message who has any concerns that we could assist with to contact us.  The Commission for Women is here to serve and improve the lives of the women of Miami-Dade County.

Sincerely,

Carmen Elias-Levenson

Chairperson