Candidate for
Council Member; City of Pittsburgh; Council District 8; Democratic Party

When high school senior Jeanne Clark was awarded the Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow Award in 1967, no one at the time had any idea what kind of recipes this lifetime, pot-stirring champion for equal rights would be cooking up.*

Growing up as the daughter of an elected District Magistrate Judge and a full-time homemaker in a household with 10 kids, Jeanne learned three important lessons: one, if you want to be heard you have to speak up; two, a dedicated public servant can use government to help people when they need it most; and three, personal kindnesses and a loving heart go hand-in-hand with advocacy.

Spanning four decades, Jeanne Clark used the lessons learned early in her life and her Boston University education to speak up and make important differences as a leading advocate for women's rights, civil rights, LGBT rights, workers' rights, sustainable development, and protecting our environment at the local, state, and federal levels. And she has built a stellar record of accomplishment.

On the national level, she served as Press Secretary for the National Organization for Women (NOW) in Washington, DC. She worked with then Sen. Joe Biden's team to write and pass the Violence Against Women Act and she designed and executed the media strategy that successfully defended the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances bill all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

On the state level, in her capacity as communications director for Citizen's for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture), she helped create the policy and funding streams that grew Pennsylvania's clean renewable energy industry from zero to more than 1 Gigawatt of wind power and thousands of solar power installations in slightly more than a decade. And she helped push through the rules that require utilities to give customers products and technology to stop wasting energy.

In Pittsburgh, she built on the trust and respect she earned with women running a gynecologic and abortion clinic to become a leading advocate for women on many fronts. She led the women's rights community to support prevailing wage. She was part of the team that changed Pittsburgh's home rule charter to make discrimination against LGBT people illegal in the city and helped pass the county ordinance too. And she organized the effort that resulted in the City changing how police-involved domestic violence is handled.

However, to focus only on Jeanne Clark's four-decade career as a leading advocate and trooper on the front lines in the fight for equal rights and progressive politics misses the gentle humanity that is central to the core of who she is. Jeanne's tireless dedication to helping others stems from her own personal relationships as daughter, wife, mother, and friend to many.

No relationship better portrays Jeanne's good nature than the loving bond she shared with her late husband Tim Sullivan. Tim, a Vietnam veteran, public defender, public school teacher, union activist, and Friend of Bill W., was the perfect partner to Jeanne. Their home was a place of love and refuge, at times sheltering young women in need of a safe place to collect themselves, a temporary sanctuary where Tim's friends in recovery could get back on track or simply the typical Pittsburgh household where their kids, Timmy and Maureen, did their homework, cheered the Steelers and enjoyed Jeanne's Betty Crocker award-winning cooking.

For the past13 years, Jeanne has served as Communications Director for PennFuture. She is Chair of the 7th Ward Democratic Committee, Chair of the Women's Caucus of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, a Shadyside homeowner and, as always, a friend to many.

• For the record, Jeanne's high school guidance counselor did insist on calling General Mills three times to make sure there was no mistake in its Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow award selection process.